CategoriesCultural and Religious Styles
Heian Period
Japanese art of 794–1185, when the Kyoto court developed esoteric Buddhist art, Pure Land sculpture, yamato-e handscrolls and kana calligraphy.
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About
The Heian period takes its name from Heian-kyō, the capital founded in 794 on the site of modern Kyoto, and it ends in 1185, when warrior clans seized power. A small court aristocracy, long dominated by the Fujiwara family, prized poetry, calligraphy and refined taste, and Japanese art grew less dependent on Chinese models.
Religious art came first. The esoteric Buddhist schools introduced by Kūkai and Saichō in the early 9th century needed mandalas and many-armed deities for ritual. Later, devotion to Amida's Pure Land inspired the Phoenix Hall of the Byōdō-in (1053), whose gilded Amida by the sculptor Jōchō was built from joined blocks of wood, a method that allowed larger, lighter figures. Secular painting in the native yamato-e manner peaked in the illustrated handscrolls of The Tale of Genji (early 12th century): rooms seen from above with the roofs removed, faces reduced to slits and hooks, and layers of opaque colour.
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