Granoff 1970_Tobatsu Bishamon E&W 20 1970

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Tobatsu Bishamon: Three Japanese Statues in the United States and an Outline of the Rise ofThis Cult in East AsiaAuthor(s): Phyllis GranoffReviewed work(s):Source: East and West, Vol. 20, No. 1/2 (March-June 1970), pp. 144-168Published by: Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29755507.

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Tobatsu Bishamon: Three Japanese Statuesin the United States and an Outlineof the Rise of This Cult in East Asia

The Tobatsu Bishamon-ten(a) is a distinctive form of Vaisravana, the Guardian of theNorth inBuddhist cosmology. The worship of thisdeitywas introduced ntoJapan in theEarly Heian period. From the 9th cent. A.D. through the Kamakura period his imageswere made in abundance throughout the country. The earliest of them were distinguishedfrommore usual representations f theKing of theNorth by their extremelyrigid andfrontal pose, elaborate Central Asian armour, and standing on Prthivi, the goddess of theearth.

The name ? Tobatsu ? appears only in Japanese sources, not in Chinese or any otherlanguage. It is a phonetic transcription of a foreign name whose precise meaning is ob?scure. Speculation on this problem can be found as early as the Kamakura period iconographical treatises. These texts generally agree that the word refers either to a specificcountry or to a type of armour (*). Modern scholars have sought to interpret the appella?tion along these two lines.

R. A. Stein has presented the most plausible explanation of ? Tobatsu ? as a geogra?phical referent.According to him, the term is equivalent to theTurkish ?Tubbat ? whichdesignatedTurkestan andmore specifically he kingdom of Khotan As we shall seelater, this theory is particularly attractive in the light of the importance of the TobatsuBishamon-ten at Khotan itself.

Japanese scholars, on the other hand, have seen in ? Tobatsu ? a reference to Tibet.They base their suppositions upon an alternate reading of the name given in the Ky?inbukkaku-sho^ and the Sanmond?sha-ki{d) where ? Tu-han ?, the Japanese term forTibet, isgiven togetherwith themore usual ?Tobatsu ? (3). The main difficulties ith this ex?planation are that 1) the Japanese already had a commonly accepted way to write the ? Tu

(*)' I should like to acknowledge my apprecia?tion of the kind assistance of Professors J. Rosenfield,M. Nagatomi and J.High-tower of HarvardUniversity.

(1) K. Ikawa, ? Chiten ni Sasaerareta Bishamonten Ch?z?-Tobatsu Bishamon ni tsuite no Ichikansatsu?, BK, 229, July 1963, p. 13. Theearliestwritten evidence for the name Tobatsu inJapan is in theBessonzakki, a compilation of iconographical studies made by the Shingon monk

Shinkaku (b> (1117-1180 A.D.).(2) R. A. Stein, Recherches sur Vepopee etle Bard au Tibet, Paris, 1959, p. 283.


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han ? of Tibet which is different romthe charactershere employed,and 2) aswe shall seebelow, the deity has no connection with that country. Stein has better understood thisalternate reading as indicative of a general confusion between the correct Tubbat? CentralAsia orKhotan and thedesignation forTibet in thePang dynasty (4).

Following the second hypothesis, that Tobatsu is the name of a garment, MatsumotoBunzabur? has maintained that it denotes the long-skirted coat the god often wears. Hehas derived his theoryfroma Ch'ing dynasty traveldiary inwhich the longovercoat of theTibetans is designated by a word of the same pronunciation written in different characters.He has traced the word back to the Han dynasty text on language, the Shuo Wen, andfurther connected it with the Central Tibetan term dug-po (coat, garment, dress). Ma?tsumoto has also attempted to account for the absence of the name ? Tobatsu ? in Chinesetextsby assuming that theword belonged to a dialect thatdid not gain currency n literaticircles until after the texts treatingthisdeity had alreadybeen completed (5). This theoryis interesting in itself; however, considering the fact that the Kamakura works cited abovedo seem to favor the first hypothesis, and that the phonetic relationship between dug-po(coat) and ? Tobatsu ? is not at all convincing, I would tend to support Stein's proposal.

The exotic Tobatsu or ? Khotanese ? Bishamon-ten seems to have been an importantobject of devotion not only inmedieval Japan but inChina and Central Asia as well. Inan effort to understand the origins and the nature of his worship, this paper will introducethree Heian period statues of Tobatsu Bishamon now in the United States and proceed toa more general discussion of the reasons for his widespread popularity. It will propose thehypothesis that the cult ofTobatsu Bishamon can be roughly divided into two majorphases: 1) a Central Asian phase in which the god seems to have been associated with acult of deifiedkings, and 2) a Chinese and Japanese phase inwhich he seems to have beenworshipped alongwith native folk spiritsfor protection and prosperity. Finally, it willsuggest that a prototype can be found for the Tobatsu Bishamon-ten in Kushan period rep?resentations of the composite deity, Pharo-P?ncika-Kuver a-Vaisravana.

I. Three Japanese Statues of Tobatsu Bishamon

The Tobatsu in the SeattleMuseum (fig. 1) is 47 Vi inches inheight and ismade ofw^ood which shows traces of gesso and polychromy. The figure wears armour in the styleof T'ang dynasty guardian deities, and rests on the hands of a small female who seems toemergefrom the earth. He holds a st?pa in his lefthand and probably originallyheld alance inhis right.His four-sided rown is decorated with a heraldic bird on its centralpanel.

(4) Stein, op. cit., p. 283 and note 124, p. 313.(5) B. Matsumoto, ? Tobatsu Bishamonk? ?, Bukky?-shi Zakk?, Osaka, 1944, pp.306 ff.

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This piece is similar to a number of statues of Tobatsu Bishamon which are said tohave come from Hy?go and Tottori prefectures in Central Japan, and which can be roughlydated to the 10th or 11th cent.A.D.; forexample, figs. 2 and 3 from Tasshin-ji inHy?go (6). All of these images shouldbe seen in relation to the oldest Japanese represen?tations of Tobatsu Bishamon which seem to have been based upon the celebrated statue atT?ji (fig.4), indisputably work ofChinese origin of the late 9th or early 10th cent.A.D. (7). A brief examinationof theT?ji Tobatsu and the closely relatedpieces at Seiry?ji(fig. 5) and Kuramadera (fig. 6) provides us, moreover, with a neat illustration of the strik?ing artistic transformation of this deity from a forbiding exotic figure into a softer, moreJapanese image, less rigidly frontal in stance and less complicated by elaborate surfacedetail.

The T?ji Tobatsu is 70 Vz incheshigh and ismade ofChinese cherrywood. Accord?ing to native tradition, which conflicts with the now certain foreign origin of the statue,itwas made at the timeof theEmperor Sujaku in the second year of the eraTengy? (938

A.D.) during the Tengy? rebellion, an insurrection of the Taira and Minamoto clans. Thestatue was placed upon the Rash?mon, the south gate of the capital. On the ninth day oftheseventhmonth of thefirstyear of theEmperor Eny? when the gate was destroyed ina typhoon, twas moved to theJikid? atT?ji. During the reign of the Emperor Nink?(1817-1846) the statue was again moved to the Bishamon-d? (8).The T?ji Tobatsu is characterizedby itsmarked frontality, lender torso and a dis?tinct tribhanga posture which seems to emphasize the narrowness of the waist and almostdisproportionate length of the limbs. The scaled armour, with its characteristic ring patternon the sleeves, is depicted with utmost detail, producing a complex visual interplay of geo?metric shapes. The chest ornaments, possibly representations of the sun and moon, bearsome resemblances to the breast pendants of the Persian monarchs depicted on Sasaniansilver vessels; and the body proportions and style of dress with their linear emphasis relatethis image to thefiguresappearing in the 6th and 7th cent.A.D. paintings in theCentralAsian oases ofQumtur? andQyzyl (9). Prthivi, inT'ang dynastydress, is flankedby twoyaksas who are identified according to the texts as Niranba and Biranba(f) (10).The Seiry?jiTobatsu is slightly ater in date and thoughan obvious copy of theT?jistatue exhibits several significant changes in the treatment of the body and the armour. Thesculptor has eliminated the elaborate rendering of the scales on the skirt and breast, leav?ing only the chest ornaments and chains, and the lion mask at the waist. The torso seems

(6) Ikawa, op. cit., p. 22. This articleprovidesa compact summary of the major examples ofTobatsu Bishamon in Japan. Figs. 2, 3, 7, arereproduced from this source.(7) Asahi Shimbun, ed., T?ji, Tokyo, 1958,p. 23.

(8) N. Yamamoto, Toji-enryaku-shi, Kyoto,1916, p. 87. The account of theT?ji statue on theRash?mon is first given, not without doubt, by

thepriestG?h? (1306-1362 A.D.) in theT?b?ki .(9) R. Ghirshman, Persian Art, New York,1962, pis. 245, 246, 249, 250; A. Gr?nwedel,Bilderatlas zur Kunst und Kulturgeschichte MittelAsiens, Berlin, 1925, figs. 86, 102.(10) According to the Vajrabodhi (Kong?chi)translation of the Humu-kadaya-giki (g), Taish?Daiz?ky? (hereafter abbreviated Taish?), 21,p. 235a.

