Mandala of Making Pilgrimages to Buddhist Temples and Shinto shrines : A Study from the aspects of historiography, Iconography and Historical Geography

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Aim: The religious, social and intellectual aspects of the transition from late medieval to early modern times in Japan has so far been largely neglected by historians, although clues to these aspects can be found in such contemporary popular paintings as mandalas of pilgrimages to religious establishments. This study aims to conduct a basic survey of historical sources concerning the production of these paintings, to locate available art works throughout the country and build up a database of their design and iconography, and to examine the lives of the racontours who preached on the stories embodied in the mandala as well as reconstructing the routes depicted in the individual art works.Results: In the first two years of the proposed study, the group headed by Professor Kuroda has attained the following results, although many of them are not yet fully com-pleted: (1) Based on oral and written inquiries, and with reference to a published il-lustrated catalogue compiled by the Osaka Ci … More ty museum, a database for information on the about 200 original art works located has been substantially prepared; (2) After repeated surveys of present-day conditions at the 33 Kannon Monasteries in the neighbor-hood of Kyoto, a preliminary report on the pilgrimage to Kiyomizu-dera has been com-pleted for publication and preparations for similar reports have been made concerning Sefukuji in Osaka and Chomeiji in Shiga; (3) Basic surveys are also in progress for sources relating to folk worship, popular entertainers and socially marginal persons; (4) On the various texts of the Kanshin jikkai mandara (The Ten Spiritual Worls Mandala) already located, photographed and examined, a full paper entitled "The Cosmos of Kan-shin Jikkai Mandala" was completed, and printed in the official report of this project to the Monbusho; and (5) Efforts made to clarify the symbolic meaning of such items as the sun and moon, clouds, mountains and rocks, rivers, ponds and the sea, trees and bushes, as well as characters, depicted in the framework of mandalas will, within two years, be published in the form of articles. Less