Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
The internal organs of the body as defined in Chinese medicine kanpō 漢方. A model of the internal organs, made of silk and other materials, can be found inside the Seiryōji Shaka nyoraizō 清凉寺釈迦如来像, Kyoto, a statue believed to have been brought to Japan from China in 986 by the monk Chōnen 奝然 (?-1016). The insertion of the gozō roppu is believed to invest the statue with the spirit of a living being, a concept known as shōjin shisō 生身思想. Gozō refers to the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Roppu refers to the small intestine, large intestine, gall bladder, stomach, bladder, and sanshō 三焦 (upper and middle stomach and upper bladder).