隋唐期東アジアの「優塡王像」受容に關する覺書

Abstract

The Japanese priest Chōnen (938-1016) went to Song dynasty China in the eighth month of 983 and returned to the Heian capital of Japan in the second month of 986. The Standing Shaka Nyorai (Skt. Śākyamuni) image, which he brought back with him and which is now the principle image in the Kyoto temple of Seiryōji, was made in 985 in Taizhou, Zhejiang province near Ningbo. The image is extolled as an incomparable portrait of Shaka that possesses miraculous powers, and that was transmitted across the "three countries" of India, China, Japan. It was based upon an image known as Sendan Shaka zuizō (Auspicious Śākyamuni Image Made of Indian Sandalwood) that was in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province for many years. After that, it was in Jinling (present-day Nanjing) before being moved to the Northern Song capital of Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng) at the time that Chōnen came to China. Many reproductions, each of which is known as a "Seiryōji-style Shaka, " were made of this sculpture. Legend states that King Udayana, ruler of Kauśāmbī in India, had this auspicious sandalwood Śākyamuni image carved while the Buddha was still alive, and is thought to be the first image of the Buddha ever created. This and similar images are known as "King Udayana images, " referring not to a portrait of the king, but a portrait of Śākyamuni that the king had commissioned. From looking at the form of the Seiryōji sculpture, it is thought that the sculpture was actually produced not in India, but likely in east Turkmenistan (modern day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) or in northern China sometime during the fifth or sixth century. On the other hand, prior to the production of the Seiryōji image, there were many Śākyamuni images in China, even besides the Yangzhou image that served as its model, which were purported to be the King Udayana image. Examples are the sculpture that the Chinese priest Xuanzang supposedly copied from the image worshipped in Kauśāmbī and brought back with him to China, and the sculpture which Chinese priest Daoxuan piously venerated at Daming temple in Jingzhou province.

One especially important fact is that during the latter half of the seventh century, many images of Śākyamuni were produced made in the Luoyang area that feature him seated with both legs pendant and are decidedly Indian in their heavy, voluminous style. These images area also inscribed as "King Udayana images." Elsewhere I have discussed the locations of and styles upon which these Luoyang area images were based. Stylistically, these images differ completely form the Seiryōji Shaka. Focusing on these issues, I attempted a comprehensive examination of how King Udayana images were transmitted to China and how they were received there ("Udennōzō Tōdenkō-Chūgoku Shotōki wo Chūshin ni" ("On the Propagation of the Buddha Image of King Udayana : With Special Reference to the Early Tang dynasty"), Tōhō gakuhō, no. 69, 1997). In recent years, many groundbreaking studies have appeared and research on the Seiryōji Shaka has brought forth dramatic developments. However, since the publication of my previous article, examinations of the early Tang dynasty King Udayana images from the Luoyang region have deepened even further. While space only allows for a short essay here, I will focus on images produced in Japan such as the seventh-eighth century Dōban Hokke setsu sōzu (Bronze Plaque Depicting the Preaching of the Lotus Sutra) from Hasedera, and objects transmitted to Japan such as the Chinese Shishu Shaka Nyorai seppō zu (Embroidery of Śākyamuni Preaching) at the Nara National Museum. Focusing on the significance of the King Udayana images as well as others that appeared in the Luoyang area, I wish to propose a new viewpoint regarding the veneration and production of King Udayana images during the Sui and Tang dynasties. I hope to not only explicate upon the historical period prior to the creation of the Seiryōji Shaka image, but also to investigate what kind of meanings these "living portraits of Śākyamuni" actually had, thus contributing to the investigation of the true substance of Buddhist art.]