Refurbish, Reconsecrate, Repurpose: Handling Old and Incinerated Icons in Medieval Japan

Abstract

This article explores how different religious institutions in the Heian and Kamakura periods handled refurbishments and repurposing of their sacred icons, and tackles the issues surrounding the lack of records for “sending away” ceremonies in premodern sources. By focusing on the repeated performance of eye-opening rites, and on the deliberations surrounding the burning of the icon of Kamatari at Tōnomine, this article probes the extent to which paradigms of conservation and repurposing outweigh that of material production.本論文では、平安・鎌倉期のさまざまな宗教機関が、聖なる像の修復や転用にどう取り組んだかを論じ、前近代の文献に撥遣式・魂抜きの記録が残されていないという問題に取り組む。開眼供養が繰り返し行われたことや、多武峰の藤原鎌足像の焼損を巡る議論に注目することによって、本論文では、保存と転用の範例が実際の制作のそれよりどこまで重視されたかを論じる。