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fuller, feeling conveyedperhaps by the reductionof the triplebreak of thebody, and bythe new smooth surface of the armour which seems to ease the transition from the inden?ted waist to the hips by allowing the eye to pass uninterruptedly from one area to the next.Prthivi and the two yaksas have been simplified y the reduction of the decorativemassof vegetation in front of the goddess, again permitting the viewer to grasp at once the essen?tial elements of the sculpture.

The Kuramadera Tobatsu shows even further reduction of extraneous detail, therebyminimizing the foreign appearance of the deity, who now conforms more to native aestheticdemands. The chains connecting the breast plates have been eliminated, and a decorativefloral pattern runs along the borders of the armour. The torso is shorter and squatter incomparison to the above statues, and much of the austere majesty of the god seems to havebeen lost by this alteration in body proportions. The facial features show more exaggeratedmodelling and less reliance on sharp diagonal contrasts to convey the forbidding aspects ofthedeity. The figure f Prthivi, too,has lost itsexoticflavourand ismore inkeepingwiththe ideal of feminine beauty of the aristocratic Fujiwara court. Although no specific infor?

mation is available on the circumstances surrounding this particular statue, it might bementioned in closing that the temple inwhich it is foundhas a longhistoryof connectionwith the worship of Vaisravana. Kuramadera, a mountain-top monastery a few miles duenorthof the capital,was supposedlyestablished in 797 A.D. in compliancewith thewishesof Fujiwara Isebito(h),a courtnoble who was then associated with the building of T?ji.According to legend, Isebito had prayed to Avalokitesvara in a dream and had seen insteadVaisravana, who led him to the site where he later ordered Kuramadera to be built C1).

Returning to the Seattle piece, it is apparent that the strange Central Asian lookingTobatsu statues of the Early Heian period have has been turned into more completely Japa?nese figures by the very process outlined above. The slender waist and elongated torso havebeen entirely forgotten, and angular rigidity is exchanged for circular contours. The smoothcurvesof thebody are skillfully choed in the long sleeves which gradually lead the eyearound the form. In this way are reduced both the abruptness of the extensions of thearms and the triangularity of the costume-features which had given the earlier works muchof their formidable character.

Prthivi has assumed the appearance of a native Shinto goddess, abandoning the lasttraceof her foreign riginby discarding theT'ang high coiffure.The modelling of her face,in its fullness and emphasis on convex surfaces, has toned down the sharper concavitiesof the previous works. She bears the characteristically soft ambiguity and blandness ofrepresentations of native goddesses, seen, for example, in the statues at the Matsu-no-oshrine in Kyoto and the Kumano-hayatama shrine inWakayama prefecture (r2)

i11) A. Yutaka, ? Tohan Kaisetsu ?, Bukky?Bijutsu, 15, 1930, p. 63.(12) For illustrations see B. Kurata, ?Mikky?Jiin to J?gan Ch?koku?, Genshoku Nihon noBijutsu, 5, Tokyo, 1967, pp. 202-203, figs. 138,140, 142.

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The rough carvingof the Seattle piece betrays its provincial origin and relates it toworks like the twoTobatsu fromHy?go prefecture pictured in figs. 2 and 3. It too isprobably a product of the late 10th cent. A.D. and the central region of Japan.

The Tobatsu in the collection ofHoward Hollis (fig.7) similarly elongs to thegroupofTobatsu fromCentral Japan (13). It is 49 Vk inches in height and is constructed of asinglepiece ofwood which retains tracesof gesso and polychromy. he lefthand and rightarm are said to be later additions (14). The figure wears armour similar to that of theSeattleTobatsu, although itsbody proportions are slightly ifferent. The Hollis statue isslenderand seems lessfixed and rigid. This impression s to be attributedperhaps to themarked slant of the head, the tall crown, and the absence of the long sleeves, which in theSeattle piece served to carry the eye downward to the base of the statue, confining it to amore limited space. The crown bears five Buddha figures on the front panel, and a smallboy holding a censeron the left. Ikawa has suggestedthatthe childmay be Zennishi(l), theson of Bishamon according to the Humu-kadaya-giki C5). The statue probably dates fromthe mid 11th cent. A.D.

The statue of Tobatsu (h. 34 Vi inches) from hecollectionofChristianHumann nowin theDenver Museum (fig.8) is similartoboth the above in its simplificationfmuch ofthedetail of the earlierHeian works. The short squat figure is, however, still cruder inexecution. The curves of the body are only barely articulated from the stump of wood,and the costume is indicated by flat surface relief. The naive modelling technique is re?mote from the masterful attention to detail seen in the more sophisticated T?ji, Seiry?ji,and Kuramadera Tobatsu, and brings this work close indeed to the numerous anonymousrepresentations of folk deities found all over Japan.

In summary, these three statues of Tobatsu Bishamon all belong to the late 10th or11th cent. A.D., and are most likely provincial works from Central Japan. They representa reinterpretation of the exotic Tobatsu in conformity with native Japanese tastes, and sharethe same crude folk elements seen not only in the simplified execution of the main figure,but also in the transformation of Prthivl from an elegant T'ang princess into a modestShinto goddess.

2. The Worship ofTobatsu Bishamon in japanThe earliest image of Tobatsu Bishamon inJapan is said tobe a drawing in the iconographical textknown as theDaigoji-zuz5sh?(i) (fig. ). It bears a date ofK?nin twelfth ear(821 A.D.) and thename of K?kai's disciple Chisen. The sketch is probably a Kamakura

(13) Ikawa, op. cit., p. 23. The piece is alsodiscussed by J. Rosenfield, Japanese Arts of theHeian Period, New York, 1967, pp. 107-108.


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period copy of a 9th cent, original, which had perhaps been transmitted to Japan from Chi?na byK?kai and his immediate followers (16). Like theT?ji Tobatsu, this figure s clad inthe long-skirted Central Asian armour. Care has been lavished upon depicting the scaledskirt and breast and the circular patterns of the sleeves. The two crossed swords at thewaist are skillfully decorated, as is the crown which shows a bird on the central panel andwings outstretched above it. The flame-like arcs coming from the shoulders form a brokennimbusencirclingthehead. Without going into furtherdetail, itmight be of interesttomention thatparallels to this typeof armour canbe foundatQyzyl andQumtur?; parallelsto the crossed swords occur at the same sites, in Sassanian Iran, and in Gandh?ran art in afigure robably representing kanda from ?fir Kot, now in theBritishMuseum (fig.10) (17).

Unfortunately, other images of Tobatsu Bishamon associated with Saich? and K?kai in theearlyHeian period have all disappeared. The Bessonzakki contains a drawing of the Tobatsuin theMonju-d? at Hiei-zan which bears an inscription stating that a similar statue could befound at the Zent?-in of the same temple (18).According to the Sanmond?sha-ki and the Ky?inbukkaku-sh?, heMonju-d? imagewas made by Saich? himself 19).

There are two statues of Tobatsu Bishamon in the Ry?k?-in and the Shinno-in at K?yasan (20); however, they are several hundred years later than K?kai and indicate only that theworshipof thisdeityenjoyed somepopularity at that entre f esotericBuddhism. Itmightbeof interest to pause in our discussion and briefly consider the relationship between the TobatsuBishamon-ten and esoteric Buddhist practices. We have already noted the presence of theChinese statue of Tobatsu at T?ji, one of the most important centres of Japanese esotericBuddhism.We shall laterpoint out thatAmoghavajra, one of the founders ofMikky? inChina is said to have translated most of the texts treating of Tobatsu Bishamon, and thathe also plays a major role in the An-hsi legendof the god. Despite all of this, it is sur?prising to find that the worship of Tobatsu seems to have flourished more as a folk cult inJapan and not as a part of thehighMikky? ritual. The god does not appear in any of themain mandalas of either the Shingon or Tendai sects. However, Mat sumo to Eiichi doesillustrate two images of Tobatsu from a minor mandala, the Hor?kaku Mandara^, nowpreserved in the Kanchi-in and the H?b?dai-in (21). The Hor?kaku Mandara is based upontheBuddhist s?tra entitledDai-h?-k?haku-r?kaku-ky?^ (Taish? 1005), which was firsttran?slatedby Amoghavajra and brought to Japan byK?kai and his followers. The text seemstohave been most popular in themiddle of the 11thcent.A.D. The ritesof theHor?kakuMandara described therein centre around the figure of the historical Buddha and are de?signed to procure for the worshipper absolution from sin and release for his already de

(16) T. Minamoto, ? Tobatsu Bishamon noKigen ?, Bukky? Bijutsu, 15, 1930, p. 46.(17)Gr?nwedel, op. cit., fig. 102; Ghirshman,op. cit. pis. 245, 246, 249, 250. The representationof Skanda is discussed by A. Foucher, Vartgreco-bouddhique du Gandh?ra, II, Paris, 1918,p. 123. The photograph is reproduced from hisfig. 373, where the god is incorrectly identified

as P?ncika.(1S) Bessonzakki, 54, no. 287; Taish? Zuz?, 3.T?ky?, 1937, pp. 439 ?.

