Zenk Ji Temple (2 results)

Brightly coloured souvenir printed sheet showing scenes from the Zenk?-ji Temple, showing 8 individual illustrations, some show the location within the temple. A little minor wear including a few closed tears along edges, very good. Text in Japanese. 53.5 x 38.5cm. ??? "Zenk?-ji Temple", located in Nagano, is an old Japanese Buddhist temple which was built in 7th century. The temple belongs to both the Tendai and Jodo Shinshu schools of Buddhism. It enshrines the images of the ?????"Amit?bha Buddha". One of the primary Buddha statues at the Zenk?-ji Temple is a ?? [hibutsu] "a hidden Buddha" which is reportedly shown to the public once every six or seven years. Upper right section: ??? [Ni?mon], the Japanese name of a Buddhist temple gate guarded by two wooden warriors. Upper middle section: ??? [Gohondo?], the Japanese name of the main hall of a Buddhist temple. Upper left section: ????? [Gonaijin kaicho]. Secret Buddha statues are enshrined in special place in the temple and are shown at regular intervals to the public. Lower middle section:?????[Gokaichoo gyoretsu]. The procession of showing the secret Buddha statue.…

Fine paintings in black & white and color washes. Scrolls (230 x 8640; 230 x 7530 mm.), silk outer endpapers at front of each scroll, wooden rollers. [Japan: after 1847]. The great Zenk?ji Temple earthquake, which occurred in the evening of 8 May 1847, had tragic consequences. That very evening, the temple, in the center of the city of Nagano, drew large numbers of pilgrims celebrating the Gokaich? ??? festival. The enormous earthquake struck at 9:30 pm, killing thousands of residents and pilgrims and destroying many houses in Nagano. The earthquake had continued consequences, causing large landslides, which dammed active rivers. These temporary earthen dams eventually gave way and resulted in terrible flooding with further loss of life and property damage. Our scrolls vividly depict the event and its aftermath. The first scene of the first scroll shows the enormous grounds of the Zenk?ji and its complex of buildings. In the next scene, we see the actual earthquake, with guests fleeing collapsing buildings and tremendous winds. This is followed by a series of small scenes of terror: people trying to maneuver in quicksand, people falling into newly formed crevices, flooding, fires, collapsed buildings with people trapped, emptied riverbeds caused by landslides, people giving clothes and bedding to survivors, etc. Throughout both scrolls, there are religious images as well, as if to remind the survivors of this catastrophe that there is a better life ahead of them. There are also vivid scenes of fires, suddenly homeless pilgrims preparing to sleep on the ground with conflagrations in the background, money being given out to support the newly impoverished, soup kitchens preparing mountains of rice and enormous rice balls with large caldrons boiling away filled with rice porridge, crowds of survivors, a still-standing hotel tending to its guests, pilgrims crossing rivers on boats, pilgrims resting, scenes of the surrounding landscapes, a very vivid scene of a dammed river giving way, a valley completely flooded, survivors of the flood, etc. At the end of the second scroll, we find statistics of the number of deaths in the region listed by village. Fine condition. Preserved in a wooden box.…