Komainu
Encyclopedia
, often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the inner shrine
of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born during the Edo period
, is called , the second and much older type . They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples
, nobility residences or even private homes. The komainu is also one of the pieces of a shōgi
(Japanese chess) board.
, human-form guardians of Buddhist temples) and has a symbolic meaning. The open mouth is pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit
alphabet, which is pronounced "a", while the closed one is uttering the last letter, which is pronounced "um", to represent the beginning and the end of all things. Together they form the sound Aum
, a syllable
sacred in several religions like Hinduism
, Buddhism
, and Jainism
.
There are however exceptions to the rule in which both komainu have their mouth either open or closed. The two forms are called collectively a-un
and individually as and .
Komainu strongly resemble Chinese guardian lions
and in fact originate from Tang dynasty
China. The Chinese guardian lions are believed to have been influenced by lion pelts and lion depictions introduced through trade from either the Middle East
or India
, countries where the lion existed and was a symbol of strength. During its transportation along the Silkroad, however, the symbol changed, acquiring a distinctive look. The first lion statue in India appears around the 3rd century BC on top of a column erected by King Ashoka
. The tradition later arrived to China where it developed into the guardian lion that was later exported to Korea, Japan and Okinawa.
During the Nara period
(710–794) the pair always consisted, as in the rest of Asia, of two lions. Used only indoors until the 14th century, they were made mainly of wood. During the Heian period
(794–1185), for example, wooden or metal pairs were employed as weights and door-stops, while at the Imperial Palace they were used to support screens or folding screens
.
During the early Heian period
(ninth century), the tradition changed and the two statues started to be different and be called differently. One had its mouth open and was called because, as before, it resembled that animal. The other had its mouth closed, looked rather like a dog, was called komainu, or "Koguryo dog", and sometimes had a single horn on its head. Gradually the animals returned to be identical, but for their mouths, and ended up being called both komainu.
Ubiquitous as they are now at shrines, Komainu have been used outdoors only since the 14th century. In Asia the lion was popularly believed to have the power to repel evil, and for this reason it was habitually used to guard gates and doors. In Japan too it ended up being installed at the entrance of shrines and temples next to the lion-dog. Being exposed to Japan's rainy weather, the pair started being carved in stone.
The , the stone animals that in Okinawa guard the gates or the roofs of houses, are close relatives of the shishi and the komainu, objects whose origin, function and symbolic meaning they share. Their name itself is just a corruption of .
Starting from the Edo period
(1603–1868) other animals have been used instead of lions or dogs, among others wild boars, tigers, dragons and foxes.
, guardian of shrines dedicated to kami Inari
. There are about 30 thousand Inari shrines
in Japan, and the entrance of each is guarded by a pair of fox statues. Often one, and sometimes both, has a sūtra
roll, a key or a jewel in its mouth. (Sūtras are Buddhist texts, a fact which attests to the Buddhist origins of Inari's cult.) The statues do not stand for the malice the animals are proverbial for, but for the magic powers they are believed in this case to possess. Sometimes the guardians are painted, and in that case they are always white. White foxes are messengers of the kami, who is sometimes himself believed to be, and portrayed as, a fox. Although visible genitals are rare, the left fox is believed to be male, the right one female.
Often the foxes wear red votive bibs (see photo above) similar to those worn by statues of other deities, for example Buddhist god Jizō, from which one expects some kind of favor in return. In this case however the bibs seem to be purely a rite, whose origins are unclear.
Honden
The , is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined kami, usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a statue. The building is normally in the rear of the shrine and closed to the general public. In front of its usually stands the haiden, or...
of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born during the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, is called , the second and much older type . They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples
Buddhist temples in Japan
Along with Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples are the most numerous, famous, and important religious buildings in Japan.The term "Shinto shrine" is used in opposition to "Buddhist temple" to mirror in English the distinction made in Japanese between Shinto and Buddhist religious structures. In...
, nobility residences or even private homes. The komainu is also one of the pieces of a shōgi
Shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...
(Japanese chess) board.
Symbolic meaning
Meant to ward off evil spirits, modern komainu statues are almost identical, but one has the mouth open, the other closed. This is a very common characteristic in religious statue pairs at both temples and shrines. This pattern is however Buddhist in origin (see the article about the NiōNio
Kongōrikishi or Niō are two wrath-filled and muscular guardians of the Buddha, standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in China, Japan and Korea in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are manifestations of the Bodhisattva ' protector deity and are part of the...
