Korean Buddhist Sculpture - Three Kingdoms Period, 6th Century - Korean Influence in Early Japanese Sculpture

Korean Influence in Early Japanese Sculpture

The Baekje kingdom's style was particularly influential in the initial stages of Asuka sculpture. It was in 552 that King Seong of Baekje sent a gilt bronze image of Sakyumuni to Yamato Japan according to the Nihon shoki. Most scholars, based on other Japanese records, consider a 538 date to be more accurate. While it is impossible to know what this first Buddha in Japan looked like, an image similar to the Yong'a Buddha, contemperaneous because it is dated to 539, leads some scholars to speculate that King Seong's proselytizing image looked similar to it. Another Japanese source, the Gangōji Garan Engi, however, identifies the image as the "prince." This suggests that the initial image was the prince Sidhartha in the pensive pose on the verge of enlightenment, an iconography popular in China. Images in the pensive pose are almost always associated with Maitreya in Korea. However, another iconography associated with the prince Sidhartha is the Buddha at birth. Since this source also lists items for a lustration ceremony some scholars believe that the image was of the infant Buddha. Although Buddhism was introduced into Yamato Japan at a relatively early period, it was not until the 7th century that the pro-Buddhist Soga clan succeeded in eliminating its rivals to allow Buddhism enjoy the support of the central polity.

A passage in the Nihon Shoki states that in 577 King Wideok of Baekje sent to the Yamato polity another Buddhist image, a temple architect, and a maker of images. The passage clearly indicates that the Japanese still needed Korean artisans skilled in metal casting techniques and knowledgeable about specific iconography to construct images. In 584, a stone statue of Maitreya and another image simply identified as a Buddha by the Nihon Shoki were sent as part of a diplomatic exchange and are the last official, royally commissioned Baekje images recorded to be sent to Japan in the 6th century. Such exchanges, both official and unofficial, were integral in establishing early Japanese Buddhist sculpture.

Many extant Baekje sculpture survive in Japan today. Horyu-ji Treasure no. 151 (image) is accepted by virtually all Japanese authorities to be of Korean origin and was brought to Japan in the middle 6th century. The four rectangular cavities in the back of the statue is a trait far more common in Korean than Japanese sculpture. The image was probably used as a private devotional icon brought by Korean settlers. Hōryū-ji Treasure no. 158 (image), a pensive image is another image generally considered by Japanese scholars to be from Korea and is dated on stylistic grounds to the mid-6th century. The Funagatayamajinja Bodhisattva, probably once part of a triad, has a crown with three flowers which was common early Three Kingdoms sculpture but not extant in Asuka sculpture. The image is believed to have originated in Korea.

Hōryū-ji Treasure no. 196 (image) is a mandorla for a triad that was made in Korea and can be arguably dated to the late 6th century, 594. The triad's inscription contains phrases very similar to two Paekche pieces, a Puyo triad (image) and a mandorla once part of a triad dated to 596 (image ). This mandorla incorporates the typical features found in older Korean-style triads, including the odd number of Buddhas of the Past, the floral scroll inside the inner halo, and the jewel found at the apex of the head halo.