RT Article
T1 Facilitating Buddhism through Portable Absolution: Miniature Clay Buddha Tablets (塼佛) and Stupas (塼塔) of the Ōtani Collection
JF Numen
VO 70
IS 2/3
SP 286
OP 321
A1 Lim, Young-ae
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2023
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1839174315
AB This article is a study on the miniature clay Buddha tablets and stupas collected by the Ōtani Expedition presently at the National Museum of Korea. Similar examples were found in the Dunhuang cave temples, Buddhist stupas of Xi Xia, and through English and American expeditions of the early twentieth century. A comparative study establishes the functions and characteristics unique to the Ōtani clay tablets and stupas. Such artifacts were once believed to absolve the transgressions of the dead or commissioner, while also allowing one to accumulate merits for an improved afterlife. Well-suited for Buddhist missionary work, these tablets and stupas were produced in all regions where Buddhism was prevalent. Though small and made from a modest material, the miniature clay tablets and stupas represent an important genre of Buddhist art that expresses the universal role of religious art.
K1 miniature clay stupa
K1 miniature clay Buddha tablet
K1 Pratītyasamutpāda-gāthā (ye dharmā)
K1 National Museum of Korea
K1 Ōtani Kōzui
DO 10.1163/15685276-20231694