, human-form guardians of Buddhist temples) and has a symbolic meaning. The open mouth is pronouncing the first letter of the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
alphabet, which is pronounced "a", while the closed one is uttering the last letter, which is pronounced "um", to represent the beginning and the end of all things. Together they form the sound Aum
Aum
Om or Aum Om or Aum Om or Aum (also , written in Devanāgari as and as , in Sanskrit known as (lit. "to sound out loudly"), ', or ' (also as ') (lit. "Auṃ form/syllable"), is a sacred/mystical syllable in the Dharmic or Indian religions, i.e...
, a syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
sacred in several religions like Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, and Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
.
There are however exceptions to the rule in which both komainu have their mouth either open or closed. The two forms are called collectively a-un
A-un
The term is the transliteration in Japanese of the syllable "aum" . Written in Devanagari as , it is sacred to the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism....
and individually as and .
History
Chinese guardian lions
Chinese guardian lions, known as Shishi lions or Imperial guardian lion, and often incorrectly called "Foo Dogs" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in pre-modern China...
and in fact originate from Tang dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China. The Chinese guardian lions are believed to have been influenced by lion pelts and lion depictions introduced through trade from either the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
or India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, countries where the lion existed and was a symbol of strength. During its transportation along the Silkroad, however, the symbol changed, acquiring a distinctive look. The first lion statue in India appears around the 3rd century BC on top of a column erected by King Ashoka
Ashoka
Ashok Maurya or Ashoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
. The tradition later arrived to China where it developed into the guardian lion that was later exported to Korea, Japan and Okinawa.
During the Nara period
Nara period
The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...
(710–794) the pair always consisted, as in the rest of Asia, of two lions. Used only indoors until the 14th century, they were made mainly of wood. During the Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
(794–1185), for example, wooden or metal pairs were employed as weights and door-stops, while at the Imperial Palace they were used to support screens or folding screens
Folding Screen
A folding screen , is a piece of free-standing furniture which consists of several frames or panels connected by hinges. It can be made in a variety of designs and with different kinds of materials. Screens have many practical and decorative uses...
.
During the early Heian period
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
(ninth century), the tradition changed and the two statues started to be different and be called differently. One had its mouth open and was called because, as before, it resembled that animal. The other had its mouth closed, looked rather like a dog, was called komainu, or "Koguryo dog", and sometimes had a single horn on its head. Gradually the animals returned to be identical, but for their mouths, and ended up being called both komainu.
Ubiquitous as they are now at shrines, Komainu have been used outdoors only since the 14th century. In Asia the lion was popularly believed to have the power to repel evil, and for this reason it was habitually used to guard gates and doors. In Japan too it ended up being installed at the entrance of shrines and temples next to the lion-dog. Being exposed to Japan's rainy weather, the pair started being carved in stone.
The , the stone animals that in Okinawa guard the gates or the roofs of houses, are close relatives of the shishi and the komainu, objects whose origin, function and symbolic meaning they share. Their name itself is just a corruption of .
Starting from the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
(1603–1868) other animals have been used instead of lions or dogs, among others wild boars, tigers, dragons and foxes.
Foxes at Inari shrines
The most frequent variant of the komainu theme is the foxKitsune
is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume...
, guardian of shrines dedicated to kami Inari
Inari (mythology)
is the Japanese kami of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes, industry and worldly success and one of the principal kami of Shinto. Represented as male, female, or androgynous, Inari is sometimes seen as a collective of three or five individual kami...
. There are about 30 thousand Inari shrines
Inari Shrine
is a shinto shrine to worship the god Inari. There are many Inari shrines in Japan. The deity is worshiped also in some Buddhist temples.-Shrines and offerings:Inari is a popular deity with shrines and Buddhist temples located throughout most of Japan...
in Japan, and the entrance of each is guarded by a pair of fox statues. Often one, and sometimes both, has a sūtra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
roll, a key or a jewel in its mouth. (Sūtras are Buddhist texts, a fact which attests to the Buddhist origins of Inari's cult.) The statues do not stand for the malice the animals are proverbial for, but for the magic powers they are believed in this case to possess. Sometimes the guardians are painted, and in that case they are always white. White foxes are messengers of the kami, who is sometimes himself believed to be, and portrayed as, a fox. Although visible genitals are rare, the left fox is believed to be male, the right one female.
Often the foxes wear red votive bibs (see photo above) similar to those worn by statues of other deities, for example Buddhist god Jizō, from which one expects some kind of favor in return. In this case however the bibs seem to be purely a rite, whose origins are unclear.