zōnai nōnyūhin 像内納入品

Keywords
Art History
Sculpture

Also nōnyūhin 納入品, tainai nōnyūhin 胎内納入品, tainai nōnyūbutsu 胎内納入物. Objects found in the inner hollow of a Buddhist statue. There are a great variety of zōnai nōnyūhin, and items including written documentation have been especially useful to scholars investigating the origin and history of Buddhist figures. Paper items include: prayers recorded in writing by the donor of the statue, zōryū ganmon 造立願文; names of petitioners aspiring to the Buddhist faith, kechien kōmyōchō 結縁交名帳; copies of sutras; and Buddhist prints, *inbutsu 印仏 and *suribotoke 摺仏. Wooden items include plaques bearing the sculptor's signature, date, and other information about construction; miniature stupas *gorintō 五輪塔; and small Buddhist figures *tainaibutsu 胎内仏. There are also reliquaries made of crystal, precious metals, stone, or lacquer, containing bones of the Buddha *shari 舎利. Other zōnai nōnyūhin include glass vessels, coins, jewels, mirrors, fabrics, grain, medicine, and household items. The Seiryōji Shaka nyoraizō 清凉寺釈迦如来像, Kyoto, brought from China in 987, contains paintings and other artifacts, as well as a silk-fabric model of Buddha's inner organs *gozō roppu 五臓六腑. Sutras and relics inside a figure are believed to give the statue its soul, investing it with the spirit of a living being, a concept known as shōjin shisō 生身思想. Early Japanese examples are the Yakushi nyoraizō 薬師如来像 in Tōshōdaiji *Kondō 唐招堤寺金堂, Nara, which has coins enclosed in the skirts of the statue, and the Senju Kannonzō 千手観音像 in Tōji Jikidō 東寺食堂, Kyoto, where relics are contained in the *byakugō 白毫 (forehead curl), and cypress fans hiōgi 桧扇 in carved out hollows under the arms. In wooden statuary, hollowing techniques *uchiruri 内刳, and building figures from hollow joined blocks *yoseki-zukuri 寄木造, developed during the Heian period, making large spaces in the bellies of the statue available for zōnai nōnyūhin. This culminated in the Kamakura period, when the quantity and variety of examples are greatest. The Jūichimen Kannonzō 十一面観音像 in Hōsekidera 宝積寺, Kyoto, and the Amida sanzonzō 阿弥陀三尊像 in Ankokuji 安国寺, Hiroshima Prefecture, contain a range of petitions and written documents. Representative collections of zōnai nōnyūhin are found in Kamakura period statues in Saidaiji 西大寺, Nara, such as the Aizen Myōō 愛染明王 (1247), Shaka nyoraizō 釈迦如来像 (1249), and Monju Bosatsu kishizō 文殊菩薩騎獅像 (1293). In the Kamakura *Daibutsu 鎌倉大仏, a bronze seated *Amida 阿弥陀 figure of 11.4 m (13th century), where worshippers can physically enter the statue, and a ladder leads up into the head where there is a small image and shrine.