The locations of Buddha relics in pagodas

[Matthew Stavros]

Dear Members,

Yomiuri reports that a Buddhist relic stored in the western pagoda of Taimadera, Nara has been dated to the late 7th century. You can read the article here: https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/20181114-OYT1T50125.html 

What most interested me is that the relic vessel was stored "at the top part of the pagoda's central pillar." I had always assumed vessels were lodged in chamber located under the central pillar. 

So I have two questions. 1) Was there a standard place where relics were stored within pagodas (or rather, is the Taimadera finding unusual)? And 2) How might a relic vessel be stored 'at the top part' of a central pillar? Was there a carved nook or something? 

Thanks for your thoughts. 

Matthew

Matthew Stavros, PhD 

Ludi Magister | Director of Asian Studies 

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 

The University of Sydney 

Asian Studies @ Sydney 

matthew...@sydney.edu.au 

www.mstavros.com | www.kyotohistory.com

[Peter Kornicki]

Dear Matthew 

Since nobody else has replied, I will.

In Khitan Liao it is certainly true that relics were sometimes placed at the top of pagodas. The only surviving copies of the Khitan edition of the Tripitaka were found at the top of a pagoda, as the report on the find makes clear: Shanxisheng wenwuju 山西省文物局 & Zhongguo lishi bowuguan 中國歷史博物館, eds., Yingxian muta Liaodai micang 應縣木塔遼代秘藏 (Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe 1991). Another source to look at is Shen Hsueh-Man. “Realizing the Buddha’s ‘Dharma Body’ during the Mofa period: A Study of Liao Buddhist

Relic Deposits.” Artibus Asiae 61 (2001), pp. 263–303.

Peter

Professor Peter Kornicki

Robinson College

Cambridge

--
PMJS is a scholarly forum.
 
You are subscribed to PMJS: Premodern Japanese Studies.
To post to the list, send email to pm...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe, send email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com
Visit the PMJS web site at www.pmjs.org
Contact the group administrator at edi...@pmjs.org

[Cynthea Bogel]

Dear Matthew, all,

Akiko Walley has worked on this material and can shed light on the find. 

I’ll forward this in case she is not on the list.

Best wishes, Cynthea

[Maya Stiller]

Dear Matthew, all,

Perhaps it is also helpful to look at cases from Unified Silla Korea,
where wooden pagodas such as the one at Hwangnyongsa 皇龍寺 had relics
placed below the central pillar, while granite pagodas such as the
ones at Kamŭnsa 感恩寺 had relics placed at the top of the pagoda.

For illustrations/images of the relic container's placement at
Kamŭnsa's twin pagodas, please see pages 296-297; 374 in the Kamŭnsa
excavation report (Kamŭnsa palgul chosa pogosŏ). A PDF file of the
report is available at:
http://www.cha.go.kr/cop/bbs/selectBoardArticle.do;jsessionid=GJO3JDn5bgGamqZP1Vk1niWcMRYtpmUbCSKH01pHqJQmNlZ9qTM1594F0h1u7ugW?nttId=19861&bbsId=BBSMSTR_1021&pageUnit=10&searchCnd=&searchWrd=&ctgryLrcls=&ctgryMdcls=&ctgrySmcls=&ntcStartDt=&ntcEndDt=&searchUseYn=&mn=NS_03_07_01

Best wishes,
Maya Stiller



Maya Stiller
Assistant Professor, Korean Art and Visual Culture
University of Kansas
Department of Art History
Spencer Museum of Art
1301 Mississippi St., R. 209
Lawrence, KS 66045

On 11/15/18, Cynthea Bogel <cjb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Matthew, all,
>
> Akiko Walley has worked on this material and can shed light on the find.
> I’ll forward this in case she is not on the list.
>
> Best wishes, Cynthea
>
>
>
>> On Nov 15, 2018, at 5:23 PM, Peter Kornicki <pk...@cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Matthew
>>
>> Since nobody else has replied, I will.
>> In Khitan Liao it is certainly true that relics were sometimes placed at
>> the top of pagodas. The only surviving copies of the Khitan edition of the
>> Tripitaka were found at the top of a pagoda, as the report on the find
>> makes clear: Shanxisheng wenwuju 山西省文物局 & Zhongguo lishi bowuguan 中國歷史博物館,
>> eds., Yingxian muta Liaodai micang 應縣木塔遼代秘藏 (Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe
>> 1991). Another source to look at is Shen Hsueh-Man. “Realizing the
>> Buddha’s ‘Dharma Body’ during the Mofa period: A Study of Liao Buddhist
>> Relic Deposits.” Artibus Asiae 61 (2001), pp. 263–303.
>>
>> Peter
>>
>>
>> Professor Peter Kornicki
>> Robinson College
>> Cambridge
>>
>>
>>
>>> On 14 Nov 2018, at 20:39, Matthew Stavros <matthew...@sydney.edu.au

>>> <mailto:matthew...@sydney.edu.au>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear Members,
>>>
>>> Yomiuri reports that a Buddhist relic stored in the western pagoda of
>>> Taimadera, Nara has been dated to the late 7th century. You can read the
>>> article here: https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/20181114-OYT1T50125.html
>>> <https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/20181114-OYT1T50125.html>
>>>
>>> What most interested me is that the relic vessel was stored "at the top
>>> part of the pagoda's central pillar." I had always assumed vessels were
>>> lodged in chamber located under the central pillar.
>>>
>>> So I have two questions. 1) Was there a standard place where relics were
>>> stored within pagodas (or rather, is the Taimadera finding unusual)? And
>>> 2) How might a relic vessel be stored 'at the top part' of a central
>>> pillar? Was there a carved nook or something?
>>>
>>> Thanks for your thoughts.
>>>
>>> Matthew
>>>
>>> Matthew Stavros, PhD
>>> Ludi Magister | Director of Asian Studies
>>> Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
>>> The University of Sydney
>>>
>>> Asian Studies @ Sydney

