Japan
Buddhist Tower in Form of a Pagoda (Hokyointo)
INV-7178
Japan13th century
Buddhist Tower in Form of a Pagoda (Hokyointo)
Japan
Japanese (culture or style)stone (unidentified)stone
Date
13th century
Medium
Granite
Dimensions
126 × 51 × 51 cm (49 5/8 × 20 1/8 × 20 1/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by The Rice Foundation
The hokyointo is one of the earliest known types of stone pagoda in East Asia. Like other forms of pagoda, the design and function of this Buddhist monument originated in the ancient Indian memorial mounds (stupa), which were constructed to enshrine sacred remains or relics of the Buddha. In Japan distinct forms of multistoried stone and wood pagodas evolved to memorialize great Buddhist teachers and holy persons and to contain sacred texts (sutra). This hokyointo shows several early Kamakura period features, including the straight configuration of the petal-like projections, the Sanskrit characters carved on the vertical surfaces of the base, and the curved window frames, which are based on wood architecture.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Komurasaki of the Miuraya and Shirai Gompachi (Miuraya Komurasaki, Shirai Gompachi)
Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川 歌麿 Japanese, c.1753-1806
Hamamatsu, from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
Mitsuke: Ferries Crossing the Tenryu River (Mitsuke, Tenryugawa funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido)
Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858
