Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Winged Immortals and Heavenly Beings Across the East Asian Skies

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Spirits in Transcultural Skies

  • 871 Accesses

Abstract

In the mid-sixth century, Buddhism and with it its pantheon of deities arrived in Japan. This paper focuses on the flying or heavenly beings represented around Buddhas and bodhisattvas. In spite of being quite conspicuous in early Buddhist temples and on icons, such beings are seldom the subject of study, perhaps because they are not the focus of devotion. Their role seems to be to enhance the radiance of the Buddhist world. The aim of this paper is to trace the origins of these heavenly beings and their arrival in Japan. Through the analysis of visual and textual material, this paper demonstrates that the type of heavenly being that came to Japan was a composite being created in China that combined the Indian prototype of flying beings with the Chinese idea of immortal beings soaring through the skies on clouds.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For the mural paintings of flying beings at the Golden Hall (Kondō) of Hōryūji, see Nara Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo (1989). In addition to a discussion of the murals’ flying beings, this publication also includes a comprehensive survey of representations of flying beings in East Asia.

  2. 2.

    For the Phoenix Hall, see Nishikawa Shinji (1987–1992), and Toshio Fukuyama (1976).

  3. 3.

    One of the earliest studies on the topic of flying beings in Japan is by Toshio Nagahiro (1949). For flying beings in India and East Asia, see Hayashi On (1993).

  4. 4.

    Statuettes found in Han tombs are reproduced in Takahama Shū and Okumura Hidenori (1997, vol. 2). For a short reference in English, see Wu Hung (2006, 72–3).

  5. 5.

    Zhuangzi is named after the fourth century BCE philosopher. For more about this text, see Mair (2000, 30–52).

  6. 6.

    Both Little and Penny use the same quote to define immortal, adept or transcendent.

  7. 7.

    For a discussion of the Queen Mother of the West, see Wu Hung (1989, 108–141). See also Loewe (1979, 86–126).

  8. 8.

    Rubbings are reproduced in Liu (2005).

  9. 9.

    Wu Hung suggests that the iconic frontal posture of the Queen Mother of the West was derived from Buddhism. In Han times, the Buddha himself was believed to be an immortal. See Wu Hung (1986, 263–352).

  10. 10.

    For other representations of immortals in the Han dynasty, see Powers (1991, plates 53–58) and Tseng (2011, 3.46–3.52).

  11. 11.

    For rubbings showing immortals with cloud-patterned legs, see Liu (2005, 141 and 146–7). Liu identifies the winged beings with curled appendages as “cloud immortals,” but does not give an explanation for the naming.

  12. 12.

    A number of bronze mirrors with representations of the immortal land have been found in tombs in Japan dated to the Kofun period (ca. 300–550 CE), see Kashihara Kōkogaku Kenkyūjo (2000, 42–94). See also Wu Hung (1986).

  13. 13.

    For the Daoist pantheon and later Daoist immortals, see Little (2000, 227–254 and 313–336).

  14. 14.

    For a concise history of this period, see Lewis (2009).

  15. 15.

    Recent discoveries corroborate Soper’s theories.

  16. 16.

    For a discussion of the Kushan period Buddha image, see Huntington (1993, 150–9).

  17. 17.

    The correspondence of Sanskrit and Japanese terms is based on Nakamura Hajime (1991).

  18. 18.

    Yoshimura Rei’s articles on this topic have been published in Yoshimura Rei (1983, 1999). The article “Tennin no gogi to Chūgoku no sōki tennin zō,” about the term tennin, is from Yoshimura (1999, 365–384) (first published in Bukkyō geijutsu 193 (1990): 73–93). See also Wu Hung (1986).

  19. 19.

    Yoshimura began his studies of tennin in Yungang. See “Unkō ni okeru renge keshō no hyōgen,” in Yoshimura (1999, 23–37) (first published in Bijutsushi 37 (1960)); and “Unkō ni okeru renge sōshoku no igi,” in Yoshimura (1999, 39–54) (first published in Bijutsushi kenkyū 3 (1964)). In these two articles, he explains that the Indian-type heavenly beings are the product of birth by transformation from lotus flowers.