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ceased loved ones (22). In the two examples of this mandala given by Matsumoto, To?batsu is distinguished from the more usual form of Vaisravana only by his Central Asianarmour, rigid frontal pose and polygonal crown. The figure of Prthivi has been replacedby a flat geometricplatform. It is possible that further research into theMikky? texts,particularly those associated with the name of Amoghavajra, might bring to light other con?crete evidence for the participation of Tobatsu Bishamon in the ceremonies of esotericBuddhism.

During the very same years as the H?r?kaku Mandat a seems to have enjoyed greatfavor, the worship of Tobatsu Bishamon also appears to have reached its peak. Most ofthe sixtyormore statuesof thisgod now known in Japanbelong to the 10th or the 11thcent. A.D. Written records of the same dates and of the following centuries likewise indicatea continuing interest in the Tobatsu Bishamon-ten.

The 14th cent. T?b?-ki provides important information as to the purposes and natureof the cult of thisdeity in Japan.Quoting from he records f theBuddhistmasterKakuin(m),it relates that an image of Tobatsu was placed on the Rashdmon in imitation of a practicebegun by the Pang Emperor Hs?an-tsung. During a barbarian invasion of An-hsi(n), the Chi?nese protectorate centring around Kuca, the Emperor in Ch'ang-an had enlisted the aid ofthe famed teacher of esoteric Buddhism, Amoghavajra. When Amoghavajra prayed toBishamon, a divine army appeared in far-off An-hsi, routing the enemy. Bishamon himselfstood resplendent upon the gates of the city (23).This legendwas transmitted o Japan in the form of a Buddhist s?tra entitled theHopp?-bishamon-tenn?-zui-gunpo-h?-shingon^ {Taish? 1248) which was supposedly trans?lated from the SanskritbyAmoghavajra. The text states that in 742 A.D. five hordes ofbarbarians attacked An-hsi, and Amoghavajra sought the aid of the monk I-hsing Ch'anshih(p). I-hsing recited a dh?rarii to Bishamon; during the twenty-seventh recitation, anarmed figure, Tu Chien(q), one of the sons of Bishamon, appeared to the monks with anarmy of several hundred soldiers. A report followed from An-hsi stating that on the verysameday thatTu Chien had appeared in the capital, amiracle had transpired t theCentralAsian outpost. A pack of rats had devoured the arms of the enemy; the earth had trem?bled violently, and the blazing form of Vaisravana had appeared on the city gates. In com?memoration of this event, the emperor ordered statues of this god to be erected on all townwalls (24). The s?tra concludes with a variety of mudr? and dh?rani to be used in prayerseffective against one's enemies. The same account of this An-hsi attack can also be foundin thebiographyofAmoghavajra in theSung Kao seng chuan,where he alone performsthe ceremonies to Bishamon-ten (25).

There are many inconsistencies in the different versions of this legend. On the basisof the following observations, Matsumoto Bunzabur? has concluded that the Hopp?-bisha

(22) S. Masumura, ?H?b?dai-in ni z?-suruH?r?kakumandara?, Kokka, 300, 1890, .p. 311.(23) T?b?ki, Zokuzoku Gunsh?rui-j?, 12, Sh?ky?bu, p. 21.(24) Taish?, 21, p. 228b.(25) Taish?, 30, p. 714.

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mon-tenn?-zui-gunpo-h?-shingon, its major source, must be a late T'ang or early NorthernSung fabrication 26): 1) the text is not included in theChen y?an-shih hiao lu(r)whichwascompleted in 800 A.D., twenty-six years after Amoghavajra's death; 2) Amoghavajra wasabsent from the capital just when he was supposed to have been rescuing An-hsi; 3) I-hsingdied fifteen years before the invasion is said to have taken place; 4) the authoritative bio?graphy of Amoghavajra, the Pu-K} ung-san-tsang Hsing-chuang of Chao Ch'ien(s) makes nomention of this incident;5) the legend is an obvious synthesis f other tales current nCen?tral Asia and China. For example, the story of rats devouring the arms of the enemybelongs to the tale ofKhotan relatedbyHsiian-tsang. The pilgrimheard thatonce the ratking had answered the Khotanese ruler's plea by sending such a troup of rodents to chewup the weapons of the attackers (27).

Despite its lack of historicity,thisAn-hsi legend is significant orus as it clearly in?dicates the source for the stationing f theT?ji Tobatsu on theRash?mon in theHeiancapital and the importance of this god as a protector against the threat of military violence.It is worthwhile to stop a moment and explore the political and religious conditions whichmight have furthered hepopularityof such a guardianfigure n 10th and 11th cent.Japan.

We have seen that the T?ji Tobatsu first appears in historical records in connectionwith theTengy? rebellion. The years immediatelyfollowing thisdate, if one may judgeftom the number of extant statues of Tobatsu belonging to this period, marked the heightof his popularity. These were also years of constant unrest and insecurity; theHonch?-seiki^which deals with thisperiod provides copious references o the difficultiesf the timesandthe measures adopted to protect the people from them (28). It might be of interest to notehere a fewof thepoints raisedby thisrecord. In the first year of Tengy? an earthquakeoccurred which lasted four months and culminated in a tidal wave of massive destructiveness. In order to save the country, the court ordered that the Ninn?-ky? be recited inall temples. In the third year of this era, when the Taira and Minamoto clans rose up, theaid of the Shinto deityHachiman was sought by the court.The rebellion continued severalyears and was followed by widespread famine in the provinces, rampant thievery, and moreearthquakes (29).

These unfailing hardships seem not only to have encouraged the worship of the wellknown Buddhist and Shinto protective deities, but also to have led to a new interest inheretofore unsought avenues of salvation. The same Honch?-seiki mentions that in the firstyear of Tengy? images of male and female deities, known as Funado-no Kamfn\ or gods ofthe crossroads, were placed on all intersecting paths in the capital in order to protect thepeople from invasion. In the fifth year of this era, the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, ahistorical figure later canonized as a deity of letters, is said to have revealed its divine

(26) Matsumoto, op. cit., pp. 283, 288 f.(27) Ta-T'ang Hsi-yu-chi, Kyoto TeikokuDaigaku, Bunkadaigaku S?sho, 12, pp. 2 f.(28) M. Shibata, Ch?sei Shomin Shinko noKenky?, Tokyo, 1966, pp. 105-109.P) Ibid., pp. 105-106.

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intentions (30). At the same time, the new Shinto deity Shidara(v) demanded frenzied devo?tionfromthe adherentstohis cult, and theworshippers of Daikoku-ten and Ebisu rapidlygrew in number (31).

The history of sculpture, especially in remote parts of Japan, amply documents thereligious climate of these centuries. Among the numerous images of Shinto or Shinto-Bud?dhist deitieswhich belong to thisperiodmight be mentioned the 11th cent, statueofZa?gongen(w), a Shinto manifestation of S?kyamuni, from the Sanbutsu-ji in Tottori prefecture,the crude anonymous wood representation of a Shinto god from the Kannon-ji in Aichiprefecture, and the image of Nij?(x) from Fukuyama (32). It might be surmised that just sucha religious atmosphere also gave great impetus to the cult of the curious Tobatsu Bishamonten, whose merits were further sanctified by the texts relating his glorious military vic?tories.

For further aspects of the worship of this deity, it is necessary to turn briefly to adiscussion of some of theotherBuddhist s?traswhich offer etailed accountsof the efficacyof devotion to this special form of Vaisravana on Prthivi. The Bussetsu-bishamon-tenn?ky? (Taish? 1245), translatedby Fa-t'ien in theSung dynasty, smainly concernedwith thewarlike attributes f thegod. It speaks at length of the value of the special dh?ranis insuch endeavours as splitting the heads of one's enemies (33). The Maka-vaishuramanayadaiba-shuresha-darani-giki{y) (Taish? 1246) maintains that he who calls upon Vaisravana willbe able to thereby procure all means of wealth and achieve fulfillment of any desire. Mantrasare given for every conceivable purpose ? from gaining the respect of one's superiors, toobtaining rain, summoning and banishing evil spirits, and repairing marital difficulties (34).

The Hopp?-bishamon-tamon-h?z?-tenn?-shimmy?-daram-betsu-g (Taish? 1250),which purports to be a translation from the Sanskrit by Amoghavajra, promises protectionfor both clerical and lay devotees, and destruction of all enemies of the Law (35). The nameof the text makes clear that Bishamon is here also regarded as a deity of wealth. TheBishamon-ten-gyd (Taish? 1244), again attributed to Amoghavajra, is simply a shortenedredaction of the Konk?my?-ky?, Shitenn?-bon{?\ to which we shall now turn.The Konk?my?-ky? or Suvarnaprabh?sa S?trawas probably composed during the earlyyears of the Gupta dynasty in India. It was first translated into Chinese in the NorthernLiang Dynasty (412-421 A.D.) byDharmaraksa and again in 552 A.D. by Param?rtha. Athird translation by Yasogupta appeared some ten years later, and in 597 A.D. a group of

(30) Ibid., p. 106.(31) Ibid., pp. 84-111; S. Ienaga, T. Akamatsu,T. Omuro, Nihon Bukky?-shi, Kyoto, n.d., 2,p. 372.(32) Sekai Bijutsu Zensh?, 5, T?ky?, 1962, fig.69; T. Kuno, Nippon no Ch?koku, 3, T?ky?,1964, figs. 14, 15, 31.(33) Taish?, 21, p. 218. It might be best to

note here that although none of the texts in thisdiscussion mentions Tobatsu by name, that theyare nonetheless devoted to this deity can be seenfrom their descriptions of the god as resting onPrthivi.(34) Taish?, 21, pp. 220a, 234a.(35) Taish?, 21, pp. 230a, 232c.