>>> <https://www.facebook.com/AsianStudiesAtSydney/?ref=settings>
>>> matthew...@sydney.edu.au <mailto:matthew...@sydney.edu.au>
>>> www.mstavros.com <http://www.mstavros.com/> | www.kyotohistory.com
>>> <http://www.kyotohistory.com/>

>>>
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a scholarly forum.
>>>
>>> You are subscribed to PMJS: Premodern Japanese Studies.
>>> To post to the list, send email to pm...@googlegroups.com

>>> <mailto:pm...@googlegroups.com>

>>> To unsubscribe, send email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com

>>> <mailto:pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com>
>>> Visit the PMJS web site at www.pmjs.org <http://www.pmjs.org/>

>>> Contact the group administrator at edi...@pmjs.org

>>> <mailto:edi...@pmjs.org>

[萬井良大]

Dear Prof Matthew Stavros

This article of Yomiuri is not precise. Buddha's ashes are usually stored in Ho-ju（宝珠）, a prat of So-rin（相輪）, which install on the top of the pagoda. Because So-rin is the stupa. Certainly, due to the structure of the pagoda, So-rin is on the central pillar. But this reporter should write "in the So-rin", not "on the central pillar". Anyway, this case is not remarkable from the viewpoint of the place where the Buddha's ashes is stored.

Sincerely,


Yoshihiro Manny, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar
Institute for the Japanese Folk Culture
Kanagawa University

[Matthew Stavros]

Dear Manny-sensei,

This is very interesting. So the hōju was inside the bronze finial! I had no idea! There's certainly plenty of space in there. 

Thanks very much. This leads me into new directions. 

Matthew Stavros, PhD 

Ludi Magister | Director of Asian Studies 

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 

The University of Sydney 

Asian Studies @ Sydney 

matthew...@sydney.edu.au 

www.mstavros.com | www.kyotohistory.com

[Cynthea Bogel]

Dear colleagues,

Akiko Walley asked me to forward this. 

Dear colleagues and friends,

Thank you, Cynthea, for forwarding the message to me. I am not sure the link has already been circulated, but the NHK news includes a video showing exactly how the reliquary was discovered:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/nara/20181114/2050001434.html

It appears that the reliquary was discovered from a niche carved into the heart pillar. As far as I can tell, none of the reports mention anything about the outermost cylindrical container. This may indicate that scholars estimate this outermost container to date from sometime later than the nested reliquary discovered within. The NHK clip shows what seems to be a cloth that was wrapping the outermost bronze container of the reliquary, which seems to have an inscription on it. The inscription might say something about the circumstances of the enshrinement (or re-enshrinement?) of the reliquary. I also have not found any report on whether or not the inner-most gold container included anything inside.

The placement of the reliquary is very intriguing because according to Nihon shoki, when Soga no Umako enshrined relics into the pagoda he established at the "north of Ohno no Oka" in 585, it was placed "at the top" (塔頭), though we don't exactly know where this "top" was. Also, some of the early base stones for the heart pillars (most notably the one discovered from the former site of Ikarugadera -- a/k/a "Wakakusa Garan") do not come with a cavity for a reliquary. In such instances, it is speculated that the relic(s) was placed elsewhere. The offerings to the relics from the site of pagoda at the Niji Haiji were discovered inside the indentation for the heart pillar carved into the top of the base stone (柱座). Because the base stone did not come with an additional cavity for a reliquary, I believe one hypothesis is that the reliquary was paced into some sort of a niche carved directly into the heart pillar. 

In any case, the reports are not kidding when they say there are a few examples of complete nested reliquaries remaining from this period. This is truly an incredible find. 

Truly,

Akiko Walley

Maude I. Kerns Associate Professor of Japanese Art

Department of the History of Art and Architecture

College of Design

University of Oregon

Cynthea J. Bogel

Professor, Kyushu University 

[yenyichan]

Dear Professor Matthew and all, 

This might be of interest to you. The original Five-storied Pagoda built in 730 at Kofukuji enshrined crystal pagoda reliquaries on each floor except the first one. Kōfukuji ruki gives a detailed account of the appearance of the reliquaries and their location in the pagoda. Kobayashi Yūko discusses these reliquaries in her book, Kōfukuji sōkenki no kenkyū 興福寺創建期の研究 (see pp. 175-177) and notes that Hasedera Dōban Hokke seppōzū 長谷寺銅版法華説法図, dated to the seventh century, shows a three-storied pagoda with a reliquary placed on the top level. For the record in Kōfukuji ruki, see Kōfukuji ruki, in Dai Nihon Bukkyō zensho, vol. 123 (Tokyo: Bussho Kankōkai, 1978), 11.

Sincerely,

Yen-Yi Chan 

[Matthew Stavros]

Dear All,

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I have a lot of study to do. 

Matthew Stavros, PhD 

Ludi Magister | Director of Asian Studies 

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences 

The University of Sydney 

Asian Studies @ Sydney 

matthew...@sydney.edu.au 

www.mstavros.com | www.kyotohistory.com

--