Special Exhibition Celebrating the 900th Anniversary of Its Construction:
The Golden Hall of Chūson-ji Temple

The buddha Amida (Sk. Amitābha) sits in the center, his hands in front of his waist in a gesture of meditation with his thumbs lightly touching (Sk. dhānamudrā). The bodhisattvas Seishi (Sk. Mahāsthāmaprāpta) and Kannon (Sk. Avalokiteśvara) stand in front of him to the left and right. All three statues are covered in gold. Their serene, gentle expressions and full, rounded cheeks are distinct stylistic features.

The three altars inside the Golden Hall have probably enshrined a changing array of statues across the centuries, but scholars believe these three were continuously enshrined on the central altar since the hall’s founding. If the statues date to when Kiyohira constructed the hall, they are evidence that Buddhist sculptures in northeastern Japan at the time rivaled those of the very best Buddhist sculptors in Kyoto.

The statues are invaluable historical materials that attest to the heights to which Hiraizumi climbed as a cultural center under the rule of the Ōshū Fujiwara clan.

With their arms swung upward and their hips thrust sideways, these statues of the devas Zōchōten (Sk. Virūḍ haka) and Jikokuten (Sk. Dhṛ tarāṣ ṭ ra) are alive with dynamic energy. The renderings of their clearly defined faces and billowing sleeves are particularly impressive. The Kei school of Buddhist sculptors (based in Nara) became especially known for figures sculpted in the midst of wild movements during the Kamakura period (1192–1333). However, these statues from northeastern Japan reveal a pioneering sense of sculptural form that predates those activities.

Metal ornaments modeled on actual flower garlands are used to adorn the interiors of Buddhist temple buildings. This ornament features birds with human heads called kalaviṅka, which live in the Pure Land of the buddha Amida. The scrolling floral vines rendered in openwork also include mythical blooms (called hōsōge) that blossom in the Pure Land. The ornament was originally suspended from a beam between the upper parts of the pillars in the Golden Hall. It and other objects from the hall’s interior have profound historical significance, as they preserve the original forms of adornments placed inside temple buildings during the Heian period (794–1192).