書評 日本の中国彫刻研究の百年―石松日奈子『北魏仏教造像史の研究』を読む―=Book Review: "A Century of Chinese Sculpture Studies in Japan: Reading Ishimatsu Hinako's Buddhist Images in the Northern Wei Period"
Ishimatsu's book consists of seven main chapters from her academic thesis, combined with five related essays. The book explicates the relatonship between the Hu people and the Han people, one of the central issues in the history of the Northern Wei dynastsy. This book is characterized by the author's stance regarding the Hu and the Han, with the author taking the stance of emphasizing the autonomy of the Hu, and critiquing the stance that gives more credence to the influence of the Han on the Hu. In terms of the content of the book, Ishimatsu indicates that the worship of tribal leader and the sacred mother and child (empress dowager and emperor) seem in Xiabei customs and rituals are reflected in the Buddhist sculpture during the Yungang period. They are also related to the overthrow of the head monk Tanyao and the appearance of dedicatory figures in the Yungang Caves wearinh Hu-style germents. These and other new probable interpretations are noteworthy. The book also profits from the wealth of experience gained by the author through her many years of actual onesite surveys in the various regions og Huabei. However, the author of this review felt that the book was lecking on the following points. This book's publication comes a century after the scholarly discovery of the Yungan Caves by Itô Chûta. While Ishimatsu's work is related to the history of studies on Chinese Buddhist sculpture that has been pioneered by the Japanese, she makes almost no mention of the theory of the origins of Chinese Buddhist sculptural stlyle, the most important point of discussion up until now, and provides no summation of the preceding century of discussion. While this lack is because she has intentionally discarded the prevalent stance of Itô Chûta and later scholars who discussed Buddhist sculptural creation from the Asuka period arts through the Northern Wei dynasty, when a Japanese scholar is discussingg Chinese cluture, one effective approach is to set Japan as the basis point of discussion. I look forwrad to furture developments from this author.
Bibliography: Ishimatsu Hinako, Buddhist Images in the Northern Wei Period, Brücke, Tokyo, January 2005
