Nirvana paintings generally refer to the images that depict the death of the Buddha Shakyamuni. In this type of paintings, Shakyamuni lies on a dais or a bier, and is surrounded by numbers of deities, disciples, and animals. Death releases the Buddha from the cycles of rebirth, and makes him enter the realm of nirvana. The scene of his death is part of the narrative paintings of Shakyamuni’s life.
This thesis analyzes several cases of Chinese nirvana paintings on silk or paper transported to Japan in ancient times, including the works from the Southern Song Dynasty to those from the Qing Dynasty. Although scholars have discussed these paintings individually, the whole picture of the development remains unclear. The main concern of the author is the transformation of the pictorial presentations of the Nirvana paintings in history. The reasons for the various appearance of the images are complicated, including regional differences and periodical trends.
This thesis will first focus on a group of paintings made in the Song and the Yuan Dynasties. These include the Nirvana of the Buddha by Lu Xinzhong, the Nirvana of the Buddha in the possession of Nakanoboji Temple in Aichi Prefecture, and the Nirvana of the Buddha in Kyoto Chofukuji Temple. They share some similar characteristics from the eastern Zhejiang coast area, but also show varieties.
The other major part of this thesis mainly probes into four important nirvana paintings from the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, including Nirvana of the Buddha formerly attributed to Wu Bin, Nirvana of the Buddha by Sun Yi, as well as two anonymous paintings, one in the Shofuku-ji Temple and the other in the Shuntoku-ji Temple of the Nagasaki Prefecture. These paintings show radical transformation and deviate from the tradition. They enrich the nirvana scenes with elements from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism and reflect the new expectations of the believers.
