The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods or devas, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. The Hall of Four Heavenly Kings is a standard component of Chinese Buddhist temples.The Four Heavenly Kings (Sanskrit Caturmahārāja, Pali Catu-Mahārāja, Chinese Sì Dà Tiānwáng 四大天王, Japanese Shitennō 四天王) are celestial deities or guardian gods in Buddhist cosmology who preside over the four cardinal directions and protect the Dharma.
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👉 Four Heavenly Kings in the context of Vaisravana
Vaiśravaṇa (Sanskrit: वैश्रवण) or Vessavaṇa (Pali; Tibetan: རྣམ་ཐོས་སྲས་, Lhasa dialect: [Namtösé], simplified Chinese: 多闻天王; traditional Chinese: 多聞天王; pinyin: Duōwén Tiānwáng, Japanese: 毘沙門天, romanized: Bishamonten) is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and is considered an important figure in Buddhism. He is the god of warfare and usually portrayed as a warrior-king. Vaiśravana is based on Kubera, the Hindu deity of wealth.
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Four Heavenly Kings in the context of Japanese sculpture
Sculpture in Japan began with the clay figure. Towards the end of the long Neolithic Jōmon period, "flame-rimmed" pottery vessels had sculptural extensions to the rim, and very stylized pottery dogū figures were produced, many with the characteristic "snow-goggle" eyes. During the Kofun period of the 3rd to 6th century CE, haniwa terracotta figures of humans and animals in a simplistic style were erected outside important tombs. The arrival of Buddhism in the 6th century brought with it sophisticated traditions in sculpture, Chinese styles mediated via Korea. The 7th-century Hōryū-ji and its contents have survived more intact than any East Asian Buddhist temple of its date, with works including a Shaka Trinity of 623 in bronze, showing the historical Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas and also the Guardian Kings of the Four Directions.
Jōchō is said not only to be one of the greatest Buddhist sculptors in the Heian period but also in the history of Buddhist statues in Japan. Jōchō redefined the body shape of Buddha statues by perfecting the technique of yosegi zukuri (寄木造り) which is a combination of several woods. The peaceful expression and graceful figure of the Buddha statue that he made completed a Japanese style of sculpture of Buddha statues called Jōchō yō ('Jōchō style', 定朝様) and determined the style of Japanese Buddhist statues of the later period. His achievement dramatically raised the social status of busshi (Buddhist sculptor) in Japan.