  20. 20.

    For publications exclusively on heavenly beings in Dunhuang, see Chang Shuhong and Li Chengxian (1980). Also Dunhuang yan jiu yuan 1999, 11–3, for diagrams of the main locations of heavenly beings in the cave temples.

  21. 21.

    For Yungang caves, see Unkō Sekkutsu Bunbutsu Hokanjo (1989).

  22. 22.

    By the fifth and sixth century, the Shangqing (“Highest Clarity”) and the Lingbao (“Numinous Treasure”) schools of Daoism were thriving in the area. For an overview of Daoism in China, see Robinet (1997).

  23. 23.

    The decorative program of these three tombs is thoroughly discussed by Spiro (1991, 95–117). For photographs and rubbings, see Yao Jian (1981).

  24. 24.

    Spiro presents visual evidence for a similar subject dated to the Eastern Han, see Spiro (1991, 97).

  25. 25.

    For a detailed discussion of yin-yang, see Robinet (1997, 8–16).

  26. 26.

    Rubbing of inscriptions in Yoshimura (1999, 247).

  27. 27.

    Most of Yoshimura’s research is about the process of the birth of heavenly beings. He contends that the sprouting bud motif is the birth seed for the Southern-type. He first discussed this process in his article “Ryūmon Hoku Gi kutsu ni okeru tennin tanjō no hyōgen,” in Yoshimura (1999, 55–72) (first published in Bijutsushi 69 (1968): 1–12) and later, in “Nanchō tennin zuzō no Hokuchō oyobi shūhen shokoku e no denba,” in Yoshimura (1999, 163–180) (first published in Bukkyō geijutsu 159 (1985): 11–29).

  28. 28.

    For the tomb at Dengxian, see Juliano (1980).

  29. 29.

    Yoshimura Rei, “Nanchō tennin zuzō no Hokuchō oyobi shūhen shokoku e no denba,” in Yoshimura (1999, 163–180) (first published in Bukkyō geijutsu 159 (1985): 11–29); for the spread to Korea and Japan, Yoshimura Rei (1990, 171–177).

  30. 30.

    Sakai Atsuko (1999, 66–81).

  31. 31.

    Katherine Tsiang also argues that designs of the Northern and Southern dynasties derive from the Han yunqi, see Tsiang (2002, 222–245).

  32. 32.

    For a detailed discussion of the palmette and floral design, see Rawson (1990).

  33. 33.

    For a detailed discussion of related historical events, see Tsiang (2002).

  34. 34.

    Sarcophagus reproduced in Little (2000, 130). For another sarcophagus with a similar subject, see Karetzky (1983, 5–20).

  35. 35.

    For a detailed discussion of the Binyang cave, see McNair (2007, 7–30).

  36. 36.

    A similar subject appears on the ceiling of Cave 285 (completed around 538–9). A row of composite heavenly musicians, trailing sprouting buds, floral designs, and clouds, appears below the line of the ceiling.

  37. 37.

    For heavenly beings in Dunhuang from the Tang Dynasty and later, see Chang Shuhong and Li Chengxian (1980).

  38. 38.

    The McCune-Reischauer system of transliteration is used for Korean terms. Books with good illustrations of the Koguryo tomb include Chōsen Gahōsha (1985) and Yŏnhap Nyusŭ (2006).

  39. 39.

    For details of the motifs on the Great Tomb at Kangso, see Yŏnhap Nyusŭ (2006, 182–215).

  40. 40.

    Short references to these bells in McCune (1961, 99–100), Kim and Kim (1974, 73) and Lee (1984, 87–88).

  41. 41.

    For a complete study of this shrine, see Uehara Kazu (1991).

  42. 42.

    Sketch reproduced in Tokyo, Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan (1994, 101).

  43. 43.

    For embroidered Buddhist textiles, Itō Shinji (2005).

  44. 44.

    For a detailed discussion of the embroidered banner fragments, see Sawada Mutsuyo (2001).

