busshi　仏師

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also bukkou 仏工, zoubusshi 造仏師. A sculptor of Buddhist statues. The term was first used in the Asuka period when sculptors such as Kuratsukuri no Tori 鞍作止利 received commissions from the Imperial court and nobility. His signature, 'Tori Busshi' 止利仏師, appears on the 623 halo of the Shaka sanzonzou 釈迦三尊像 in Houryuuji *Kondou 法隆寺金堂, Nara. In the late 7c, government-sponsored workshops *zoubussho 造仏所, were established to produce Buddhist statues, and each busshi belonged to a workshop. As the number and size of commissions increased, there was a division of labour where skills became increasingly specialized. There were busshi expert in woodcarving; metal-casting; painting of statues *saishiki busshi 彩色仏師; jewellery *kazaribusshi 餝仏師; and gold-plating *hakushi 薄師. The sculptor in charge of the workshop was known as the *daibusshi 大仏師 or zoubutsu choukan 造仏長官, and the team of assistants working under him were called *shoubusshi 小仏師. An example is the daibusshi Kuninaka no Kimimaro 国中公麻呂 (?-774), who supervised the building of the 757 Great Buddha *Daibustu 大仏 at Toudaiji 東大寺 in Nara. In the late 8c the government-sponsored sculpture workshops were closed down, and busshi were either employed by a temple or ran their own independent workshops *bussho 仏所. Sculptors associated with temple workshops were also monks, and from the 9c daibusshi were given the status of high-priest. They did not carry out religious duties, but held an honorary title that indicated their high social standing. For example, Eri Souzu 会理僧都 (852-935) was the chief sculptor and high-priest at Touji 東寺 in Kyoto. From the middle of the Heian period, most Buddhist sculpture was carved in wood, and people often referred to Buddhist sculptors as wood sculptors *kibusshi 木仏師. The joined-block technique *yoseki-zukuri 寄木造, used for large wooden statues in the late Heian period required a large workforce, and a daibusshi sometimes had several hundred assistants. The most important busshi to set up independent workshops in the 10c were Koushou 康尚 (11c) and his son Jouchou 定朝 (?-1057), who reportedly had 120 shoubusshi working for them. The Jouchou style *Jouchouyou 定朝様--typified by Amida Nyoraizou 阿弥陀如来像 (1053) in Byoudouin *Hououdou 平等院鳳凰堂, Kyoto--greatly influenced subsequent generations of sculptors. Followers of Jouchou later divided into groups that included the Nara sculptors *nara busshi 奈良仏師, based at Koufukuji 興福寺, and various schools of Kyoto sculptors *kyoto busshi 京都仏師. In the Muromachi period, busshi lost their special status and came to be classed as general artisans. The system of daibusshi and shoubusshi was abandoned in the early Meiji period. A number of Buddhist sculptors worked without affiliation to a temple and sometimes without a workshop or assistants. The best known cases are the wandering busshi, Enkuu 円空 (1633-95) and Mokujiki Myouman 木食明満 (1718-1810). Enkuu's works, roughly carved from single blocks of wood, have a directness that is totally different from the refined works of traditional workshop busshi.

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