shakujou　錫杖

KEY WORD :　 art history / sculptures

Also ushoujou 有声杖, chijou 智杖, and tokujou 徳杖. Sk: khakkhara. A pilgrim's staff or sistrum. In Japan the shakujou usually consists of a wooden handle or pole topped with a metal finial with two sections, each with three rings. In India, the shakujou's metal rings were originally used by traveling priests to alert small creatures to keep them from accidentally being harmed by a priest when walking in the woods. It was also used to frighten away dangerous snakes or beasts that the priest might have encountered. The shakujou could also serve as a cane to help the priest walk. When begging, he rattled this staff to announce his arrival at the door or gate of a household without breaking the vow of silence. In Japan the shakujou is still used by monks, pilgrims, and practitioners of shugendou 修験道, a school of Buddhism which teaches ascetic practices in the mountains (see *En no gyouja 役行者). A yamabushi 山伏 or mountain priest may use it for magic or exorcism. In the Shingon 真言 and Tendai 天台 sects, the shakujou is used as a ritual object in special ceremonies. Some have short handles and are held when chanting. Documents state that thirty-two priests rattled shakujou to accompany the chanting at rites celebrating the inauguration in 755 of the Kaidan-in 戎壇院 (Ordination Pavilion) at Toudaiji 東大寺 in Nara. There are two shakujou from the 8c kept in the *Shousouin 正倉院. One of them has an abstracted pagoda in the center with plant forms on each side. Zentsuuji 善通寺 in Kagawa prefecture owns a remarkable Chinese shakujou from the 8c. The elaborate design has an Amida triad *Amida sanzon 阿弥陀三尊 in the center flanked by two attendants (two of the *shitennou 四天王 or Four Guardian Kings) on each side. One side has a standing Amida and the other has a seated Amida. The guardians are back to back and in this way all four of the shitennou are represented. There is a large flaming jewel *houju 宝珠 at the top of the finial. From the Heian period survive one bronze shakujou finial and one long iron shakujou from Rinnouji 輪王寺 in Tochigi prefecture and Tesshuuji 鉄舟寺 in Shizuoka prefecture. There are various shakujou from the Kamakura period at Touji 東寺 in Kyoto, Hasedera 長谷寺 in Nara, Sefukuji 施福寺 in Osaka, and at the MOA Art Museum in Shizuoka prefecture. The shakujou is used as a *jimotsu 持物 (hand-held attribute) for for example *Jizou 地蔵, a deity dressed as a priest. Jizou is most commonly represented with a houju in the left hand and a shakujou in the right after the Heian period. Although missing now, it is obvious from the hand position that the early Heian sculpture of Jizou from Seisuiji 清水寺 in Matsushiro 松代, Nagano prefecture, originally held a shakujou. Both *Fukuukenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音 (the rope-snaring Kannon), and *Senju Kannon 千手観音 (Thousand-armed Kannon), usually hold a shakujou in one of the right hands. It symbolizes compassion when an attribute of *Kannon 観音. The 8c sculptures of Fukuukenjaku Kannon housed in the Sangatsudou 三月堂 (also known as *Hokkedou 法華堂) at Toudaiji 東大寺 and the sculptures of Senju Kannon from Toushoudaiji 唐招提寺, both in Nara, held shakujou. Although unusual, according to the iconographic manual entitled *KAKUZENSHOU 覚禅鈔 (by priest Kakuzen 覚禅; 1176-1213), *Yakushi 薬師 may be depicted with a bowl *hachi 鉢 in the right hand and a shakujoiu in the left, instead of holding the customary *yakuko 薬壷 (medicine jar). There is a 10c painting of a seated Yakushi with a shakujou in Cave 17 at Dunhuang (Jp: Tonkou 敦煌).

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