Mandala of the Sannō Shrine Deities

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This mandala gives concrete visual expression to the Japanese Buddhist concept of “original ground and flowing traces” (honji-suijaku) in which Japanese deities, known as kami, are considered to be manifestations (“flowing traces”) of Buddhist deities (“original ground”). The concept satisfied the desire of early medieval Japanese Buddhists to reconcile preexisting kami worship with the Buddhist tradition. Here, in an early premodern iteration of the theme, the seven kami of the Upper Sannō shrines are depicted in their original Buddhist forms along with three kami from the Middle Sannō shrines along the bottom. The Sannō (literally, "mountain king") shrine complex is situated in the eastern foothills of Mt. Hiei, northeast of Kyoto, overlooking Lake Biwa. The name refers to the tutelary kami of the Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei, where Saichō (767–822), founder of the Tendai School of Buddhism, established his headquarters.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art