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monks made a new text by supplementing Dharmaraksa's translation with that of Param?rtha. In 703 A.D. I-ching retranslated the text from the original Sanskrit (36).

The first written evidence for the Suvarnaprabh?sa S?tra in Japan is an entry in theNihon-sh?ki dated 676 A.D. From this time onward its circulation throughout the countryis repeatedly noted in the historical chronicles (37).

The text opens with a philosophical discussion on the nature of the ultimate realityand an exposition of the fundamental truths of Buddhism. At the end of this dissertation,the emphasis shifts from metaphysical questions to more mundane concerns, an enumera?tionof themerits of recitingthis s?tra firstly,the armies of the kingwho adheres tothistextwill be strong, nd the rulerhimself will be freefrom nemies;his country ill beexempt from epidemics, and his life will be long and prosperous; secondly, the princes,princesses and imperial concubines will live together in harmony and be without slander andquarrels; thirdly, hepriests and the commonpeople alike will uphold the Buddhist Lawand sow their ields ofmerit; lastly,all will be protected by the fourLokap?las led byVaisravana, and all will strive thus unhindered towards enlightenment (38). Similar state?ments appear in later chapters, the Muken-kondo-zange-bon, Shitenn?-kansatsu-ninden-bon,and the Shitennd-gokoku-bonS^. Vaisravana is themain spokesman in all of these chapters,where he vows to defeat all armies which threaten the worshipful king, and conversely toforsake theneglectfulmonarch and thusbring upon him and his subjects all manner ofcalamities (39). The results of reciting the dh?rant to Vaisravana given here include findingburied treasure, understanding the speech of animals, and gaining one's wishes (40).

It is obvious from this review of selected texts related to Tobatsu Bishamon that hisworship was focused upon procuring for the devotee purely mundane benefits ? chieflysecurity from enemy attacks and wealth. The Suvarnaprabh?sa S?tra has added still anothernew and important dimension to his cult ? the close association of Vaisravana with theking.

Unfortunately, written records tell us next to nothing of devotion to Tobatsu Bishamonby the Japanese imperialcourt and military clans, although the chroniclesare fullof refer?ences to ceremonies involving the Suvarnaprabh?sa S?tra and to reverence paid the fourLokap?las. Outside of theT?ji, Seiry?ji and Kuramadera statues with their traditionalconnection to the official circles, there is no other positive evidence that this exotic formof theGuardian of theNorth was given special considerationby the imperialgroup.Another importantside of theworship ofTobatsu inJapanwhich this text illuminatesis the connectionof thisdeitywith Sri (Kichijo-ten) and Sarasvati (Benzai-ten). In the

(36) Introduction to theKonk?my?-ky? in theKakuyaku Daiz?ky?, 13, pp. 5 ff. The text hasbeen translated intoGerman by J.Nobel, Suvar?naprabh?sa S?tra (Das Goldglanz Sutra), 2 vols.,Leiden, 1958.(37) J. Imashiro, ?Nihon ni okeru Shitenn?

zo no Eigen ?, Bukkyo Geijutsu, 59, Dec. 1965,p. 65.(38) Konk?my?-ky?, Bunbetsu Sanshin-bon,pp. 34 ff.(39> Ibid., p. 113.(40) Ibid., p. 122.

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Shitenn?-gokoku-bon the devotee desirous of seeing Vaisravana is instructed to paint first animageof S?kyamuniwith Sri at his leftand Vaisravana at his right 41). The iconographicalstudies of the Kamakura period indicate that Sri was regarded as the wife of Bishamon-ten;the Bishamon-giki of Amoghavajra often named in these works represents her as his mainfollower (42). It is necessary to note that the chapter in the Suvarnaprabh?sa S?tra underdiscussion speaks only of Vaisravana and not of his special form as Tobatsu Bishamon;however, the close association of Vaisravana with Prthivi which is found in this text sug?gests the Tobatsu Bishamon-ten, and both the Khotanese emphasis upon Sri as the wife ofthegod and theCentralAsian paintingswhich pictureTobatsu with thegoddess justify urmention of the couple here. The presently known examples of Vaisravana and Sri fromJapan do seem, nonetheless, to prefer the more usual form of the god. The two are alsosometimes figured with Zennishi, who seems to have been regarded as their child. One ofthe most famous representations of this divine family is that on the Kuramadera shrine, theSri ofwhich bears a date of 1127 A.D. (43).A seconddepictionof thegroup is tobe foundat Shirasaka inRikuzen (the modernMiyagi prefecture),and has been attributed to Saich? (44). The devotion to thisensembleof parents and child seems to be of a differentcharacter than the worship of the fearsome Tobatsu as a guardian of the state, and probablybelongs to a more popular conception of religiontingedwith elementsof folkbeliefs.Thisbringsus to one of themost significant eaturesof theworship of this strange deity inmedieval Japan.

It was noted earlier that a marked transformation occurred between the first represen?tationsof Tobatsu Bishamon in theEarly Heian period and theFujiwara period depictionsof the god which tended to minimize his exotic aspects and to a rapprochement with imagesof native folk deities. This process was so striking in the case of Prthivi, that one writerhas gone so far as to identify he femalefigure on the Seattle Tobatsu (fig. 1) as Jing?K?g?(ac), the consort of the Emperor Ch?ai (traditional dates 192-200 A.D.) (45). There isdefinite evidence that attempts were made to assimilate Bishamon into the native pantheon,and at least one text reveals that Tobatsu Bishamon was not exempt from the amalgamationof Buddhist and Shinto gods so common from the 12th cent, onwards. In some areasVaisravana seems to have been regarded as a form of Hachiman (46). The Shint?-sh? ofSeikaku(ad) (1167-1235 A.D.) notes that he was also considered as the original form of Chichibu-daibosatsu (Chichibu-hiko-no-mikoto)(ae), the local deity of Musashi (47). This last factis particularly relevant to our study as the Shint?-sh? quotes mainly from the texts specifi?cally devoted to Tobatsu Bishamon. Lastly, Vaisravana was also included in the Shichi-fukujin, the seven gods of prosperity, whose worship was spread all over Japan (48).

(41) Ibid., p. 122.(42) Taish?, 21, p. 228c.(43) Yutaka, op. cit., pp. 56-66.(44) T. Yamada, ?Rikuzen Shirasaka no Bi?shamon-ten?, Ky?do Kenky?, 3, no. 3, p. 160.(45) R.E. Fuller, Japanese Art in the Seattle

Museum, Seattle, 1960, entry 34. I have notbeen able to locate the source for this identification.(46) Yamada, op. cit., p. 161.(47)Musashi Rokush? Daimy?jinji (Shint?-sh?,23), p. 98.(48) Koji-rui-en, Shingi-bu, p. 88.

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In summary, this account of the worship of Tobatsu Bishamon in Japan has revealedthe following: 1) Tobatsu Bishamon was worshipped according to the texts as a god of pros?perity nd protection; 2) outside of the fewKy?to statues there is no evidence of official

patronage of his cult, rather his images tend to resemble those of the local Shinto gods.This observation has led us to suppose that his major devotees were probably the commonpeople, amongwhom the deitymust have lost his exotic flavour as he merged with themembers of the local pantheon. 3) Lastly, the socio-religious atmosphere in which the cultofTobatsu flourishedwas marked by rapid political upheavals and natural disasters, andby a feverish interest in a wide variety of practices designed to obtain mundane benefits andsecurity.

3. Tobatsu Bishamon inChinaIt is possible that the earliest representations of Tobatsu in China are the 5th cent.

A.D. guardian figures at Yiin-kang, Cave 8 (fig. 11). They are two of a set of four such andwear winged caps. Both hold lances in one hand; in the other are elongated objects whichmight be regarded as vajras or as money purses. These figures seem to stand at a higherlevel than the other two. This suggests that perhaps there is something under their feet;however, the stone is too abraded to conclude that the sculptures rest on the bust of awoman. Both Soper and Omura Seigai have, nonetheless, proposed the identification ofthese Yiin-kang figures with Vaisravana (49).From these ambiguous dvarap?las to the firstpositively identifiableobatsu Bishamonstatues is a gap of several hundred years. The earliest, fig. 12, is from Szechwan, ChiungHsia, Lung-hsing-ssu(af) (50). It is published as an early T'ang work, but it is possibly evenearlier. The slender form, triangular contours of the skirt, and the delineation of the cir?cular patterns on the arms and leg gear all clearly relate this figure to themore sophisticatedT?ji Tobatsu; however, the benevolent facial expression and the relaxed pose are unique.The treatment f the tinyformof Prthivi between the legs of this statue is similar to thehandling of the earth goddess in theRawak St?pa figure (fig. 13) and the Taxila Visnu(fig. 14) which will be discussed below. Despite theobvious concern f the sculptor f thispiece with the elaborate details of ornamentation, the overall execution remains somewhatcrude. The large head seems to upset the balance of the whole, and the parts of the bodyare not at all organically conceived.

