toushin　等身

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Lit. life-size. A standard unit of measurement for Buddhist statues *houryou 法量. While a life-size secular figure is called toushinzou 等身像, a life-size Buddhist image is toushinbutsu 等身仏, and a standing figure is about 150-180cm tall (5-6 feet) and half that size when seated. To represent super-natural power Buddhist images were often made larger than human figures (see *jouroku 丈六). It was also customary in India and China, and subsequently in Japan, to make a life-size statue of a commissioner to be placed in his temple. A life-size image of Kannon at *Yumedono 夢殿 (commonly known as *Guze Kannon 救世観音) in Houryuuji 法隆寺 (first half of 7c), is thought to be a likeness of Prince Shoutoku (574-622; see *Shoutoku Taishizou 聖徳太子像) to whom the chapel was dedicated.

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