National Treasure Gallery: Sixteen Arhats（Second Arhat・Fourteenth Arhat）
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Sixteen Arhats: Second Arhat (detail), Heian period, 11th century (National Treasure)
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 2
September 21, 2016 (Wed) - October 16, 2016 (Sun)Arhat is a Sanskrit word for “one who completed his training and is worthy of reverence.” The Sixteen Arhats were disciples of the Buddha Sakyamuni, and they were entrusted by their master to live long and pass on his teachings, as well as to bring salvation to the people.
A Buddhist text, Fazhuji (Skt. Nandimitravadana), translated into Chinese by Xuanzang (602–664), mentions the names of the Sixteen Arhats and where they lived. In this text, however, their hairstyles and the situations they were involved in were not specified. Therefore, depictions of the Arhats varied significantly, but most of them emphasized the Arhat’s superhuman traits.
The works on exhibit are from the oldest extant set of paintings of the Sixteen Arhats. Originally preserved at Shojuraigoji temple, Shiga, the arrangement of figures is reminiscent of a gentle, ancient style. The Second Arhat, for example, seated in a cave on a pedestal and surrounded by monk-like figures, calls to mind the composition of Buddhist sculptures in niches at the Dunhuang Caves in Central Asia. Thus we see in this work elements suggesting origins in continental Asia.
Importance was placed on beautiful coloring in Japanese Buddhist paintings in the 11th century. Methods such as applying pigments onto the reverse side of the silk ground to obtain a subdued color filtered through the layer of silk, as well as elaborate details in whitish and soft, light colors, are characteristics of Buddhist paintings of the time. The sectioned parts in the top left, signifying poem cards, are decorated with patterns of butterflies, birds, and flora on a white ground. The names and residences of the arhats, as defined in the Fazhuji, are described on the squares in a handwriting similar to the writings, also written in poem-card squares, on the door paintings at the Phoenix Hall of Byodoin temple, Kyoto.
We hope visitors savor these paintings, filled with aesthetics of 11th-century Heian period nobles, and yet retaining an atmosphere of continental Buddhist art.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | National Treasure | Sixteen Arhats: Second Arhat | Heian period, 11th century | A-10946-2 | |||
| Highlight | National Treasure | Sixteen Arhats: Fourteenth Arhat | Heian period, 11th century | A-11085-6 |