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50-530: Consisting of a low rectangular dais supporting a plinth upon which stands a miniature building 233 centimetres (7 ft 8 in) tall, the Tamamushi Shrine derives its name from the iridescent wings of the tamamushi beetle with which it was once ornamented, but which have now exfoliated . In spite of what its name in English may suggest, the shrine is not a miniature Shinto shrine , as zushi ( 厨子 )

100-425: A post, is called daito , or "large block". When it connects two brackets, it is instead called makito ( 巻斗 ) . Bearing blocks installed on top of corner posts are of necessity more complex and are called onito ( 鬼斗 , demon blocks ) because of how difficult they are to make. In its simplest configuration, each tokyō includes a single outwardly-projecting bracket with a single supporting block, in which case

150-412: A type found only in the earliest buildings to survive to the modern period: the kondō , pagoda, and central gate ( chūmon ) at Hōryū-ji, and the three-storey pagodas at Hokki-ji and Hōrin-ji (the last was struck by lightning and burnt to the ground in 1944). The bracket system supports tail rafters ( 尾垂木 , odaruki ) that extend far into the eaves. In a full-scale building, the downward load of

200-465: A variant of the type, known as shikorobuki ( 錏葺 ) . In this technique, the hip and gable are clearly distinguished, with the latter overhanging the notably flat former and there is a distinct break in the tiling. When Shitennō-ji was rebuilt after its destruction in the Pacific War , the roofing of the kondō retained this ancient style. Ornamenting both ends of the ridgepole that runs the length of

250-441: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Toky%C5%8D Tokyō ( 斗栱・斗拱 , more often 斗きょう) (also called kumimono ( 組物 ) or masugumi ( 斗組 ) ) is a system of supporting blocks ( 斗 or 大斗 , masu or daito , lit. block or big block) and brackets ( 肘木 , hijiki , lit. elbow wood) supporting the eaves of a Japanese building, usually part of a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine . The use of tokyō

300-547: Is a bracket system where the projecting bracket is shaped in a way thought to resemble a cloud. It is rare in extant temples, and its most important examples are found in Hōryū-ji 's Kondō , five-storied pagoda and Chūmon . These bracket systems are believed to be a Japanese invention of the Asuka period , as there is no evidence they came from the Continent. The sashihijiki ( 挿肘木 )

350-410: Is a raised platform at the front of a room or hall, usually for one or more speakers or honored guests. Historically, the dais was a part of the floor at the end of a medieval hall , raised a step above the rest of the room. On this, the master of the household or assembly (e.g. the lord of the manor ) dined with his senior associates and friends at the high table, while the other guests occupied

400-442: Is a term for a miniature shrine that houses Buddhist images or sūtra scrolls, in this case a statue of Kannon and small rows of seated bronze Buddhas. The precise date of the shrine is uncertain, but it is generally placed around the middle of the seventh century. A terminus ante quem is provided by the first documentary evidence for its existence, an inventory in temple records dating to 747, which includes "two items taking

450-401: Is called hitotesaki . If the first bracket and block group support a second similar one, the whole system is called futatesaki , if three brackets are present it is called mitesaki , and so on until a maximum of six brackets as in the photo to the right. Each supporting block in most cases supports, besides the next bracket, a U-shaped supporting bracket set at 90° to the first (see photos in

500-591: Is common on later furniture, altar platforms and railings. The plinth is surrounded, top and bottom, with mouldings of sacred lotus petals. The serial Buddhas that line the doors and walls inside the miniature building are in the iconographic tradition of the Thousand Buddhas . Sūtras on the Buddha names such as the Bussetsu Butsumyōkyō , first translated into Chinese in the sixth century, may be related to

550-502: Is from the thirteenth century. It stopped being used in English around 1600 but was revived by antiquarians in the early 19th century with the disyllabic pronunciation. It comes from the Anglo-French deis , meaning "table" or "platform", which comes from Medieval Latin discus , meaning "table", earlier "disc" or "dish". [REDACTED] Media related to Dais at Wikimedia Commons This architectural element –related article

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600-472: Is made necessary by the extent to which the eaves protrude, a functionally essential element of Japanese Buddhist architecture . The system also has an important decorative function. The system is a localized form of the Chinese Dougong that has evolved since its arrival into several original forms. In its simplest configuration, the bracket system has a single projecting bracket and a single block, and

650-606: Is the Japanese equivalent of chagong in Chinese architecture. It is a bracket arm inserted directly into a pillar instead of resting onto a supporting block on top of a pillar, as was normal in the wayō style. Typical of the Daibutsuyō style, these brackets are clearly visible in the photo at the top of the article. Tsumegumi ( 詰組 ) are intercolumnar supporting brackets, usually futatesaki or mitesaki , installed one immediately after