The Tobatsu from the Lung-hung-ssu, also in Szechwan, is far more refined than theprevious example and probably dates around themiddle or late 9th cent.A.D. (fig.15) (51).(49) A. Soper, Literary Evidence for EarlyBuddhist Art in China, Ascona, 1959, p. 234; S.Omura, Shina Bijut sushi, Tokyo, 1915, p. 184.(50) K. Sasaki, ?Tobatsu Bishamon-z? nitsuite no Ichikansatsu?, Bijutsu-shi, 38, vol. 10,2, Nov. 1960, p. 58.(51) The statue is introduced in J. Lartigue,

? Le Sanctuaire Bouddbique du Long Hong Sseu? Kia Ting?, RAA, V, 1928, pp. 35-38, whereit is incorrectly identified as Avalokitesvara.Unfortunately no further information about thistemple could be found. Fig. 15 is taken from thisarticle.

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The figurestandson Prthiviwho isflankedby Niranba and Biranba. He wears the longskirted Central Asian armour which, in its less angular and smoother contours, shows someconcessions to the more usual T'ang dynasty costume of guardian deities. Two arcs risefrom ither shoulder and encircle thehead in a wide sweep. The crown is the familiarfour-panelled one encountered in the T?ji Tobatsu. The proportions of the figure, its dress,and the extreme subtlety of execution all clearly foreshadow the superb artistry of thestatuesof thisgod in theKyoto temples.

Another Tobatsu from Szechwan is pictured in fig. 16 (52). It is found in the Lohant'ung, and probably dates from the 10th or 11th cent. A.D. The figure wears the birdcrown and typical long-skirted armour, and is supported by the goddess of the earth. Thetorso seems rigid and taut; both arms rest flat against the chest, thereby helping to increasethe tension of the form, and contain the vital energy within the triangular contour of thestatue. The diagonals of the skirt, sword and sleeves all tend upward to the puffed andangryface and theexpanded chest,bringingto a focal point the violent force embodiedwithin. The attributes the god holds are not entirely clear from the single photographavailable. The righthand might be holding a cint?mani, nd the lefthand, a gourd. The

figure is cruder than the Lung-hung-ssu Tobatsu and seems to be more provincial incharacter.

The last Tobatsu known from Szechwan is in theTa-tsu(ag) caves (fig. 17) and is as lateas the 13th or 14th cent. A.D. (53). The carving is extremely rough, and the huge torsoand tiny head are ill-conceived. The armour is the long-skirted Central Asian variety sooften seen before, and the bird-crown and shoulder flames similarly conform to the standardrepresentations of this deity.

The only other Tobatsu known in China comes from the southern province of Y?nnan.Here Tobatsu is one of the four lokap?las and adorns thebase of a st?pa roughly dated1103-1252 A.D. (54). Like all the examples discussed above, he rests on Prthivi, in thiscase accompanied by the two yaksas, and wears the polygonal bird-crown.

The actual character of the worship of Tobatsu Bishamon in China is even more ob?scure than in Japan. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the name ? To?batsu ? has yet to be discovered in any Chinese document; we will try to limit ourselves,as best is possible, to those texts which for various reasons seem to be devoted to the newform of Vaisravana on Prthivi.

There is an entry in the Sung dynasty T}u-hua Chien~wen-chih^h) which states that theT'ang personage Che Tao-ch'ien(ai) transmitted a unique form of Vaisravana from Khotan toChina (55); however, his possible representations at Yiin-kang, and certainly the Lunghsing-ssu figure would indicate that Tobatsu was known much before this date. Moreover,

(52) Sasaki, op. cit., p. 58; Wen-wu, 1956, 12,p. 19.(53) Published in Ikawa, op. cit., and ?Tatsu shih-ke?,Wen-wu, 1958, 12.

(54) L. Finot, V. Goloube, ? Le Fan TseuT'a de Yunnan ?, BEFEO, XXV, 1925, pp. 435-448.(55) Matsumoto, op. cit., ip. 450.

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the localization of the majority of the known images in Szechwan suggests that this westernprovince may have been a centre of the cult of Tobatsu; the wall paintings at Cheng-tuare also said to show numerous representations of Vaisravana (56).The An-hsi legend indicates thatat least by themiddle of theTang dynasty thewor?ship of Vaisravana standing on city gates was widespread, and the Japanese sources furtherhint that itwas indeed Tobatsu Bishamon who served this function. Omura Seigai has notedthat following the supposed rescue of An-hsi, the Emperor ordered that all temples con?struct a separate hall devoted to the worship of Vaisravana. This practice appears inrecords of the Five Dynasties as well (5T). An entry in the Hsing-t'ang-ssu P'i-sha-ment'ian-wang-chi preserved in the T'u-hua-chi^ similarly attests to the popularity of Bishamonin theT'ang dynastyand to thebelief in his abilities to save his devotees from cala?

mities (58).All of the s?tras discussed in the section on Japan,with theobvious exception of theSuvarnaprabh?sa S?tra, were probably composed in China and may be taken to closelyreflect the aspirations of the adherents of the cult of Tobatsu Bishamon. They also indicate

the popular nature of his worship. In this connection, it is worthwhile to consider therelationship between the Tobatsu Bishamon in China and the local village deities, who weresimilarly thought to guard villages from their vantage points on the gates, and to granttheir devotees wealth and success.

The belief inChina in spirits inhabitingthewalls of the city and watching over itsinhabitants is very ancient. The Tso Chuan contains a reference to prayers offered to thegods at the town walls. Later records frequently attribute astonishing military success totheir good will (59). The T'ang dynasty seems to have been the period of their greatestpopularity, and there is at least one written document which hints at an exchange of ideasbetween the devotees of the city-wall spirits and the worshippers of the An-hsi TobatsuBishamon-ten. n thebiographyofChung I(ak) recorded in the Sung-shih is a short tale ofSu Chien(al), a general killed at the battle of I-jou. In order to avenge his own death, Sureturns to the battlefield and leading his troops from the north, announces himself to theterrified onlookers as Su, the deity of the village walls. The people then erect a shrine tohim, in a final attempt to placate his wrath (60). The description of Su Chien appearing fromthe north with his entourage is an exact parallel to the story of Tu Chien and his soldiersproceeding from the northern quarter in the An-hsi legend.It seems likely, then, that just as in Japan the worship of Tobatsu Bishamon was partof a more general interest in deities of protection and wealth, so in China did Tobatsufindkindred spiritswith whom he could be associated and finallyamalgamated. The con?tactof theChinese Tobatsu and local divinities of the village gates may have led to the

(56) T. Nakagawa, ? Bunkashi yorimitaru ShiShu ?, Tokyo Teishitsu Hakubutsukan K?en-sh?,1, 1926, p. 25.(57) Omura, op. cit., p. 450.

(58) Ibid., p. 475.(59) T. Nab a, ? Shina ni okeru Toshi noShugo-shin ?, Shina Gaku, 7, nos. 3-4, pp. 69 ff.(*?) IWJ., p. 81.

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formulation of the An-hsi legend, which, we have seen, was much respected in Japan aswell. The similarities f their functionsmight have hastened thefusionof the cultsof thenew god and the ancient folk deities; at any rate, such a process assuredly guaranteed theexotic deity enduring popularity among the common people.

4. Tobatsu Bishamon in Central Asia

The historyof Tobatsu Bishamon inCentral Asia is extremely omplex. It is perhapsbest to begin with a discussion of his representations at Tun-huang and Wan Fo Hsia, andthen consider the Khotanese cult of Vaisravana which differs in some respects from his

worship in China and Japan and yet, seems closer to the original conception of the deity.The painting of Tobatsu atWan Fo Hsia appears in the antechamber on the north wall,west of the entrance to the main chapel, and dates from the mid 9th cent. A.D. (fig.18) (61). The figure s clad in the longCentral Asian armourand stands apparentlynot on

Prthivi, but on a prostrate demon flanked by Niranba and Biranba. He holds a st?pa inhis lefthand and a tridentbearingflags inhis right. The nimbus is the usual double arccoming fromthe shoulders. The figure is attendedby a small boy who holds a cint?maniand a mongoose, the usual attribute of Kuvera in India and Tibet. The significance of theyoung attendant has been discussed by Matsumoto Eiichi. The Suvarnaprabh?sa S?tra andthe Hopp?-bishamon-tenn?-zui-gunpo-h?'shingon both refer to Bishamon's manifesting himselfas a child (62). In the former ext, the child god holds a cint?mani nd a sack of gold. The

mongoose, often interpreted as a living purse, could well be considered as a substitute forthe sack, and the child would then be Bishamon himself. Matsumoto gives a second pos?sibility, that he is Zennishi, the son of the deity. The third alternative he suggests asso?ciates thegroupwith Khotanese legendsof the childlesskingwho was grantedoffspring nanswer to prayers addressed to Bishamon (see below). The first proposal seems the mostlikely in the lightof another representation f Tobatsu Bishamon and the child from unhuangwhich will be treatedbelow.

