独尊像

[pubay]

The meaning of this word is clear enough—it refers to a statue or painting of a person or deity who is unaccompanied by any attendants, etc. But I can't think of a succinct English equivalent. What might it be?

Rolf Giebel

[Susan Murata]

Doesn't this refer to the figure of the infant Buddha (Shakamuni) pointing to the heavens and announcing that  he will save the world? Here is one summary of the story.  https://www.roots.gov.sg/learn/collections/listing/1120162

Susan Murata

On Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 6:33 AM pubay <glenr...@gmail.com> wrote:

The meaning of this word is clear enough—it refers to a statue or painting of a person or deity who is unaccompanied by any attendants, etc. But I can't think of a succinct English equivalent. What might it be?

Rolf Giebel

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Susan Murata
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[Hart Larrabee]

On Nov 25, 2020, at 7:36, Susan Murata <smu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Doesn't this refer to the figure of the infant Buddha (Shakamuni) pointing to the heavens and announcing that  he will save the world? Here is one summary of the story.  https://www.roots.gov.sg/learn/collections/listing/1120162

In response to Rolf Giebel’s query:

On Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 6:33 AM pubay <glenr...@gmail.com> wrote:

The meaning of this word is clear enough—it refers to a statue or painting of a person or deity who is unaccompanied by any attendants, etc. But I can't think of a succinct English equivalent. What might it be?

独尊像 is any solitary image, not necessarily limited to the birth of buddha variant. 

See, for example, the definition in this slightly cheeky taxonomy of groupings of Buddhist imagery that compares the world of buddhist images to that of idol groups. 

https://goto-man.com/faq/post-10487/

This Agency for Cultural Affairs site also includes a number of 独尊像, none of which seem to depict the birth of buddha.

https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/332955

It would be nice if there were a "one-alone” analogue to the handy “triad” used for groupings of three, but I don’t there is. 

Here’s an example, for instance, in an academic paper, of a Jizō image described as a "solitary welcoming descent (dokuson raigō),” so I think you’re safe using “solitary” in whatever way fits your context.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265949763_The_Face_of_Jizo_Image_and_Cult_in_Medieval_Japanese_Buddhism_by_Hank_Glassman

Good luck!

Hart Larrabee

ha...@valley.ne.jp

Nagano, Japan

[ric...@citlink.net]

How about "monad"?

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.

[Geoff Trousselot]

My suggestion is 

mono-iconic figure

Geoffrey Trousselot 

On Nov 25, 2020, at 8:41, ric...@citlink.net wrote:



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[Rolf Giebel]

On 25/11/2020, at 11:36 AM, Susan Murata <smu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Doesn't this refer to the figure of the infant Buddha (Shakamuni) pointing to the heavens and announcing that he will save the world? Here is one summary of the story. https://www.roots.gov.sg/learn/collections/listing/1120162
>
> Susan Murata

I should probably have been more specific, but in the article I am translating it is being used in the way I described, i.e., to refer to a statue or painting of a person (in this case Mani, the founder of Manichaeism) unaccompanied by any attendants, etc.

Rolf Giebel

[Dale Ponte]

There could be multiple factors, and not only definitional, within the text that bear on and/or hint toward an apt wording for this 独尊像. So could you share with us an ample sample of the text, at least the whole sentence in which it occurs?

Dale

@words co-illumine

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[Dale Ponte]

At first blush, anyway, came "isolated image" and "stand-alone image."

Dale

@words interweave

[Dale Ponte]

There's also a "free-standing" image, sculpture, icon. "Solitary" is quite viable too.

Dale Ponte

[Rolf Giebel]

Thank you for all the suggestions. “Solitary” and “stand-alone” work well with statues. I am dealing primarily with the subject matter of paintings, and the wording that best suits the context may actually be “stand-alone depiction (of Mani).”

Rolf Giebel

[Dale Ponte]

Pardon my freeing all these afterthoughts, but there's also "single" as in single icon/image. Even "autonomous" is conceivable especially if it's a statue and movability is relevant. As for 尊像, it'd tend to vary depending on whether it's a painting or a statue, or unspecified. Being Mani, something with religious resonance might be in order, like icon (esp. paintings) or idol.

Dale Ponte 

[Mika J.]