700-406: Is the raised, sometimes covered, platform from where the troops are reviewed, addresses are made, and salutes are taken. It can also have stairs and a throne. In life drawing rooms of art schools , the platform where the model poses for the students is sometimes referred to as the dais. A dais for giving speeches is called a rostrum . The first written record of the word dais in English

750-436: Is used mainly in the top section of a tahōtō . The mutesaki tokyō (see photo above) is a six-step bracketing system whose most famous example can be seen at Tōdai-ji 's Nandaimon. In that gate's case, it consists of just six projecting brackets with no brackets at right angles (see photo above). The kumo tokyō ( 雲斗栱 , lit. cloud tokyō ) is the Japanese equivalent of dieji (疊枅) in early Chinese architecture. It

800-498: The major fire in the kondō on 26 January 1949 - the building was undergoing dismantling for restoration at the time and all portable items had already been removed. (The damage to Hōryū-ji's celebrated wall paintings led to an overhaul of legislation relating to the preservation of the Cultural Properties of Japan .) The shrine's shibi had already been detached, placed in the treasure hall, and replaced with copies. Today

850-487: The pigments and binder used in the original colour scheme - red, green, yellow, and white on a black ground. The range of available pigments, compared with that evident in the early decorated tumuli, was transformed with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan . The precise medium in which the pigments are bound is uncertain. While commonly referred to as lacquer , since the Meiji period some scholars have argued instead that

900-487: The Eight Great Bodhisattvas symbolizes their thought of consoling all sentient beings . The side panels flanking the doors are adorned with flowers and jewels. On the back panel is a sacred landscape, with four caves in which Buddhist monks are seated, its heights topped with three pagodas . Either side of the central mountain is a phoenix and apsara or tennin (celestial being), riding on clouds. At

950-510: The Indra scene and that of the Tiger Jātaka, where spatial progression is used to represent that of time, may be found in the paintings of Cave 254 at Mogao. At the same time it foreshadows that of later Japanese picture scrolls . Paintings on Buddhist themes cover all four sides of both building and plinth. While both pigmented and incised images are known from a number of tombs of a similar date,

1000-479: The Tamamushi Shrine is exhibited in the temple 's Great Treasure House. While the ground plan of many structures that are no longer extant is known, this miniature building is particularly important not only for its early date but also for the understanding it provides of the upper members, in particular the roof system, tiling, and brackets . Few buildings survive from before the Nara period and, even for those that do,

1050-409: The central mountain topped by a palace and supporting a pair of small palaces on either side. At the foot is a dragon and beneath it a palace with a seated figure. In the side zones are phoenix, celestial beings, jewels, the sun and the moon. It is understood that this landscape depicts Mount Sumeru , the central world-mountain, the hatching at the bottom representing the seas. On the right panel of

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1100-485: The complex is called hitotesaki ( 一手先 , lit. one fingertip ) . The projecting bracket is just the tip of one of the roof's beams. If the first bracket and block group supports a second similar one, the whole complex is called ( futatesaki ( 二手先 , lit. two fingertips ) ). The tokyō may also have three ( mitesaki ( 三手先 , lit. three fingertips ) ) or more such steps, up to six ( mutesaki ( 六手先 , lit. six fingertips ) . The number of steps used to indicate

1150-500: The course of nearly four decades and authored an extensive monograph , has conducted comparative analyses of architectural features and decorative motifs such as the tiny niches in which the Thousand Buddhas are seated. Based on such considerations, the shrine is now dated either to c.650 or to the second quarter of the seventh century. Perhaps originally housed elsewhere, the shrine escaped the 670 Hōryū-ji fire . Early accounts of

1200-494: The eaves extend, the greater and more complex must the tokyō be. An added benefit of the tokyō system is its inherent elasticity, which lessens the impact of an earthquake by acting as a shock absorber. This bracketing system, being essential both structurally and esthetically, has been altered and refined many times since it was imported from China. It is made of a combination of weight bearing blocks ( masu ) and bracket arms ( hijiki ). The bearing block, when set directly on

1250-524: The eaves upon the far end of these tail rafters is counterbalanced at the other end by the main load of the roof. The simple unjointed purlins that support the roof covering in the eaves are circular in cross-section, as opposed to the rectangular purlins of the earliest surviving buildings. Also at the corners the purlins are arranged parallel to each other rather than in the radial setting known from excavations at Shitennō-ji . The columns or square posts are encased by their tie beams rather than pierced by

