@article{oai:tobunken.repo.nii.ac.jp:00006889,
 author = {福山, 敏男 and Fukuyama, Toshio},
 issue = {182},
 journal = {美術研究, The bijutsu kenkyu : the journal of art studies},
 month = {Dec},
 note = {Concurrently with the recent repair work on the Hōōdo (Phoenix Hall) in the Byōdō-in Monastery, Kyoto, the wooden statue of Amitābha Buddha, the principal icon in the building, was disjointed to several parts for repair (Translator's note: the statue is composed of many wood blocks carved separately and subsequently assembled together). It was noticed, in December 1954, that the statue contained several objects inside the hollow in its body. These objects were taken out of the statue in February 1955 in the presense of the monastery authorities as well as art historians and other persons concerned.
     There stood a wooden post (not original) at the center inside the cavity. In front of the post was a wooden lotus pedestal, on which was placed a wooden disk inscribed with two dhâraṇî, one longer and the other shorter, of Amitābha. An oblong wooden box was placed beyond the pedestal. On the front side of the central post, behind the lotus pedestal, was nailed a tablet on which was written the record concerning the repair done on the statue in 1907. Of the above-mentioned three objects, the box contained : the scripture Amida-kyō (Sukhāvati-vyūha in Chinese), which was copied in gold ink in 1652 by a priest ofthe Byōdō-in Monastery, and which was placed inside the statue in 1670 by Sen-yo, pupil of the above-mentioned priest, at the occasion of repairs of the Hōōdō building and the statue ; a list of donations to the monastery dated 1668, with additional entries concerning the repair work until its completion in May 1670; fragments of glass, said to have originally been ornaments attached to the canopy overhead of the statue; a mass of melted bronze; fragment of the bronze phoenix figures placed on the roof ridge of the Hōōdō; and a few other pieces. This box was taken out in 1895 at the time of the repair of the statue, at which time two more manuscripts regarding the repair were added to its contents.
     The “Moon disk” and its lotus pedestal have been taken out of the statue at least three times : in 1670, 1895 and 1906 ; in the last-mentioned year they were photographed, their ornaments were copied and their facsimiles were made. Their existence, thus, had been well known. The lotus pedestal, dating most likely from around 1053 alike with the statue and preserved inside the dark cavity of the statue, has retained its original colouring in a perfect state, and is an invaluable material for the study of Japanese decorative designs and colours in the Late Heian period.
     Literary sources of the Late Heian and Kamakura Periods tell that “Moon disks” with dhâraṇî inscriptions in Brāhmi or other kinds of writings were frequently placed inside Buddhist statues in various te nples. It seems that the disks were very often accompanied by lotus pedestals. There exist some other statues which contain such objects as described in those manuscripts, but they are all of later periods than the Hōōdō examples, and are simpler and less formal. Perhaps the only specimen antedating the Hōōdō piece is the lotus pedestal for the Yakushi-kyō sūtra found inside the Yakushi (Bhaiṣajya-guru) statue of 1013 owned by the Kōfukuji Monastery in Nara. This, however, is simpler in form than the one in the Hōōdō.
     The lotus pedestal in the Hōōdōof the sort among all objects installed inside Japanese Buddhist statues, not only of the Late Heian Period but of all ages. Our research group consisting of experts of various fields, thanks to the subsidy from the Ministry of Education, had the opportunity of examining these precious art objects which, after the completion of the statue, will remain again for long invisible inside it. We publish in this volume the results of our studies made during the short period of time, excepting Mr. Takata's article on the religious meaning of the “Moon disk” and the inscriptions, which will appear in the next issue.},
 pages = {1--8},
 title = {平等院鳳凰堂本尊胎内納置阿弥陀大小呪月輪の調査},
 year = {1955}
}