Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/130



ITH the transfer of the capital from Nara to Kyōtō, at the close of the eighth century, began the Heian epoch, marked at the outset by the founding of large monasteries, especially those of Hiyei and Koya, and by the spread of esoteric Buddhism. This was the time when the Tang dynasty of China, ruling an empire that touched the boundaries of Persia and included Korea, Mongolia, and Tartary, developed a civilisation such as Asia had never previously witnessed in historical eras, and furnished models of literature, art, and administration which the eclectic genius of Japan was not slow to adopt. Yet the early part of the epoch did not produce any remarkable sculptures. The tendency of the artist was to devote attention solely to the ensemble of his statues, and to sacrifice accuracy of form on the altar of idealism. Japanese connoisseurs ascribe this tendency to the influence of esoteric Buddhism. Sculpture, they say, falling entirely into the hands of the priests or passing under their control, aimed uniquely at giving outward expression to the moral attributes associated with each divinity, and paid little attention to anatomical accuracy or technical excellence. Thus the