Both of your insights were very...insightful...I can't really add anything more because you two hit the nail directly on the head. But, Mizenko-sensei will smack me over the head with a paper fan if I don't comment on your...comments...
Well, to address Michael T's comment, it does appear to be floating in space. However, this is probably due to the fact that this picture was most likely taken in a museum or an exhibition where the statue was positioned in such a way that the background would not detract from it. It is at this point that I want to annoy Mizenko-sensei by pointing out that if this was in a museum or an exhibition, it was probably framed in a way so that the viewers could focus on it alone. The photographer probably was not trying to create some hyper-meta-mujo-whatever statement on the impermanence-fragility-timelessness-something or other of the statue. But for the sake of my grade, let's pretend that it was. It looks like it is floating. This could have been intentional since it IS a sculpture of the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus...just disguised as the Buddha Kannon.
This is where I get to you, Becca. This is a relic of the Kakure Kurishitans, or the "Hidden Christians." Okay, history lesson!!!
When Christian missionaries came to Japan in the 1500s, they were tolerated and in some cases even embraced by certain Japanese warlords. One of these was Oda Nobunaga. Well, he went on to unite Japan (yes, yes, I know it's more complicated than that, but I'm trying to keep this brief!!). However, after Nobunaga took over Japan, he realized that the Christians were a threat to his rule since they swore alliegence to just one god, and not him. So, he told them to get out of Japan. The missionaries kindly responded, "No." And Nobunaga kindly responded back by murdering all Christians in Japan, including the European priests. Christianity was officially outlawed. However, there were some Japanese who didn't want to abandon their new religion. So an underground society of Christians was formed called the Kakure Kurishitans. Their story is fascinating when you consider how they were able to hide their religion from the Tokugawa shogunate for literally hundreds of years. By the way, DID YOU HEAR? MARTIN SCORCESE IS DOING A FILM ON THE KAKURE KURISHITANS!!! IT'S GOING TO STAR DANIEL DAY-LEWIS AND BENICIO DEL TORO!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Ahem...but I digress...
One of the ways they hid their faith was through statues like the one I have pictured on my blog. If they had a statue of the Virgin Mary, they would be killed. But, if they have a statue of a random woman holding a child, they could argue that it was a statue of Kannon, the Buddha of Mercy. The entire Kakure Kurishitan subculture is amazing. You should definitely check it out if you get a chance.
But the image itself...It looks extremely regal. The woman has very straight posture and even the child on her lap seems to be surveying his domain. This is unlike Western depictions of the Virgin Mary where she is seen as a figure of mercy and compassion. This discrepancy can probably be contributed to efforts to disguise the statue convincively as Kannon. The signifier of a mother and child signifies feelings of respect, filial piety (which was very important because Japan had long studied the works of Confucius), and even love. The original image is very small, so I can't make out what is at her feet. I think it might be some kind of animal. If it is, it could signify God's command over all creation. It is a very interesting statue and a very interesting picture. I just wish that more people had commented on it...Oh well, next time.
Upon the confirmation of my suspicion, I wonder if the statue was displayed alone without other things deemed "Asian" to the western eye in order to make the allusion to the mother and son more obvious?
ReplyDelete...also my verification word is "preggin". WTF.