  45. 45.

    For a detailed analysis, a diagram of the canopied banner, and photographs of each panel, see Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan (1991a, b).

References

  • Chang Shuhong, and Li Chengxian. 1980. The Flying Devis of Dunhuang. Beijing: China Travel and Tourism Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chōsen Gahōsha, ed. 1985. Kōkuri kofun hekiga. Tokyo: Chōsen Gahōsha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukuyama, Toshio. 1976. Heian Temples: Byodo-in and Chusonji. Translated by Ronald K. Jones. New York: Weatherhill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayashi On. 1993. Hiten to shinsen. Tokyo: Shinbundō.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henan sheng wen huaju wen wu gong zuo dui. 1958. Deng xian cai se hua xiang zhuan mu. Beijing: Wen Wu Chu ban she.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, Susan L. 1993. The Art and Architecture of Ancient India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain. New York: Weatherhill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Itō Shinji. 2005. Shūbutsu, Nihon no bijutsu 470. Tokyo: Shinbundō.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juliano, Annette L. 1980. Teng-Hsien: An Important Six Dynasties Tomb. Artibus Asiae Supplementum 37. Zurich: Artibus Asiae.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karetzky, Patricia E. 1983. “A Scene of the Taoist Afterlife on a Sixth Century Sarcophagus Discovered in Loyang.” Artibus Asiae 44/1: 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kashihara Kōkogaku Kenkyūjo. 2000. Dai kofun ten: Yamato ōken to kofun no kagami. Tokyo: Tokyo Shinbun.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Chewŏn and Lena Kim. 1974. Arts of Korea. Tokyo: Kodansha International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleiner, Fred S. 2010. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: Non Western Perspective. Boston: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai, Chi-Tim. 1998. “Ko Hung’s Discourse of Hsien-Immortality: A Taoist Configuration of an Alternate Ideal Self-Identity.” Numen 45, no. 2 (1 January): 183–220. Accessed 2 May 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3270186.

  • Lee, Ki-baik. 1984. A New History of Korea. Translated by Edward W. Wagner. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Mark Edward. 2009. China Between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, Stephen. 1988. Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. Cleveland & Bloomington: Cleveland Museum of Art and Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, Stephen. 2000. Taoism and the Arts of China. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Cary Y. 2005. Recarving China’s Past: Art, Archaeology, and Architecture of the Wu Family Shrines. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loewe, Michael. 1979. Ways to Paradise: The Chinese Quest for Immortality. London: Allen &Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mair, Victor. 2000. “The Zhuangzi and its Impact.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 30–52. Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune, Evelyn. 1961. The Arts of Korea. Tokyo: Tuttle.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNair, Amy. 2007. Donors of Longmen: Faith, Politics, and Patronage in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Sculpture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagahiro, Toshio. 1949. A Study of Hiten or Flying Angels. Translated by Shio Sakanishi. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbusha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura Hajime. 1991. Bukkyōgo daijiten. Tokyo: Tōkyō Shoseki.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nara Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo. 1989. Hiten. Nara: Nara Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishikawa Shinji. 1987–1992. Byōdō-in taikan. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penny, Benjamin. 2000. “Immortality and Transcendence.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 109–133. Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powers, Martin Joseph. 1991. Art & Political Expression in Early China. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinet, Isabelle. 1997. Taoism: Growth of a Religion. Translated by Phyllis Brooks. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawson, Jessica. 1990. Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon. London: British Museum Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saitō Rieko. 1995. “Tonkō dai 249 kutsu tenjō ni okeru Chūgokuteki zuzō no juyō keitai.” Bukkyō geijutsu 218: 39–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakai Atsuko. 1999. “Chūgoku Nanbokuchō jidai ni okeru shokubutsu unki mon ni tsuite.” Bijutsushi 49/1: 66–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawada Mutsuyo. 2001. Jōdaigire shūsei: kofun shutsudo no sen’i kara Hōryūji Shōsōingire made, 2 vols. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soper, Alexander C. 1960. “South Chinese Influence on the Buddhist Art of the Six Dynasties Period.” Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities Bulletin 32: 47–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spiro, Audrey. 1991. “Shaping the Wind: Taste and Tradition in Fifth-Century South China.” Ars Orientalis 21 (1 January): 95–117. Accessed 12 June 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4629415.

