【English】Lecture, 'The lavish decoration of the altar of Chuson-ji Konjikido' скачать в хорошем качестве

【English】Lecture, 'The lavish decoration of the altar of Chuson-ji Konjikido'

Among Chuson-ji's halls established right at the beginning, nothing is left apart from the Konjikido (Golden Hall). This hall was built with the most sophisticated construction techniques of the day and is said to be the model of the 'Golden Jipangu' described in the book 'The Travels of Marco Polo'. The entire hall is covered with gold leaf and still shines from within and out after many centuries. On this occasion a lecture was held about the inner sanctum of Konjikido, the altars and their lavish decoration. 　Konjikido has been repaired many times since it was completed in 1124. 1. In 1288 2. In 1384 3. In 1624 4. In 1643 5. In 1699 6. In 1770 7. From 1897~8 8. From 1930~1 9. From 1962~3 Out of these, the restoration that was conducted from 1962 was on a major scale. 　Seeing the photographs of a previous restoration, researchers found out that Konjikido originally had only a central altar and the north-west and south-west altars were added later. When research was carried out on the lavish decoration of the altars, drawings of them made at the time of the Meiji era repairs proved to be very valuable. If the present-day appearance of the decoration is compared with the drawings, it can be seen which original 12th century parts had survived. In one of the drawings, most of the peacock's tail is missing and this been subsequently restored. In addition it is clear that originally the peacock was not set in an oval cartouche. However, the tail and the cartouche were restored to the shape known today in the major repair work which started in 1962. Small differences can also be seen between the styles depending on the date of the manufacture of the previous repairs. To take the example of the peacock tails, the feathers of that on the middle altar radiate like a fan but those on right hand side of the north-west altar are more undulating. The south-west altar includes both the middle altar type and north-west altar type. As for the raden decoration, it is obvious from the difference in colour of the shell inlays, which parts were added in the large-scale restoration from 1962~3. In particular, many white shell inlays can be seen on the north-west altar whereas the older inlaid shell decoration has become amber-coloured. The craftsmanship of the raden decoration is very fine but after the LED lighting system of Konjikido was installed the difference between the old and new inlays can be identified more easily. Tourism and Commerce Division, Hiraizumi Town Hall kankou@town.hiraizumi.iwate.jp Hiraizumi Tourism Association Facebook   / hiraizumitourismassociationen