Jizou　地蔵

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Lit. earth repository (Sk: Ksitigarbha). A bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩 believed to have been entrusted with the task of saving sentient beings during the period between the death of *Shaka 釈迦 and the advent of the next Buddha *Miroku 弥勒 who is traditionally expected to appear 5,670 million years after the demise of Shaka. The cult of Jizou does not appear to have been very wide-spread in India, but in China and especially Japan his popularity came to rival that of *Kannon 観音 whose tendency to manifest himself in many different forms in order to save people from suffering made him immensely popular. In Japan there are records that he was worshipped already in the Nara period, but the earliest extant image of Jizou is that at Kouryuuji 広隆寺 in Kyoto, dating from the early Heian period. Jizou is usually represented either standing or seated in the guise of a monk, with a shaven head and wearing monk's robes. In early examples he holds a wish-fulfilling gem *houju 宝珠 in his left hand while his right hand displays the wish-granting mudra *yogan-in 与願印. Later examples, from about the mid-Heian period onwards show him holding a gem in his left hand and a staff *shakujou 錫杖 in his right, and this has since become the standard form. Some other variant forms are as follows: Yata Jizou 矢田地蔵 (the prototype for which is found at Kongousenji 金剛山寺, also known as Yatadera 矢田寺 in Nara), holds a gem in his left hand and displays the mudra for bestwoing fearlessness *semui-in 施無畏印 with his right hand; Enmei Jizou 延命地蔵 (Longevity), seated with the left leg pendent; Hadakajizou 裸地蔵 (Naked), with the image clothed in real robes and not carved as part of the image; Hibou Jizou 被帽地蔵 (Hatted) with his head covered. Karate Jizou 空手地蔵 (Empty-handed), holding nothing in his hands; Shougun Jizou 勝軍地蔵 (Victorious), shown clad in armour. Reflecting the great popularity of his cult among the general populace, stone images of Jizou are very common in Japan, and will often be seen even along the roadside. Because of his mission to save all sentient beings, there evolved the idea of six Jizou Roku Jizou 六地蔵, one responsible for each of the six realms of transmigratory existence (see *rokudou-e 六道絵). The six realms constitute the life cycle of unenlightened mortals: they are Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Humanity and Heaven. Representations of these six Jizou are common. The denizens of hell were considered to be especially deserving of his help, and thus Jizou has come to be revered in particular as the saviour of those suffering therein. Both in China and Japan he is sometimes depicted in hell surrounded by the Ten Kings (or Judges) of Hell *juuou 十王; such a depiction is called a picture of Jizou and the Ten Kings Jizou juuou-zu 地蔵十王図. As a result of this compassionate association he was also assimilated into the Pure Land faith joudokyou 浄土教, and there evolved a version of the Amida triad *Amida sanzon 阿弥陀三尊 with *Amida 阿弥陀 flanked by Jizou and Kannon, and an Amida pentad Amida gobutsu 阿弥陀五仏 consisting of Amida, Kannon, *Seishi 勢至, Jizou and Ryuuju 龍樹 (Sk:Nagarjuna). Jizou is also regarded as the protector of children, in which role he is known as Kosodate Jizou 子育地蔵 (child-raising) and may be represented cradling a child, and he figures among the so-called Thirteen Buddhas *juusanbutsu 十三仏, presiding over the memorial service held on the 35th day after a person's death. In Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou 密教, Jizou appears in the matrix mandala *Taizoukai mandara 胎蔵界曼荼羅 as the central figure in the Jizouin 地蔵院 where he takes the form of a bodhisattva holding a solar disc in his right hand and a lotus surmounted with a banner in his left hand. In the Diamond World mandala * Kongoukai mandara 金剛界曼荼羅 he is identified in Japan with Kongoudou 金剛幢 (Sk: Vajraketu) among the sixteen great bodhisattvas juuroku daibosatsu 十六大菩薩.

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