飞鸟前期佛教造像服饰问题研究——兼论日本早期佛教发展

佛教在飞鸟时期的导入被认为是日本早期一系列重要社会变革的关键,飞鸟佛教的研究对于认识日本早期社会的形成意义重大。然而文献和考古资料的不足导致相关研究难以进展,以致佛教在日本的早期发展状况不明。通过考察日本飞鸟前期佛教造像的服饰表现,重点分析造像造型上不合理的服饰细节,可以认为这些服饰问题反映出佛教图像形式作为一种外来文化在当时还未被本土充分理解的状态,体现了佛教传播初期的发展特征。同时,服饰问题在飞鸟前期造像上集中出现,进入飞鸟后期基本消失,反映了飞鸟前后期佛教发展的内部变化。

A Study on the Dresses of the Earliest Buddhist Statues of the Asuka Period(538-710)Japan: Also on the Early Development of Buddhism in Japan

The initial phase of Buddhism is of immense scholarly interest, yet it remains a murky field due to the scarcity of reliable written documentation as well as the lack of archaeological materials. This paper attempts to unravel this important phase by zooming into the peculiar depictions of dress details that are found common among the earliest Japanese Buddhist figures. It contends that the peculiar dress depictions are evidence of sculptors' superficial knowledge of Buddhist visual forms, and is indicative of a period before the dawn of Buddhism in Japan.