Monograph No. 21
MEMOIRS OF THE NARA NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL PROPRETIES NUMBER I
CONTENTS
1) A Mound behind the Great Image of Buddha
By Itoh, Nobuo
2) “The Shichi Daiji Junrei Shiki” and “The Jugo Daiji Nikki”
By Tanaka, Minoru xxv
3) Material of Art Research:
Articles Deposited inside the Statues Attendant to the Main Image of Hase-dera Temple
By Hasegawa, Sei Li
4) Scientific Study for the Presarvation of Archaeological Findings (1)
‐ Preservation of Tablets and Other Wooden Relics ‐
By Sawada, Masaaki 1
LIST OF PLATES
PL. I (top) Debate on the Mound behind the Great Image of Buddha contained in “The Todai-ji Yoroku”.
(bottom) Great Image of Buddha depicted in the Scroll of Shigisan Engi.
PL. II Presumed Scale Model of Mound behind the Great Image of Buddha.
PL. III “Image of Fuku Kensaku enshrined in Nan-en Do, Kofuku-ji Temple”. Collection of Kozan-ji Temple)
PL. IV “On Fuku Kensaku”. (Collection of Kozan-ji Temple)
PL. V Statue of Nanda-ryuo (Naga). Entire view and details.
PL. VI Articles deposited inside the Statue of Nanda-ryuo.
PL. VII Articles deposited inside the Statue of Sekisei-doji.
PL. VIII Statue of Sekisei-doji. Entire view and details.
PL. IX Microscopic Picture of Wood unearthed at the Site of Nara Imperial Palace.
PL. X (top) Deformation of an unearthed Wooden Specimen caused from Natural Drying.
(bottom) Preservation of a Viking Boat salvaged from the Sea Bed. (Stockholm)
PL. XI (top) Color Change of Wood due to Freeze-drying and PEG Treatment,
(bottom) PEG Tank. (The National Museum, Denmark)
PL. XII Examples of Freeze Drying Treatment of Wooden Specimens.
SYNOPSIS
A Mound behind the Great Image of Buddha
By ITOH, Nobuo
The Great Image of Buddha of Todai-ji Temple in Nara, which is a 14.7m high gilt-bronze statue cast in 752, got fissured soon after it was finally shaped. By 829 the damage having reached to such an extent that reinforcement job became necessary. There was a heated debate between the group who insisted on the idea of making a big mound behind the image as its support and another group who wanted to make the mound as small as possible on the ground that a big mound would greatly spoil the solemn atmosphere inside the hall. The former group got the better of the latter, and their idea was put into effect. In the 855 earthquake the head of the Great Buddha Image fell down. The reinforcement job then executed was eventually found inappropriate.
“The Shichi Daiji Junrei Shiki” and “The Jugo Daiji Nikki” (The Private Record of Pilgrimage to Seven Major Temples and The Diary on Fifteen Major Temples)
By TANAKA, Minoru
The Private Record of Pilgrimage to Seven Major Temples is attributed to Oh-e Chikamichi and said to be a summary record of his knowledge and experience which he gathered through his pilgrimage to temples in the former metropolitan area of Nara in 1040. It has so far been extremely highly estimated as an important material which gives witness to what the seven major temples in Nara looked actually like in those days. Recently, however, a fragment of the Diary on Fifteen Major Temples was discovered, and on comparison, the former was found to include a quantity of passages which had presumably been copied from the latter. As a result, the Private Record of Pilgrimage to Seven Major Temples is regarded to consist not entirely of Chikamichi’s own experiences, as believed to this day. The nature of the records contained therein needs reconsideration.
Material of Art Research:
Articles Deposited inside the Statues Attendant to the Main Image of Hase-dera Temple
By HASEGAWA, Sei
This is to present as research materials the inscriptions and papers deposited inside the Buddhist images, revealed as a result of scientific investigation. The images investigated are the main image Eleven-headed Kannon and its attendant images Nanda-ryuo (Naga) and Sekisei-doji of Hase-dera Temple, known since Nara Period as one of the headquarters of Kannon belief in this country. All these three images were burnt down and re-made as many as seven times. The present Eleven-headed Kannon dates from 1538. Naga from 1316 and Sekisei-doji from 1537
Scientific Study for the Preservation of Archaeological Findings (I)
‐ Preservation of Tablets and Other Wooden Relics ‐
By SAWADA, Masaaki
Of the relics uneathed in the course of archaeological excavations, the preservation of tablets and other wooden findings has long constituted a problem in the field of conservation science. The wooden relics unearthed in Japan are what we call “waterlogged wood”, the wood being porous and in extremely fragile condition. The methods of their conservation which are found to be most effective in these days are: freeze-drying method and polyethylene glycol method. This is to report in the concrete the results of experiments and the metheds of conservation which the author and his group found to be good for practical application.
昭和四十七年三月三十一日発行
研究論集Ⅰ
奈良国立文化財研究所学報（第二十一冊）
