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On the Development of Buddhist Visualization in Central Asia: A Comparative Study of Art and Text

Research Project

Project/Area Number 16520045
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field Indian philosophy/Buddhist studies
Research InstitutionTokyo University of Agriculture

Principal Investigator

YAMABE Nobuyoshi  Tokyo University of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Professor, 農学部, 教授 (40222377)

Project Period (FY) 2004 – 2006
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
Budget Amount *help
¥3,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
KeywordsBuddhist visualization texts / Guanfo sanmei hai jing / Guan wuliangshou jing / consecration / Guanjing bianxiang / Turfan / Dunhuang / mural paintings / Yogalehrbuch / 莫高窟 / 楡林窟 / 文献 / 美術 / 禅観僧壁画 / トヨク石窟 / バイシハル石窟 / クチャ / キジル石窟
Research Abstract

1. Visionary consecration is a common image in Buddhist visualization texts. This is a mystical experience in which the meditator encounters various deities (like Brahma and Indra) in his vision and is consecrated by them. In this experience, the liquid sprinkled by these deities enters the head of the practitioner and fills his body. I believe this image originally came from the legend that the Buddha was consecrated by Brahma and Indra just after his birth. This originally legendary motif was at some point combined with the old meditative image of gratification and happiness filling the body like water, and another legendary motif of rays of light entering the head of the Buddha. Thus, the alleged experience of the Buddha was internalized and became something that the meditator could experience by himself.
2. In my doctoral dissertation, I argued that the Guanfo sanmei hai jing was an apocryphal text compiled in the Turfan area in the fifth century based on prior Chinese texts. This time I tried to demonstrate the availability of those source texts in the Turfan area in that period by pointing out the existence of early manuscripts of the relevant texts found there.
3. Guanjing bianxiang are paintings supposedly based on the Amitayus Visualization Sutra. However, relatively late pieces of Guanjing bianxiang in Dunhuang substantially deviate from the Amitayus Visualization Sutra. Namely, these paintings contain many objects of visualization not mentioned in the sutra, and the arrangement of the items of visualization does not agree with the system of the sutra, either. I believe both of these phenomena were caused by the misunderstanding of previous paintings of the same motif on the part of the painters. In other words, the painters based their works on their own artistic traditions and were not directly guided by any textual tradition.

Report

(4 results)
  • 2006 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 2005 Annual Research Report
  • 2004 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (13 results)

All 2006 2005 Other

All Journal Article (7 results) Book (6 results)

  • [Journal Article] Could Turfan Be the Birthplace of Visualization Sutras?2006

    • Author(s)
      Nobuyoshi Yamabe
    • Journal Title

      In Xinjiang Tulufan Diqu Wenwuju, ed., Tulufanxueyanjiu : Dierjie Tulufanxue Guojixueshuyantaohui lunwenji

      Pages: 419-430

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Fragments of the "Yogalehrbuch" in the Pelliot Collection2006

    • Author(s)
      Nobuyoshi Yamabe
    • Journal Title

      In Dieter Schlingloff, Ein buddhistisches Yogalehrbuch, Buddhismus-Studien vol.5

      Pages: 325-347

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Visionary Consecration : A Meditative Reenactment of the Buddha's Birth

    • Author(s)
      Nobuyoshi Yamabe
    • Journal Title

      Forthcoming in Christoph Cueppers, ed., The Birth of the Buddha

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Could Turfan Be the Birthplace of Visualization Sutras?

    • Author(s)
      Nobuyoshi Yamabe
    • Journal Title

      第二届吐魯番学国際学術研討会論文集 (中国語訳の上掲載予定)(仮題・中国語・掲載予定)

    • Related Report
      2005 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Buddhist Visualization in Central Asia : Textual and Artistic Evidence

    • Author(s)
      Nobuyoshi Yamabe
    • Journal Title

      Life and Religion on the Silk Road (韓国語訳の上掲載予定)(仮題・韓国語・掲載予定)

    • Related Report
      2005 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] 観仏経典研究における『観仏三昧海経』の意義

    • Author(s)
      山部能宜
    • Journal Title

      東隆眞博士古稀記念論集『禅の真理と実践』 (掲載予定)

    • Related Report
      2004 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Visionary Consecration : A Meditative Reenactment of the Buddha's Birth

    • Author(s)
      Nobuyoshi Yamabe
    • Journal Title

      The Birth of the Buddha (掲載予定)

    • Related Report
      2004 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] 吐魯番学研究 : 集二届吐魯番学国際学術研討会論文集2006

    • Author(s)
      新疆吐魯番地区文物局
    • Total Pages
      450
    • Publisher
      上海辞書出版社
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Book] Ein buddhistisches Yogalehrbuch2006

    • Author(s)
      Dieter Schlingloff
    • Total Pages
      347
    • Publisher
      IUDICIUM
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report 2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Book] Silkeu-Rodeu-eu sam-gwa jong-gyo (シルクロードの生と宗教)2006

    • Author(s)
      Jung-ang-Asia Hakhoe(中央アジア学会)
    • Total Pages
      283
    • Publisher
      Sam-gyejeol Chulpan-sa (三季節出版社)
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Book] 吐魯番学研究 : 第二届吐魯番学国際学術研討会論文集2006

    • Author(s)
      新疆吐魯番地区文物局
    • Total Pages
      450
    • Publisher
      上海辞書出版社
    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] Silk-Rodeu-eu sam-gwa jong-gyo (シルクロードの生と宗教)2006

    • Author(s)
      Jung-ang-Asia Hakhoe(中央アジア学会)
    • Total Pages
      283
    • Publisher
      Sam-gyejeol Chulpan-sa (三季節出版社)
    • Related Report
      2006 Annual Research Report
  • [Book] 東隆眞博士古稀記念論集 禅の真理と実践2005

    • Author(s)
      東隆眞博士古稀記念論文集刊行会
    • Total Pages
      642
    • Publisher
      春秋社
    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2006 Final Research Report Summary

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Published: 2004-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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