Japanese monk Chonen and the Buddha Image of King Udayana which he Brought to Japan : More than One Mearning Which He and His Disciple Gave on the Image

Abstract

This paper examines several meanings which Monk Chonen and his disciple Josan gave to Shakyamuni image in Seiryoji Temple. They carved a copy of the Image called King Udayana statue , that was put near the emperor of Song dynasty. They carved it at Taizhou and brought it to Japan as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. But the Imperial court of Japan, which didn t want to maintain diplomatic relations with Song dynasty, stopped service for the statue. At the same time, Chonen started to stresses the fact that he and his disciple Josan actually saw the Image with their own eyes. For founding a new temple in which they train their successors, they tried to making use of this experience as in the case of their other experiences with seeing good omens in Mt WuTai, mastering Esoteric Buddhism, and studying Siddham script. After Chonen s death, Josan advocated not only that the Image they saw in China was not imitation but genuine carved by Udayana in India, but also the image of Seiryoji temple was what they copied in front of the Image. In 12th century Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa tried to erase remaining trace of Song emperor from the image and he rethought it as a symbol of the royal authority.