Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/103

RV 81 century immediately subsequent to the era of Tori, Ouchi, Shotoku, and the unknown modellers of the three Amidas and the Yakushi Trinity just described. Among the masters who illumined this golden era the names are recorded of Gyogi, a Buddhist priest immortalised by his contributions to every branch of material progress in his time; Hien Wantsz, whose nationality is uncertain, some calling him a Korean, some an Indian, and some a Chinese; Kimimaro, the founder of a colossal effigy of Buddha, the well-known "Nara Dai-Butsu," which stands in the temple Todai-ji; the three artists, Takaichi Makuni, Takaichi Mamaro, and Kakino Moto-no-Otoma, who assisted Kimimaro in his great work, and finally, two brothers, Keibunkai and Keibunkomi, generally known in their time as the Kasuga sculptors, since they came from a district called Kasuga-mura.

Speaking broadly, the eighth century is remembered by Japanese students as the "Nara epoch," because the custom previously observed of changing the capital with each change of sovereign was abandoned at the beginning of that century, and Nara continued to be the residence of the Court through seven generations. Comparatively little is known of the Nara Palace, though many of the articles and ornaments used by its inmates survive in a celebrated collection which during nearly twelve hundred years has been preserved in a storehouse connected with the Shōsō-in at that place. But some of the seven massive and beautiful temples erected in the days of the city's greatness stand still intact, and their graceful proportions, together with the sculptures and paintings they contain, speak eloquently of a refined and even luxurious civilisation. Nothing is more re-