  • Takahama Shū and Okumura Hidenori, eds. 1997–2001. Sekai bijutsu daizenshū (New History of World Art), vol. 2. Tokyo: Shōgakkan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan. 1991a. Kanjōban: Hōryūji kennō hōmotsu tokubetsu chōsa gaihō 11. Tokyo: Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1991b. Hōryūji hōmotsukan. Tokyo: Tokyo Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1994. Kokuhō Hōryūji ten. Tokyo: NHK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tseng, Lillian Lan-ying. 2011. Picturing Heaven in Early China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard-Yenching Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsiang, Katherine R. 2002. “Changing Patterns of Divinity and Reform in the Late Northern Wei.” The Art Bulletin 84, no. 2 (1 June): 222–245. Accessed 13 May, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3177267, 235–237.

  • Uehara Kazu. 1991. Tamamushi zushi no kenkyū: Asuka, Hakuhō bijutsu yōshiki shiron. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unkō Sekkutsu Bunbutsu Hokanjo. 1989. Unkō sekkutsu. Tokyo: Heibonsha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Renbo, ed. 2001. Qin Han wen hua. Shanghai: Xue lin chu ban she: Shanghai ke ji jiao yu chu ban she.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu Hung. 1986. “Buddhist Elements in Early Chinese Art (2nd and 3rd Centuries AD).” Artibus Asiae 47, no. 3/4 (1 January): 263–352. Accessed 20 December 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249974.

  • ———. 1989. The Wu Liang Shrine: The Ideology of Early Chinese Pictorial Art. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2006. “From Neolithic to Han.” In Chinese Sculpture, edited by Angela F. Howard, 17–103. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao Jian. 1981. Liu chaoyishu. Beijing: Wen wuchu ban she.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yŏnhap Nyusŭ. 2006. Illyu ŭi munhwa yusan Koguryŏ kobun pyŏkhwa: The Koguryo Tomb Murals. Seoul: Yŏnhap Nyusŭ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoshimura Rei. 1983. Chūgoku Bukkyō zuzō no kenkyū. Tokyo: Tōhō Shoten.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1990. “Nanchōteki tennin no Nihon e no denba.” In Hōryūji kara Yakushiji e: Asuka Nara no kenchiku, chōkoku, edited by Mizuno Keizaburō, 171–177. Tokyo: Kōdansha.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1999. Tennin tanjōzu no kenkyū: Higashiajia bukkyō bijutsushi ronshū. Tokyo: Tōhō Shoten.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yungang, vol. 3 of Zhongguo shiku diao su quanji. 2000–2001. Chongqing Shi: Chongqing chu ban she.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng Ruzhong. 1999. Feitian huajuan, vol. 15 of Dunhuang shi ku quan ji. Hong Kong: Shang wu yin shu guan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zou Wen. 2000. Zhongguo diao su jing dian, vol. 2. Beijing: Ren min mei shu chu ban she.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Niels Gutschow and Katharina Weiler for the invitation to participate in the workshop and their thorough review of this manuscript; Donald McCallum for his comments on the first draft of his essay; Burglind Jungman and Yoonjung Seo for obtaining the photographs and corresponding permissions for the Emille Bell; and Susana and Hiroshi Kobayashi for their unconditional support with all last-minute requests.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Art Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Pomona, CA, USA

    Chari Pradel

Authors
  1. Chari Pradel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chari Pradel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cultural and Religious History of South Asia, Heidelberg University, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg, Germany

    Niels Gutschow

  2. Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe", Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Katharina Weiler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Pradel, C. (2015). Winged Immortals and Heavenly Beings Across the East Asian Skies. In: Gutschow, N., Weiler, K. (eds) Spirits in Transcultural Skies. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11632-7_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation