Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn
page 72 of 151 (47%)
figure of the Buddha is never represented by the feet, or
pedestal alone, as in the Amravati remains, and many other Indian
art-relics." As a matter of fact the representation is not even
rare in Japan. It is to be found not only upon stone monuments,
but also in religious paintings,--especially certain kakemono
suspended in temples. These kakemono usually display the
footprints upon a very large scale, with a multitude of mystical
symbols and characters. The sculptures may be less common; but in
Tokyo alone there are a number of Butsu-soku-seki, or "Buddha-
foot stones," which I have seen,--and probably several which I
have not seen. There is one at the temple of Eko-In, near
Ryogoku-bashi; one at the temple of Denbo-In, in Koishikawa; one
at the temple of Denbo-In, in Asakusa; and a beautiful example at
Zojoji in Shiba. These are not cut out of a single block, but are
composed of fragments cemented into the irregular traditional
shape, and capped with a heavy slab of Nebukawa granite, on the
polished surface of which the design is engraved in lines about
one-tenth of an inch in depth. I should judge the average height
of these pedestals to be about two feet four inches, and their
greatest diameter about three feet. Around the footprints there
are carved (in most of the examples) twelve little bunches of
leaves and buds of the Bodai-ju ("Bodhidruma"), or Bodhi-tree of
Buddhist legend. In all cases the footprint design is about the
same; but the monuments are different in quality and finish. That
of Zojoji,--with figures of divinities cut in low relief on its
sides,--is the most ornate and costly of the four. The specimen
at Eko-In is very poor and plain.

The first Butsu-soku-seki made in Japan was that erected at
Todaiji, in Nara. It was designed after a similar monument in
DigitalOcean Referral Badge