The Eye-Opening Ceremony of the Great Bronze Buddha at Todaiji Temple and Its Political Significance

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Other Title
  • 大仏開眼会の構造とその政治的意義
  • ダイブツ カイガンカイ ノ コウゾウ ト ソノ セイジテキ イギ
  • ダイブツ カイゲンカイ ノ コウゾウ ト ソノ セイジテキ イギ

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In this article I examine the programme for the eye-opening ceremony of the Great Bronze Buddha at Todaiji temple and show its political significance. The ceremony was held on 9 April 752, when there seemed few ways out of the fierce power struggles among the ruling classes, which included imperial families and civil aristocrats. That is the reason why the eye-opening ceremony was performed in spite of the incompletion both of the bronze statue and of the temple buildings. The political significance of the ceremony is, in my opinion, explained by its programme as a whole. The Daigoji manuscript of "Todaiji-yoroku", one of the most important sources of the ceremony, tells us that the ceremony consisted of four parts: preparations, a celebration of the Great Buddha, performing arts, and donations. Examining each part, I came to the following conclusion: the ceremony demonstrated that the Great Buddha protected the Empire and that imperial sovereignty and the power of the Great Buddha would extinguish the political schisms in the ruling class.

Journal

  • 都市文化研究

    都市文化研究 2 14-27, 2003-09

    大阪市立大学大学院文学研究科 : 都市文化研究センター

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