1300-477: The form of a palace building, one with a design of a Thousand Buddhas in repoussé metalwork" ( 宮殿像弐具 一具金埿押出千佛像 ) , understood to refer to the Tamamushi Shrine, the other being the later Tachibana Shrine . A fuller description is given by the monk Kenshin in his account of the 1230s or 40s of Shōtoku Taishi , prince , regent , culture hero closely associated with the early promotion of Buddhism in Japan, and founder of

1350-569: The future". The continental practice of fo ming (佛名), or naming the Buddhas, from which the Japanese practice derived is believed to lie behind such representations of the Thousand Buddhas as the paintings of the Northern Wei Cave 254 at Mogao near Dunhuang ; in this same cave there are also paintings of the Tiger Jātaka. The shrine is made of lacquered hinoki or Japanese cypress and camphor wood. Both are native species. Attached to

1400-443: The gable beyond the descending ridges are "hanging tiles" or kakegawara ( 掛瓦 ) , laid at right angles to both the other tiles and the descending ridges and projecting slightly to afford a degree of shelter (were this building not a miniature) to the bargeboards that help define the gable. The radiating brackets and blocks that support the deep eaves of the roof are "cloud-shaped" ( kumo tokyō ( 雲斗栱 , lit. cloud tokyō ) ),

1450-399: The gallery below). The Protection of Cultural Properties logo (see gallery below) represents a tokyō , considered an element of Japanese architecture which stands for the continuity in time of cultural property protection. The roof is the most visually impressive part of a Buddhist temple, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond

1500-455: The gallery for example the photo of a belltower ( shōrō ). The three-step complex ( mitesaki ) is the most common in Wayō-style structures. Its third step is usually supported by a so-called tail rafter ( 尾垂木 , odaruki ) , a cantilever set between the second and the third step (see illustration above and photo in the gallery). The four-step complex ( 四手先斗きょう , yotesaki tokyō )

1550-413: The gallery.) Some of these features can also be found in temples of non-Zen sects. The sumisonae ( 隅備 or 隅具 ) or sumitokyō ( 隅斗きょう ) are the brackets at the corner of a roof, having a particularly complex structure. The regular brackets between two sumisonae are called hirazonae ( 平備 ) or hiratokyou ( 平斗きょう ) . Very common two-step bracketing system used in a variety of structures. See in

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1600-405: The lower area of the room. In medieval halls, there was generally a deeply recessed bay window at one or both ends of the dais, which provided retirement or greater privacy than the open hall. The dais area often had its own doorway for admission from the master's chambers, whereas most of the guests entered through a doorway leading into the main area of the hall. At military parades , the dais

1650-486: The members of the building and the edges of plinth and dais are bands of openwork bronze . It was under this metalwork that the tamamushi wings were applied in the technique known as beetlewing . The tamamushi beetle, a species of jewel beetle, is also native to Japan. The Thousand Buddhas are of repoussé or hammered bronze and the roof tiles are also of metal. Optical microscopy or instrumental analysis , ideally non-invasive , would be needed to identify conclusively

1700-589: The more usual penetrating tie beams ( 貫 , nuki ) . Japanese sculpture of the period was heavily influenced by Northern Wei and later sixth-century Chinese prototypes. Details in the paintings such as the "flare" of the drapery, the cliffs and plants have also been likened to Wei art and that of the Six Dynasties . The figures on the doors, the Guardian Kings and bodhisattvas, may be closer to more contemporary Chinese styles. The handling of narrative in

1750-455: The paintings employ the technique known as mitsuda-e , an early type of oil painting , using perilla ( shiso ) oil with litharge as a desiccant . 34°36′54.2″N 135°44′7.1″E  /  34.615056°N 135.735306°E  / 34.615056; 135.735306 Dais A dais or daïs ( / ˈ d eɪ . ə s / or / ˈ d eɪ s / , American English also / ˈ d aɪ . ə s / but sometimes considered nonstandard)

1800-460: The plinth is a scene from the Nirvana Sutra . At the bottom, while the Buddha is undergoing ascetic training in the mountains, Indra on the right appears before him in the guise of a demon. After hearing half a verse of the scriptures, the Buddha offered to cast away his body to the flesh-eating demon for the remainder. Before doing so, in the middle tier of the painting, the Buddha inscribes

1850-459: The practice of Butsumyō-e or invocation of the names of the Buddha. According to this text, which invokes the names of 11,093 Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Pratyekabuddhas , "if virtuous men and women receive and keep and read the names of the Buddhas , in the present life they shall have rest and be far from all difficulties, and they shall blot out all their sins . They shall obtain perfect wisdom in

1900-461: The rank of a butsudō , the higher ranks having more, but the custom was abandoned after the Heian period . In most cases, besides the projecting bracket above it, a bearing block supports another bracket set at 90° (see schematic photo below), extending laterally the support provided by the system. Wayō -, Zenshūyō - and Daibutsuyō -style tokyō all differ in details, the first being the simplest of