この宗教、今までほぼ何も知りませんでしたが、

ざっと見たところ14世紀に途絶えたとされるにもかかわらず、

ウィキペディアには現時点で69言語もの翻訳があるんですね。

ちょっとすごい。

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichaeism

Rolf wrote:

" I am dealing primarily with the subject matter of paintings "  

マニ教の開祖マニ師を単独で描いた絵画、ということなら、

portraitでは、さて簡単すぎかなー？

　Mika Jarmusz 

　

 

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[Jens Wilkinson]

> On Nov 25, 2020, at 6:33, pubay <glenr...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The meaning of this word is clear enough—it refers to a statue or painting of a person or deity who is unaccompanied by any attendants, etc. But I can't think of a succinct English equivalent. What might it be?
>
> Rolf Giebel

What seems a little bit strange to me is, if someone says it is a statue of Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you normally assume it’s without anyone else? Why would you need to specify that?

Jens Wilkinson

[Rolf Giebel]

> On 27/11/2020, at 3:47 AM, Jens Wilkinson <jenswi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What seems a little bit strange to me is, if someone says it is a statue of Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you normally assume it’s without anyone else? Why would you need to specify that?
>
> Jens Wilkinson

In the case of a statue, that would certainly be the case. But in the case of paintings of Mani, there are paintings of just him and paintings in which he is depicted together with other people, and so there is a need to differentiate between the two types of paintings.

> マニ教の開祖マニ師を単独で描いた絵画、ということなら、
> portraitでは、さて簡単すぎかなー？
>
> 　Mika Jarmusz

“Portrait” would tend to imply a true-to-life likeness, and so is probably not appropriate in this case.

> My suggestion is mono-iconic figure
>
> Geoffrey Trousselot

Could you give some actual examples of the use of “mono-iconic” in this sense?

Rolf Giebel

[Dale Ponte]

Jens Wilkinson wrote:

What seems a little bit strange to me is, if someone says it is a statue of Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you normally assume it’s without anyone else? Why would you need to specify that?

For one thing, 独尊像 is an art-historical term of art, which pretty much eliminates the possibility of just 'someone' saying it. Try it with Google Images, where you'll see mostly statuary and a few good examples of paintings. 

Btb, "individual" might be yet another option. 

Dale Ponte  

[John Stroman]

This is way outside my normal arena, but would a higher level of abstraction such as "likeness" work?

John Stroman

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[Warren Smith]

Here is an interesting article on iconography.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography

 

Doesn't seem to have an answer to your question, but I after reading it, I think I would go with "solitary icon."

 

Warren Smith

Virus-free. www.avast.com

[Rolf Giebel]

> On 27/11/2020, at 10:59 AM, Warren Smith <Warren...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Here is an interesting article on iconography.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography
>
> Doesn't seem to have an answer to your question, but I after reading it, I think I would go with "solitary icon."
>
> Warren Smith

Yes, I have decided to go with “solitary icon/depiction.”

Rolf Giebel

[Dale Ponte]

"Solitary icon" is intrinsically atmospheric, intimates aura, and even visualizes pretty spontaneously.

Dale Ponte

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[Jens Wilkinson]

--

Sorry, what I meant to say is, is there a possibility that in Japanese language, you have to use the term 独尊像  to specify the type of art you are talking about, whereas in a different (non-Japanese) context, you would not need to use that art term.

--

Jens Wilkinson

[John Stroman]

Jens,

Thank you for your additional comments. You clarify why I suggested a higher level of abstraction with a term such as "likeness" or "image" that is less specific, but acceptable if there is no need to specify whether the main figure is alone or has attendants. The choice really depends on reader (or customer) expectation, and whether the reader will naturally anticipate a finer distinction that is usually not made in English. For example, in English the presence of any attendants is an additional specification (e.g., an image of Jesus vs. an image of Jesus and his disciples) . An native English-speaking reader will probably assume that the iconic figure is alone unless specifically stated otherwise.

John Stroman

[Dale Ponte]

Just happened to stumble upon “representation"... 

Aha!: “solitary representation.” 

If it were me I’d incline to like that it’s accurate even to the point of preserving register with its term-of-art feel. And it's backed up by a decent number of homogeneous googits.

Dale Ponte