Artworks

Hōōdō (Phoenix Hall), Byōdōin

Artwork · Anonymous · 1053 · building · Byōdō-in Temple

The building that best shows the Heian court’s belief in Amida and his Western Paradise. Fujiwara no Michinaga bought the site on the Uji River in 998; his son Fujiwara no Yorimichi turned the villa into a temple in 1052 and dedicated the hall in 1053. It stands on an island in an artificial pond, close to the water and reflected in it: a single-storied central hall treated as if it had two storeys, with two-storied walkways ending in towers at the sides and a tail corridor behind — like a bird with outstretched wings, two gilt bronze phoenixes on the roof. Inside sits Amida Nyorai, Hōōdō, Byōdōin with his host on the walls, and the doors are painted with Amida’s welcome (raigō): the whole hall is a materialization of the raigō. 1 Mason 2005, pp. 143–145, figs. 172–173. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.