true. Besides this there are the Four Guardian Kings, or Shitenno, which face the four directions on the altar of the Hōryū-ji Kondō, and the six standing bosatsu also at Hōryū-ji. Then there is an interesting group of bronze images called the forty-eight Buddhas, as well as the charming carvings of angels and phoenixes hanging from the canopy in the Kondō at Hōryū-ji.
BUDDHIST PAINTING OF THE ASUKA PERIOD
There can be little doubt that painting flourished along with architecture and sculpture during the Asuka period, but because of the fragile nature of the material, few examples have survived. In fact the paintings on the sides of the Tamamushi Shrine, formely on the altar in the Kondō at Hōryū-ji and now in the treasure house of this temple, are almost the only authentic Asuka paintings which have come down to us. This miniature shrine was called Tamamushi after the jewel insects whose irridescent wings were originally used to decorate the lovely honeysuckle-design metalwork which ornaments the shrine. The paintings themselves are of great importance historically and iconographically, as well as being of considerable artistic merit. Executed in a mixture of lacquer and a kind of oil paint called mitsuda, they are the earliest oil paintings in the world. It must be added that the Japanese did not develop this technique any further, although there are some isolated examples of oil painting in the Shōsō-in from the Nara period.
On the door of the little shrine are pictures of two Niō or, Guardian Kings, like those in the chūmon at Hōryū-ji. Derived originally from Hinduism, they were incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon as minor deities who protected the holy place against evil spirits. On the other sides of the shrine are paintings of bodhisattvas holding lotus flowers, figures which are done in a graceful, flowing style reminiscent of the Six Dynasties period paintings at the great cave temples at Tun Huang. On the back side is a mountain landscape with three pagodas, in which Buddhas are seated surrounded by rakan, or holy men, Buddhist angels, phoenixes, and the sun and the moon.
The high pedestal is decorated with four additional paintings, the loveliest of which is the one showing an episode from the previous incarnation of Buddha as Prince Siddharta (Plate 19). This story tells how the Blessed One, when wandering upon a mountainside, sees a starving tigress with her seven cubs. Moved by compassion, he immediately decides to give up his own life so that the tigress and her young can feed upon his body. The artist, who portrays the episode in simple and naive terms, represents three different phases of the story within the same painting. In the upper part the Buddha is seen disrobing himself; in the center he is throwing himself over the cliff; and at the bottom the tigress and her young are eating his body.
The style of the painting is extremely abstract, yet at the same time the sophisticated technique suggests that this is not a primitive type of painting evolved in Japan but an adaptation of the style of painting which flourished in China during the Six Dynasties period. The treatment of space is very two-dimensional, with the black lacquer used for the background. Against this the artist has painted in different colored lacquers, using red for the garments and some of the rocks, and green and yellow for the trees and bushes and also for other rocks and parts of the figures. The forms themselves are very stylized and the elongated bodies, which recall the slender and graceful figure of the "Kudara Kannon," reflect the style of the Sui dynasty of China. Even more abstract is the treatment of the mountainside, where rocks and rolling hills are reduced to an ornamental pattern that gives the design a striking sense of movement. A further element of movement is introduced by the descending vertical of the figure which leads the eye from the upper left to the lower right and thus, both in terms of the story as well as the design, unites the different parts of the picture. The empty space of the background is brought to life by the delicate patterns of the bamboo, as well as by the falling lotus flowers in the upper half and the hanging willow and small pines at the left. The total effect is both accomplished and charming, indicating what heights Buddhist painting had already achieved by the end of the Asuka period.
Plate 11. Aerial View of Hōryū-ji, Nara. Asuka period.
Plate 12. Kondō (Golden Hall), Hōryū-ji, Nara. Asuka period.
Plate 13. Five-Story Pagoda, Hōryū-ji, Nara. Asuka period.
Plate 14. Cloister and Central Gate, Hōryū-ji, Nara. Asuka period.
Plate 15. Tori Bushi Trinity. Asuka period.
Plate 16. Kudara Kannon. Asuka period.
Plate 17. Miroku Bosatsu (detail). Asuka period.
Plate 18. Miroku Bosatsu. Asuka period.
Plate 19. Jataka Scene, Tamamushi Shrine.
Plate 20. Gilded Bronze Banner. Asuka period.
THE CRAFTS OF THE ASUKA PERIOD
Although very few examples have been preserved, literary accounts leave little doubt that Japan of the sixth and seventh centuries was also productive in crafts. The Tamamushi Shrine shows the skill which had been developed in the art of lacquer and metalwork, and there certainly must have been many other works in these media which have perished during the intervening centuries. The most outstanding example of Asuka metalwork surviving today is the famous gilded bronze banner, or ban, which was used for ceremonial occasions at Hōryū-ji (Plate 20). It consists of a square canopy, strings of gems, and metal banners, the main one of which is five meters long. The design on the canopy shows Apsarases, or music-making Buddhist angels, while the hanging sections portray bodhisattvas, Apsarases, and Buddhist reliquaries. The workmanship, which is both skillful and delicate, shows a style quite similar to that of the Tamamushi Shrine—in fact the vine motif in the border is almost identical in both. This motif is, interestingly enough, a very ancient one which comes from Korea and China and was originally derived from even more distant countries. The emphasis in the bronze banner is upon the flowing, rhythmical movement of draperies and flying figures, a movement which is reinforced by the use of incised lines. The draperies swirl in charming arabesques, and the figures, which are elongated like those in the sculptures and paintings of the period, have a freedom which makes them virtually float in the air. Often a body is reduced to a simple, curving form, but it is rendered so skillfully that it creates a fine suggestion of reality. There is a strong over-all pattern, also very beautiful, which is achieved by the contrast of the gilded bronze with the cut-out areas.
In the field of pottery, the output of the Asuka period was probably much less remarkable, if we can judge from the scanty remains. Apparently Sue ware similar to that of the grave-mound period continued to be made, the body dark grey and at times covered