Opposite theWan Fo Hsia Tobatsu is a painting of a goddesswho is identified yinscription as Sarasvati. The illustration of Vaisravana and a female partner so common inJapan, can thus be associated with the cult of Tobatsu Bishamon in Central Asia and canbe seen to have had a longhistorybehind it.

Matsumoto has noted ten major examples of Tobatsu Bishamon from Tun-huang (63).The firstof these,fig. 19, is found twice in cave 14 to the left of themain image. Bothfiguresstand on Prthivi,who is enshrouded in leafyvegetation, and hold lances in theirright ands and st?pas in their left. They have long swordswhich hang diagonally from

(61) L. Warner, Buddhist Wall Paintings, AStudy of the Ninth Century Grotto at Wan FoHsia, Cambridge, Mass., 1938, pi. XII.(62) Matsumoto, op.ky?, cit., p. 123; Taish?,(63) Matsumoto, op.

cit. p. 460; Konk?my?21, p. 230a.cit., pp. 412-418.

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the waist and crisscross with shorter blades suspended horizontally from the belt. Flamesrising rom the shouldersencircle thehead. These figureshave been dated to theperiod oftheFive Dynasties (64).

Fig. 20, a painting on silk now in the British Museum, shows a crudely drawn To?batsu on Prthivi,with all the attributesrepeatedly noted as characteristic of this deity.Fig. 21, in the same museum, is one of the rare precisely dated images of the god. It is awood-block which exists in several different impressions and bears a date of 947 A.D. (65).The accompanying nscriptiongives the name of thedonor alongwith his official itlesandtellsus further hat the imagewas made in the hope of securingpeace and prosperityfortheChinese Empire. Tobatsu stands in the centre of the picture. He is dressed in the longskirted armour which shows the sun and moon as chest ornaments, a feature noted in theKyoto Tobatsu (figs. 4-6) as well. He is attended by the same young boy encountered atWan Fo Hsia, who here wears an animal pelt, and by another curious demon also dressedina tigerskin and holding a naked child. Matsumoto has identifiedthis second figure asShakuniba(am), who appears in the Bishamon-tenn?-gy? (66). The female at the left is proba?bly Sri.

Fig. 22, a Five Dynasties silk painting of Tobatsu, now in theMusee Guimet, providesa close parallel to theTobatsu in theDaigoji-zuz?sh? (fig. 9). The drawing is somewhatimmature, ut thefigure is entirelyfaithful o the iconographic typewhich had obviouslygained currency in the Tun-huang region.

Fig. 23, now in a private collection in Japan, shows a seated Tobatsu inside a circle.The flamesat the shouldershave been further urroundedby a fullhalo; and in frontofthe figure, is a table with offerings. Two devotees in Chinese costume stand at the sidesinworshipful attitudes.

In addition to these paintings discussed by Matsumoto, there are several others alsofromTun-huangwhich are dealt with in an articlebyMarcelle Lalou (67). Fig. 24 belongsto thegroupof imagesof thegod and child attendant. Here the boy, wearing an animalskin,holds a full sack and a jewel and probably is the child Bishamon of the Suvarnapra?bh?sa S?tra. Sri stands to the leftof themain figure. The lower imagesof Prthivi and thetwo yaksas have been eliminated, but the presence of the other standard attributes of To?batsu is sufficient o confirmthe identification.Fig. 25 is unique in the presence of the small figureof Ganesa at the lower leftofthe painting. Lalou has made a study of the confusion between Vaisravana and Ganesa inthe Tibetan texts (68). The Japanese text, the Maka-vaishuramanaya-daiba-shuresha-darani

giki has the interesting statement that Vaisravana may stand either on Prthivi or on Ga


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nesa (69). It is clear that Prthivi was the original support of the god, but the further men?tionof the elephant-headeddeity and thispainting add new dimensions to the cult ofTo?batsu Bishamon in its esoteric practice.

Moving westward from Tun-huang, we come to Khotan, which was a major centre ofthe worship of Vaisravana and where many have placed the origin of the Tobatsu Bish?amon-ten. The main evidence for his cult in this oasis is literary; however, the RawakSt?pa statue (fig. 13), dating probably from the3rd or 4th cent.A.D., has been identifiedas Tobatsu by the armour, the rigid stance, and the presence of the small female figure atthe feet of the god. This is possibly the earliest representation of Tobatsu Bishamon yetdiscovered.

The written legends of the founding of Khotan establish at once the intimate connec?tionof that statewith theBuddhistGuardian of theNorth. They are preserved inChineseandTibetan texts,which differslightly.Both agree that the firstking of Khotan was bornin answer to prayers to Vaisravana sometime during the reign of the Emperor Asoka; thathe grew up inChina, and that he only later journeyedtoKhotan and began his rule (70).The detailed account of thefirstking given in theTibetan Prophecy of theLi Country,composed sometime before the 9th or 10th cent. A.D., begins with a visit of Asoka and hisconsort to Khotan, where the consort sees Vaisravana and his divine retinue flying throughthe sky, and miraculously, she becomes pregnant. Asoka abandons the child born to her,for fear he may some day usurp the throne. A breast appears from the earth to nurse thefoundling, ho is then transported oChina in answer to the supplicationsof Ch'in Shih

Huang-ti. With his wife, Sri, the hero proceeds at last to Khotan, where he becomesking (71).In the Chinese accounts no mention is made of Sri, and the appearance of the breastof the earth is linkedwith another tale of the offspringf theking of Khotan. AccordingtoHs?an-tsang, a child is born from the head of a statue of Vaisravana, in answer to theprayersof the firstKhotanese king and is nursedby a breast of theearth at the feetof the

image (72).The significance f these legends forus lies not in theirminor differences ut in theirunanimous attribution of the line of Khotanese kings to the bounty of Vaisravana. Thesame deity is also said to have fixed the boundaries of Khotan. In Tibetan accounts he isassisted by Sariputra, and in the Chinese texts he acts alone (73).

In addition to this relationship to the foundling of Khotan, Vaisravana also seems tohave been regarded as one of its tutelary divinities. In the Tibetan sources, he is joined

(69) Taish?, 21, p. 235.(70) A. Remusat, Histoire de la ville deKhotan tiree des Annales de la Chine et traduitedes Chinois, Paris, 1820, p. 38; F. W. Thomas,Tibetan Literary Texts Concerning Chinese

Turkestan, London, 1935, p. 17.(71) Thomas, op. cit., p. 99.(72) Ta-T'ang Hsi-yu-chi, cit., 1, pp. 25-27.(73) Remusat, op. cit., p. 38; Thomas, op.

cit., p. 35.

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_^_^JJ^HI

Fig.-obatsuishamon-ten.romasshin-ji,y?gorefecture.Oth-llthent...fromkawa,hiten...,cit.).

Fig.obatsuishamon-ten.romasshin-ji,y?gorefecture.0th-llthent...fromkawa,hiten...cit.).


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'IJBb&vlFig.obatsuishamon-tenteiry?-ji.0th

cent.A.D.

Fig.obatsuishamon-tenturamadera.


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Fig.-obatsuishamon-ten.entralJapan.1thent...enverrt

Museum,at.o.-836fromheollec?ionfhristianumann).

ft*'

Fig.obatsuishamon-tennaigoji-zuz?sh?manuscript.amakuraeriodopydrawing)fterthent...riginal.


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^^^^^^^^^^^^^

iS^^^^^^^^v^^^^^^m^r'fj^CTPW^BBl^^^^^^^l^^^^^^^^^^E.lFig.1uardianigure.iin-kang,ave.thent...

Fig.2obatsuishamon-ten.romLung-hsing-ssu,zechwan.arly'angr

earlier.


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Fig. 13 - Guardian figures. Rawak St?pa.

r#' * 9 r )

^^^^^

Fig. 14 -Visnu. From Taxila. Fig. 15 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. Lung-hung-ssu,Szechwan. 9th cent. A. D. (from Lartigue, ?Lesanctuaire... ?, cit.).


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Fig. 16 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten.Lohan-t'ung, Szechwan. 10th-llthcent. A. D.) (from Sasaki, ?To?

batsu... ?, cit.).

Fig. 17 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. Ta-tsu, Szechwan. 13th-14th cent. A. D.(from Ikawa, ? Ta-tsu... ?, cit.).

^^^^^^'

Fig. 18 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. Wan-fo-hsia, Central Asia.9th cent. A. D. Fig.19 -Tobatsu Bishamon-ten.

Tun-huang, Cave 14. 10th cent,(from Matsumoto, Tonk?ga...,


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Fig. 20 -Tobatsu Bishamon-ten.Painting on silk, from Tunhuang. British Museum, London.

Fig. 21 -Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. Woodblock dated 947 A. D., from Tun-huang.British Museum, London.

Fig. 22 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. Painting on silk,from Tun-huang. Musee Guimet, Paris.