1950-452: The ridgepole are shaped with stylized scales or feathers, while the front doors of the shrine, on its long side, are approached by means of a small flight of steps. The architectural members of the building and edges of the plinth and dais are ornamented with bronze bands of " honeysuckle arabesque ". The base of the building and the dais at the very foot of the shrine exhibit the shape known as 格狭間 ( kōzama ) resembling an excised bowl that

2000-454: The roofs have been rebuilt several times. The best if not only source for the earliest styles are miniature models such as the Tamamushi Shrine and, for the following century, the miniature pagodas from Kairyūō-ji and Gangō-ji . The miniature building has been identified variously as a palace-style building and as a temple "golden hall" or kondō . It has a hip -and- gable roof in the style known as irimoya-zukuri , or more precisely

2050-481: The shrine along with the statue he uncovered at Hōryū-ji known as the Yumedono Kannon as "two great monuments of sixth-century Corean Art ". It is referred to by the authors of The Cambridge History of Japan as one of the "great works of Asuka art created by foreign priests and preserved as Japanese national treasures". Domestic production under foreign influence is now the received wisdom. Evidently it escaped

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2100-663: The shrine is the only example of Buddhist painting from early seventh-century Japan. The closest domestic pictorial parallel is with embroideries such as the Tenjukoku Mandala from neighbouring Chūgū-ji , which shows Sui and Korean influence. The description below can be followed in the linked images. Standing on the front doors of the miniature building are two of the Four Guardian Kings , clad in armour , with flowing draperies, holding slender halberds ; their heads are ringed with aureolae or Buddhist haloes . On

2150-504: The side doors are bodhisattvas standing on lotus pedestals, their heads crowned with three mani jewels, holding a flowering lotus stalk in one hand and forming a mudrā or ritual gesture with the other. The mudrā is a variant of the aniin ( 安慰印 ) or seppōin ( 説法印 ) , the palm turned in and the thumb and index finger forming a circle (see Wheel of the Law ), which according to the Sutra of

2200-526: The teachings on the rocks. He then casts himself down from the summit, whereupon he is caught mid-plummet by Indra on the right in his true guise. On the left panel of the plinth is the so-called Tiger Jātaka , an episode from the Golden Light Sutra , of a bodhisattva removing his upper garments and hanging them on a tree before casting himself from a cliff to feed a hungry tigress and her cubs. The shibi or fishtail-like ornaments at either end of

2250-461: The temple and its treasures see it placed on the great altar of the kondō . Kenshin in the early Kamakura period mentions that it faced the east door and that its original Amida triad had at some point been stolen. The shrine was still standing on the altar when Fenollosa was writing early in the twentieth century and is located there also in Soper's studies of 1942 and 1958. Ernest Fenollosa describes

2300-515: The temple. He refers to the shrine's tamamushi wings and states that originally it belonged to Empress Suiko (d. 628). Fenollosa , who helped implement the 1871 Plan for the Preservation of Ancient Artifacts through nationwide survey, concluded that it was presented to the Japanese Empress in the 590s. Japanese scholar Uehara Kazu, who has written twenty-eight articles about the shrine over

2350-449: The three. The Daibutsuyō style has for example a dish-shaped decoration called sarato ( 皿斗 , lit. dish block ) under each block, while the Zen'yō rounds up in an arc the bracket's lower ends. Another Zenshūyō feature is the kobushibana ( 拳鼻 , lit. fist nose ) or kibana ( 木鼻 , lit. wooden nose ) , a nose-like decoration carved after the last protruding bracket. (See photo in

2400-469: The top are the sun and the moon. This may be a representation of Mount Ryoju, where Shaka preached the Lotus Sutra . On the front of the plinth , below a pair of tennin , are two kneeling monks holding censers before a sacred vessel of burning incense ; below are Buddhist relics ; the vessel at the bottom is flanked on either side by lions . On the back of the plinth is another sacred landscape,

2450-479: The top of the roof are curved tiles known as shibi , found in surviving eighth-century architecture only on the Tōshōdai-ji kondō . The roof tiles are of the lipless , semi-circular type. In the triangular field at each gable end is a "king-post", supporting the end of the ridgepole. Descending the length of the gable and perpendicular to the main ridgepole are kudarimune ( 降り棟 , or descending ridges) . Edging

2500-488: The walls, covering verandas. Besides being determinant to the general look of the edifice, the oversize eaves give its interior a characteristic dimness, a factor which contributes to the temple's atmosphere. Finally, the eaves have a practical function in a country where rain is a common event, because they protect the building by carrying the rain as far as possible from its walls. The roof's weight must however be supported by complex bracket systems called tokyō . The further

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