Komainu
Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Symbolic meaning
A twin pair of komainu (construable as "Korean dog"[1]) or two shishi ("lion")/karajishi ("Chinese lion") are the typical stone-made creatures associated with gatekeeping on Shinto shrine grounds.[2][3] The dog and lion pairs are seen as interchangeable.[1]
Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern komainu statues usually are almost identical, but one has the mouth open, the other closed (however, exceptions exist, where both komainu have their mouth either open or closed
History
Origins
In Asia, the lion was popularly believed to have the power to repel evil, and for this reason it was habitually used to guard gates and doors. The Komainu strongly resemble
Heian period
The custom of placing wooden, and later stone representations of the kara-inu and lions were established no later than the mid-Heian period (tenth century), though precise dating remains uncertain.[12]
Perhaps as early as the earlier part of the Heian period (ninth century), the tradition changed and the two statues started to be different and be called differently. One had its mouth open and was called
Eventually they were also became apotropaic objects protecting Buddhist temples,[6][12] royal palaces,[12] nobility residences or even private homes.[14] A pair of these dogs are painted on the front walls of the honden (inner sanctuary) at the Kamo-wakeikazuchi Shrine, but such painted examples are a rare, possibly unique.[15]
According to one reckoning, the komainu have been used outdoors only since the 14th century.[11] In Japan, too it ended up being installed at the entrance of shrines and temples next to the lion-dog.[16] As a protection against exposure to Japan's rainy weather, the komainu started being carved in stone.
Edo period
Starting in the Edo period the komainu began to be placed at the sandō (tr. "avenues of approach"[2] to the shrine) and are now categorized as sandō komainu (参道狛犬, lit. 'entrance-road Komainu'). The much older type are called jinnai komainu (陣内狛犬, lit. 'komainu within [the shrine]'s premises').[17] They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples, nobility residences or even private homes.
Starting from the Edo period (1603–1868) other animals have been used instead of lions or dogs, among others wild boars, tigers, dragons and foxes.
Parallels
Foxes at Inari shrines
A variant of the komainu theme is the
Often the foxes wear red votive bibs similar to those worn by statues of other figures: for example, the Buddhist bodhisattva figure
Okinawan shīsā
The
Gallery
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A-unpair of komainu; "a" on the right, "un" on the left
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A komainu with a horn on its head
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An Okinawan shīsā
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A fox in front of an Inari shrine with a key in its mouth
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Pair of fox guardians with kit at Numazu Aratama Inari Jinja
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Detail view of the right fox guardian of the shrine Aratama Inari Jinja in Numazu with visible male genitalia
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Detail view of the left fox guardian of the shrine Aratama Inari Jinja in Numazu with kit
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Komainu outside the gate of Saikouji in Toyohashi
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Detail view of left Komainu outside the gate of Saikouji in Toyohashi with cub
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A guardian wild boar
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A guardian komatora (狛虎)
See also
Explanatory notes
- ^ This is a very common characteristic in religious statue pairs at both temples and shrines. The pattern is Buddhist in origin (see the article about the Niō, human-form guardians of Buddhist temples) and has a symbolic meaning: The open mouth is pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, which is pronounced "a", while the closed one is uttering the last letter, which is pronounced "um", to represent the beginning and the end of all things.[8] Together they form the sound Aum, a syllable sacred in several religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
References
Citations
- ^ S2CID 161932208.
- ^ JSTOR 1178650.
- ^ JSTOR 30232983.
- ^ Shogakukan Encyclopedia, Komainu
- ^ a b Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
- ^ ISBN 9780824837754.
- JSTOR 43485272.
- ^ JAANUS, A un, accessed on July 10, 2010
- ^ Encyclopedia of Shinto, Komainu
- ^ a b Shisa Travelogue, Culture of the lion around the world; roots of the shisa Archived October 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Kyoto National Museum Dictionary
- ^ JSTOR 27152305.
- ^ a b JAANUS, Komainu, accessed on July 16, 2010
- ISBN 9780730830399.
- ^ Cali & Dougill (2012), p. 116.
- ^ Shogakukan Encyclopedia, Shishi
- ^ Kotera, pages 1 and 2
- ^ a b c d Scheid, Inari Fuchswächter
- Shinbutsu shūgō
- ^ Smyers (1999:229)
- ^ Shisa Travelogue, The Chinese lion-Guardian dogs Archived October 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
General and cited references
- "JAANUS". on-line Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology.
- "Lion-dogs". Kyoto National Museum Dictionary. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- Mihashi, Ken. "Komainu". Shogakukan Encyclopedia online (in Japanese). Yahoo. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- Kanechiku, Nobuyuki. "Shishi" (in Japanese). Shogakukan Encyclopedia online. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- Kotera, Yoshiaki. "Komainu" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japanese Religions. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- Nakayama, Kaoru. "Komainu". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugakuin University. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- Scheid, Bernhard. "Inari Fuchswächter" (in German). University of Vienna. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- "Shisa Travelogue". Okinawa Prefectural Government. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- OCLC 231775156.
External links
- Media related to Komainu at Wikimedia Commons
- Media related to Inari fox statues at Wikimedia Commons