^^^^^^^^^^^^*Fig. 23 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. From Tun-huang. PrivateCollection, Japan.


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r* \

4

h. -% 4k*qt ..47

Fig. 25 - Tobatsu Bishamon-ten. From Tunhuang. Muse Guimet, Paris.

- Fig. 26 - Offering of four bowls. Detail ofVaigravana. Gandhira art. Gai Collection,Peshawar.


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Fig. 27 -P?ncika and H?riti. From Sh?h-ji-kiDheri. Gandh?ra art. Peshawar Museum, No. 1416 (fromIngholt, Gandh?ran Art..., cit.).

Fig. 28 -Pharo andArdoxso. From Sahri Bahlol. PeshawarMuseum, No. 78M.

Fig. 29 -Pharo on a late coin of Kaniska.


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^^^^^^^^Fig. 30-Pharo and Ardoxso. From Avantisv?m*

Temple, Avantipura. 6th-7th cent. A. D. (frortASIAR, 1913-14, pi. XXVIII).

Fig. 31 -Visnu. From Nepal. 6th-7th cent. A. D.

Fig. 32 - Sasanian silver vessel. Hermitage Museum,Leningrad (from L'Orange, Studies..., cit.).


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by Sri and Bhumidevi, the goddess of the earth (74). These texts also name numeroustempleseither dedicated to thisgod or under his special protection (75).It is clear from this discussion that theworship of Vaisravana inKhotan was more thana simple folk cult devoted to a guardian of military valor and wealth. Vaisravana created

Khotan and insured as well the continuance of its line of kings. These monarchs seemedto have actually regarded themselves as his divine offspring. Written evidence reveals thatthey assumed the title devaputra, which was reserved for a particular class of deities, andwhich is also thename bywhich Vaisravana is known in some of the Buddhist texts (76).

Their usage of this title, current among the Kushan kings after Kaniska, and the particularrelationship f theKhotanese kings to theNorthernKing ofBuddhism, is one of themostimportant clues we possess in understanding the origins of the Tobatsu Bishamon and themystery of his unique form. We shall return to this question after a brief consideration ofother legendswhich can be related to Tobatsu and which were collected by Hs?an-tsangin India.

5. Vaisravana in the Kushan RealmIt is no longerproper to speak specifically f Tobatsu Bishamon as opposed to Bisha?

mon; however, Hs?an-tsang in his travels from China to India notes two images of thedivineKing in parts of the countrywhich once belonged to the Kushan realm and whichare pertinent to our study. At the N?vasamgh?r?ma in Balkh was a statue of Vaisravana.The story was told that when the Hsiung-nu chief Yeh-hu had attempted to steal thetreasures of the temple, Vaisravana appeared to him in a dream and pierced him with asword, thus putting an end to the barbarian's wicked schemes (77).At K?pisa thepilgrimfounda statueof a divine kingbeneath whose feet thehostagesof King Kaniska were said to have buried some money to be used for future repairs on thetemple.When a thiefhad appeared to steal thismoney, a bird on the crown of thisguardianfigure flapped itswings sowildly that theearthbegan to tremble nd the rogue layprostrate on the ground. Upon rising, he was converted to Buddhism (78). It is generallyacceptedby the Japanese scholarsquoted in thispaper that the divine king of K?pisa isnone other than Tobatsu Bishamon; the bird on the crown is, as we have seen above, oneof his most characteristic ttributes. There is no definite proof of this identification;however, the legend remainshighly significant n this study for itsmention of a guardianofwealth with a winged cap, a figurewhom we shall connectwith theprototypefor theTobatsu Bishamon-ten which exists in Kushan period reliefs.

(74) Thomas, op. cit., p. 59.(75) Ibid., pp. 96, 110, 118, 121, 127.(76) S. Levi, ?Devaputra?, JA, 1, JanvierMars 1924, p. 11; F. W. Thomas, ?Devaputra?,

B. C. Law Commemoration Volume, II, Poona,1946, p. 310.(77) Ta-T'ang Hsi-yu-chi, cit., 1, p. 28.(78) Ibid., 1, p. 37.

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6. The Origins of the Tohatsu Bishamon and theSignificanceofHis SymbolsBefore commencing this discussion it might be best to review some of themain charac?

teristics of Tobatsu Bishamon as evidenced by the written sources and his visual represen?tations. Tobatsu is depicted in the s?tras and the legends at once as a generous giver ofwealth and long life,and as a fiercedestroyerof enemies of both theBuddhist State andtheBuddhist Law. In Khotan he seems to have also been regardedas the tutelary ivinityof the local dynasty ? a feature entirely in accordance with the Vaisravana of the Suvarnaprabh?sa S?tra. In art Tobatsu was invariably depicted as a figure wearing armour heldup by thegoddess of the earth and crowned with a polygonal crown bearing a bird. Hisnimbus was formed from two arcs arising at the shoulders. In addition, some Tibetantexts mention that discs of the sun and moon were to be displayed beneath the god (7S>).

All of these features seem at first a far cry from the placid representations of Vaisravana-Kuvera in pre-Guptan Gandh?ran art, where the Guardian of the North was generallynot even distinguished from the other three Lokap?las. Fig. 26, a 3rd cent. A.D. reliefin the Gai collection, represents a significant departure from this norm (80). Here Vaisra?vana is clearlydifferentiated rom the other threekings offering heirbeggingbowls to theBuddha. Moreover, he bears a striking resemblance to a deity of prosperity and militaryvalor who was frequently depicted in Kushan art, sometimes alone and sometimes with hisconsort. Foucher has identified he couple as P?ncika andH?riti (81), and it is to this? tutelary air ? and a relatedduo associated with the Iranian deities Pharo and Ardoxsothatwe must now turn, for it is here that the development of the Tobatsu Bishamon pro?bably began.

Fig. 27, a relief fromSh?h-ji-kl heri, shows the seated P?ncika andH?riti (82). Ac?cording to theBuddhist texts,P?ncika was the sen?pati or general of the armyof Vaisra?vana, and H?riti was originally a goddess of smallpox but later became a source of fertili?ty 83). In this relief,P?ncika sits restinghis left foot on his lance, andH?riti, holding apurse in one hand, is surrounded by children.

In fig. 28, fromSahrl Bahlol (84), themale wears the typical northern costume andholds a staff and a purse. The female carries a cornucopia. The parallel between this maledeity and theVaisravana of fig. 26 is striking ndeed; both share the same dress and coif?fure. The attributes f thisgod, the staff ith a roundknob, thewinged cap, and thepurseare found associatedwith a deityPharro/Pharo on the coins ofKaniska and his successors.Pharo is often represented there as an armed warrior wearing a helmet with a bird on it;

(7?)Mah?r?ja-Vaisravana-s?dhana Tantra, Rgyud, LXXII, quoted by Lalou, op. cit., p. 105.(80) J.M. Rosenfield, The Dynastic Arts oftheKushans, Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1967, fig. 83.(81) Foucher, op. cit., pp. 106 ff.

(82) The relief is discussed by H. Ingholt,Gandh?ran Art in Pakistan, New York, 1957,p. 147.(83)Rosenfield, Dynastic Arts..., cit.,pp. 245 f.(84) Ibid., pp. 147-148.

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his attributes nclude a purse, shield, lance, and bowl of fire (fig.29) (85). He representsthe Iranian farr or xvardnah, the ? kingly glory ? (86). This xvardnah was regarded not onlyas the embodiment f thepowers of kingship,but also as a tutelary ivinityof the reigning

monarch and the legitimizing factor in his rule. In Iranian literary sources, it ismost com?monly represented as a bird. From the Pahlavl K?rn?mak i Artaxser i P?pak?n, we learnthatwhen Ardav?n pursuedArdaslr he was warned thatuntil the eagle flyingbove reachedthefleeingArdaslr he might stillbe overtaken,but thatonce the eagle settledon Ardaslrallwould be lost, for thebirdwas none other than the embodimentof themajesty of thePersian monarchs (87). Elsewhere, in the same account, we hear that the xvardnah in theform f a redhawk saved theking fromdeath at thehands of hiswife (88).

The goddesswith thehorn of plenty appears on thecoins of Kaniska III and his suc?cessors. She is identifiedby inscription sArdoxso or Asi Vanuhi, theAvestan goddess offortune (89).We have, then, two comparable representations; one purely Indian, and the other morespecifically Iranian in both costume and content. The first relief requires further comment.The ideological contentofH?riti as a goddess of fertilityand plenty is self-explanatory;however, nowhere in the texts is P?ncika mentioned as a giver of wealth. That he is hereso intended s indicatednot only by his presencewith H?riti, but also by other reliefs inwhich he is depicted holding themoney purse and stepping n a pot of gold (90). It appearsthat thisfigure combines themilitary attributesof the sen?pati P?ncika with thebenevo?lence of his master, Kuvera-Vaisravana, the god of wealth. This P?ncika-Kuvera-Vaisra?vana is extremely close in conception to the god Pharo, who was likewise regarded as aprotector of wealth and a giver of armed strength.

