Keywords
Art History
Sculpture
The central section of a lotus flower pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 on which a Buddhist image usually stands or sits. It is shaped like a cone with a flat top, with many flower stamens shibe 蕊 (also read zui, also written 蕋, 蘂, or しべ) carved around its edges. The lotus petals *renben 蓮弁 may project directly out of the renniku, but in the Nara and early Heian periods, the petals sometimes projected out of the *fukijiku 葺軸, a separate section placed below the renniku.