The actual identification f P?ncika and H?riti with Pharo and Ardoxso was firstestab?lishedbyBachhofer in the articlecited above ("). It is substantiatedby such reliefsas thatillustrated in fig. 26 where Kuvera-Vaisravana wears Pharo's winged helmet ^nd northerndress, and by fig. 30, a 6th to 7th cent. A.D. Kashmiri relief nwhich the Scythian-lookingPharo-Kuvera-Vaisravana sits upon a pot of plenty and Ardoxso-SrI holds an object that issomewhere inbetween a lotus and a cornucopia (92).

Thus, it can be seen that an independent votive tradition was developing within theKushan realm for the representation f a male deity of fertility nd plenty. This god,Pharo-P?ncika-Kuvera-Vaisravana was sometimes depicted in Indian dress, in northerncouture, or in armour. It is clear that we have here a possible prototype for the Tobatsu

(85) L. Bachhofer, ?Pancika-H?riti undPharo-Ardoxsho ?, OZ, 1937, p. 8.(86) A. Stein, ? Zoroastrian Deities on IndoScythian Coins ?, Indian Antiquary, XVII, April1888, p. 94.(87) The K?rn?me i Artakhshir i Pdpak?n, ed. and tr.D. P. Sanjana, Bombay, 1896,

p. 11.(88) Ibid., p. 40.(89) Stein, op. cit., p. 97.(90) Foucher, op. cit., pis. 365, 379.(91) See above, note 85.(92) ASIAR, 1913-14, pi. XXVIII, p. 54.

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Bh?pati, or ? husband of the earth ? (97). His coronation ceremony is therefore interpretedas a symbolic marriage of the sky=king with the earth= queen, whose presence at the ritewas thus deemed absolutely necessary.This interpretation would also accord nicely with the section of the Suvarnaprabh?sa

S?tra which is often taken to be the source of the Tobatsu-Prthivl connection. In thechapter of this text devoted to the earth goddess, she vows to protect the reciter of thes?tra, and concealing her form, to lift up his feet (98). The intimate association of theSuvarnaprabh?sa S?tra with the royal cult has been repeatedly noted above; the merits ofthistextconsist inmaking ? kingly? theking who supports it by causing his realm toprosper and his subjects to show him respect. The vow of Prthivl merely extends the boun?tiesof the Suvarnaprabh?saS?tra to all, by raising spiritually nd materially anyonewhofollows its tenets. The presence of Prthivi beneath Vaisravana can be understood as thevisual representation f this ideal of the further xaltation of the god as faithful evoteeand protector of the Buddhist Law.

Many of the other iconographical elements of Tobatsu Bishamon can be explained assymbols f royalty.The sun andmoon displayed on the chest of thegod and mentioned inthe Tibetan texts are common signs of the divine king. The Roman emperors and theIranian monarchs were often featured with the celestial discs ("), and the reliquary ofKaniska shows theKushan king flankedby personifications f theheavenlybodies.

The particular nimbus of Tobatsu, sometimes portrayed as flames rising from theshoulders and sometimes as smooth arcs, is also a royal attribute. In regard to the former,

Hs?an-tsang preserves a legend of Kaniska, according to which the king subdued an eviln?ga by releasing fire from his shoulders (10?). Vima and Huviska are also represented ontheir coins with flames shooting from their shoulders. It is otherwise possible to regardthe smooth arcs in some of the Tobatsu images as the crescents of the moon which wereso frequently epicted behind the shouldersof the Sasanian kings on their silver vessels(fig. 32) (101); however, the more frequent representation of the nimbus as flames favorsthe first suggestion.The presence of the bird on the crown is one of themost important links betweenTobatsu and the old Kushan period prototype, ho wore thewinged cap. It seemspossibleto assert that thebird is a signof Pharo, thekingly glory,who in the Pahlavi text citedabove most often took that form. There is a Sogdian Manichaean text from Central Asiawhich is of interest here, and which at the same time illuminates Hsiian-tsang's legend ofK?pisa. The text tells of a universal monarch, Kysr (Caesar) who was threatened by a thief.

(97) A. Coomaraswamy, ? Spiritual Authorityand Temporal Power in Indian Theory ofGovernment?, JAOS, 1942, pp. 11 ff.; SatapathaBr?hmana 9.4.20, cited in the above.(98) Konk?my?-ky?, cit. (see above, p. 158 andnote 36), p. 162.

(") H. R. L'Orange, Studies on the Iconographyof Cosmic Kingship in the Ancient World, Oslo,1953, p. 36.(10?) Ta-Tfang Hsi-yu-chi, cit. (see above,note 27), 1, p. 42.(101) L'Orange, op. cit., p. 38.

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The scoundrel attemptedto disguise himself in the form f Pharo, the tutelary ivinityofthe king (102). Unfortunately, the tale is incomplete; however, the association of the king,Pharo, and the thiefhas curious resemblances to theK?pisa episode of thedivine guardian

king, who bore a bird on his crown precisely toward off pilferers (103). The story is,more?over, an important indication of an awareness of the role of Pharo as tutelary god of theking inCentral Asia of the 9th or 10th cent. A.D.

The associationof thewinged diadem and royalty s attestedby representations f theSasanian monarchs in art and by Chinese literary sources which indicate that the kings ofKhotan wore birdcrowns (104). R. A. Stein has noted as well the similarity of the Tobatsudiadem to that of the Central Asian world-conquerors, Pehar and Gesar (105). Gesar is thehero of theTibetan epic, and Peharwas the tutelarydivinity of the Bhata Hor or theUighurs. According to legend,he fled fromVaisravana in the formof a bird but was shotdown by theKing of theNorth and brought toTibet (106).

It is not possible to discuss the interconnection f the legends of Tobatsu Bishamonand theseCentralAsian characters; all of thismaterial has been brilliantlytreatedby Steininhiswork on theTibetan epic. It strengthens ur hypothesis that the symbolismof To?batsu Bishamon is intimately linked to that of theworld-conqueror or divine king.In conclusion, there are two Japanese sources which provide additional support for our

theory. The first is a legend preserved in the Kakuzensh?{3Xl\ a collection of iconographicaldrawingsmade by theBuddhistmonk Kakuzen (1143-1213 A.D.). A story is told of amonk in search of a magical jewel in the east of India and of the woman he encounters.She tellshim of a wonderful bird that is capable of leading him to the treasure. Thewoman turns out to be Avalokitesvara, and the bird is Vaisravana (107). The significanceof this legend is twofold; it associatesVaisravana with knowledge of hidden treasure, theexclusive rightof the cakravartin, nd, in itsmention of the god assuming the form of abird, it preserves thememory of the synthesisof the Indian deity of wealth and valorwith the Iranian emblemof kinglypower.

The second work is a now lost s?tra, the Daibon-?-nyoi-tobatsu-z?-?-ky?{*o). It is quotedin the Asabasho^ of the Tendai monk Shocho(aq) done between the years 1251-1266 A.D.,theKy?inbukkakush?, and theZuz?-sh?^ of Konen(as) (1120-1203 A.D.). It states thatTobatsu is a manifestationof thekingNyoi-z?-?,whose realmwas in thenorthof India bythe sands of theGanges (108). The text thus preserves some traces of the Indian origins ofthisdeity, and his profound connectionswith the lore of kings.

(102) Stein, op. cit., p. 280.(103) Ibid., p. 289.(104) Lo-yang-chie-lan-chi, cited by Matsumoto,op. cit., p. 437. For the Sasanian works seeGhirshman, op. cit., ipls.235, 242, 252.(105) Stein, op. cit., pp. 344-346.

(106) R. A. Stein, ?Mi-nag et Si-Hia,Geographie Historique et Legendes Ancestrales ?,BEFEO, XLIV, 1951, p. 151.(107) Kakuzensh?, Taish? Zuz?, 5, p. 534.(108) Taish? Zuz?, 9, pp. 418c-419a.

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7. SummaryIn summary, it has been shown that much of the iconography of Tobatsu Bishamon

can be explained in termsof royal symbols, and ithas further een indicated that at leastinKhotan the god actually seems to have been regarded as the source of the state's monarchs and the power behind their rule. We have sought to connect this uniquely KhotaneseVaisravana with the Iranian xvardnah or Pharo, the embodiment of the ? kingly glory ?which merged with the Indian god of wealth P?ncika-Kuvera-Vaisravana sometime in theKushan period. This new composite deity seems to have enjoyed great favor within theKushan realm as a god of wealth and fertility; however, there is no definite evidence thathe was there associated with a cult of divinized royalty. The importance of Vaisravana inKhotan, his connection with their kings, the Central Asian dress of the Tobatsu Bishamonten and the very meaning of the name ? Tobatsu ? suggest indeed that Khotan may havebeen theplace of originof the fullydeveloped iconographicalform of Tobatsu Bishamon.

Finally, we have seen the completion of the maturation of the Tobatsu Bishamon-teninhis reversiontohis original characteras a guardianofwealth and fertility, ingledwithawide varietyof folk deities inChina and Japan. Traces of his conception as the syn?thesis of the Iranian xvardnah and the Indian P?ncika-Kuvera-Vaisravana are preserved,however, in the lore of theAn-hsi Tobatsu and the legends of theKakuzen-sh? and the

Asabash?.Phyllis Granoff

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