BuddhasInTheWest

Kūkai’s Jizō at Hakone Postcard

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Despite the English caption, this is not a statue of the 9th century Buddhist monk Kōbō Daishi, otherwise known as Kūkai. As the Japanese caption reads, this is a stone relief carving of the bodhisattva Jizō at Hakone, attributed to Kūkai’s skilled craftsmanship.

The lore of Kūkai’s craftsmanship was known to 19th c. art historian Ernest Fenollosa: “This is said to have been carved by Kōbō himself on his journey to the North; yet…he hardly would have spared time for its execution.” Today, the statue is dated to the 13th century, well after Kūkai’s death.

The note on the back, possibly written by a French tourist as a personal reminder, clarifies the English caption saying the image of Jizō was “sculpted by the Buddhist saint Kōbō Daishi.” The design of the reverse dates this Japanese postcard to between 1933 and 1945.

The pile of stones and pebbles on Jizō’s lap were common votive offerings presented by passing travelers and pilgrims.

Carved into the rock face, this statue still stands today in Hakone, sheltered by a small shrine. For more on Jizō and this particular icon, see Hank Glassman, The Face of Jizo: Image and Cult in Medieval Japanese Buddhism, 2012.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Joseph Rock’s Photographs of Zhouni (Choni) Monastery

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Joseph Rock took stunning photographs of the Tibet-China borderlands between 1922 and 1935, funded in part by the National Geographic Society. During this span, Rock wrote nine article for National Geographic; some were illustrated with gorgeous hand-colored prints.

Rock arrived in Zhuoni, China in April 1925 and stayed for two years, during which he wrote “Life among the Lamas of Choni” published in November 1928. Zhouni, then a Tibetan ruled chiefdom in Gansu province, was home to a bustling Buddhist monastery with hundreds of monks in residence.

The visual centerpiece of Rock’s article were photos of the Tibetan “Old Dance,” held on the sixth day of the sixth month. Eight agile skeleton dancers were part of the festivities, representing “departed spirits” as described by Rock.

The climax of the Old Dance feature the appearance of Yama, the “grim ruler of the nether world.”

As recounted by Rock, the left-most figure here is Palden Lhamo, the wife of Yama who killed their son, seen dangling from her mouth. According to Rock, due to the British invasion of Tibet decades earlier, it was believed Queen Victoria was a reincarnation of this demon goddess.

Rock developed his own black and white glass negatives and sent them back to the United States. Artists then hand-colored the images according to detailed descriptions furnished by Rock (later, Rock would use potato starch based Autochrome color plates).

Rock was able to purchase a complete set of the Tibetan Buddhist canon printed at Choni Monastery before the printing blocks were destroyed in 1929. To read a digital version of Rock’s account of Choni Monastery in National Geographic, see tinyurl.com/4dwe2tmb.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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T. Enami’s “Buddha’s Bicycle” Lantern Slide

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[Note: This post was originally published on April 1, 2025] Borobudur displays a unique image of the Buddha riding his favorite bicycle, a symbol of his mastery over the cycle of endless rebirth. Borobudur, a 9th century Buddhist monument in Central Java, also depicts bodhisattvas playing basketball and apsaras arm wrestling.


April Fools! In reality, when W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp (1874–1950) arrived in Bali with his bicycle in 1904 to explore, he caused, “real turmoil and panic,” as the Dutchman himself notes in his diary. Soon thereafter, he was immortalized at the Pura Meduwe Karang Temple (not Borobudur) in Bali.

The glass lantern slide was taken by influential Japanese photographer Enami Nobukuni (1859–1929) between 1917 (when the relief was repaired, adding a rear lotus wheel) and 1929 (Enami’s passing). The label of Borobudur – a location also photographed by Enami – is mistaken.

Notably, the relief shows Nieuwenkamp wearing traditional Balinese clothes, creating a fusion of foreign and familiar. For further discussion on this curious relief, see Putra & Abdullah’s “Iconological Analysis of the ‘Man on a Bicycle’ Relief” (2023).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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William Alexander’s Idol Temple Aquatint Print

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Artist William Alexander (1767–1816) accompanied the first British diplomatic mission to China in 1793 to visually document the embassy’s trip. Eager to be the first Brit to provide wide-ranging eye-witness accounts of China, Alexander’s published works blend fantasy and reality.

After arriving in China and sailing inland routes from Macao to Beijing, Alexander was mostly quarantined to the Summer Palace of the emperor. Alexander’s illustrations sometimes draw heavily upon European chinoiserie imagery, creating idyllic pagoda-filled land

Alexander’s 1805 publication, The Costume of China [sic], was bound pairing images with short explanatory text. It’s notable that while the accompanying image shows a rudimentary Buddhist figure with crossed legs, the text only speaks generically of paganism, idols, and joss houses.

Alexander originally produced sketches and watercolors, but these were rendered into engravings for early publications recounting the British embassy. For The Costume of China, however, the London publisher used colored aquatints, a popular printmaking method at the turn of the 19th century.

As for the “continued biography” of this print, the masking tape indicates it was previously framed. The explanatory text was taped to the back of the image.

The pagoda was one of the most enduring visual icons of China in the European imagination. The crumbling top could indicate the diminishing stature of China in comparison so the growing industrial might and colonial reach of Britain.

Unlike earlier European visitors to China who focused on religion, few of Alexander’s artworks concern this topic, reflecting changing interests. For further discussion of Alexander’s illustrations of China, see Chen Yushu’s “William Alexander’s Image of Qing China” (2019).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Ueno Daibutsu after the Great Kantō Earthquake Postcard

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Constructed in 1843, the colossal Ueno Daibutsu in Tokyo was restored after damage from the 1855 Edo earthquake. Less than a century later, in 1923, the Great Kantō earthquake dislodged the icon’s head, providing a rare photographic opportunity.

The bronze statue, representing Śākyamuni Buddha, was the third iteration, replacing statues made in c. 1660 and 1631. The Ueno Daibutsu originally stood on the precincts of Kan’ei-ji 寛永寺, a family temple for the famed Tokugawa clan, but the grounds were turned into today’s Ueno Park in 1873.

The once booming Japanese postcard industry was devastated after the 1923 earthquake, as many paper manufacturers and printers had to rebuild. Postcards made during this period are often found on a cheaper, rough paper prone to yellowing; notably, the back here is not fully printed.

The older exquisite hand-colored collotype prints of a decade earlier were replaced with lower resolution halftone screen prints in black and white. This detail shows the icon’s head laying in the foreground; looking closely, it’s easy to see the hallmark halftone dot pattern.

Vestiges of religious activity can be seen through the remnants of senshafuda 千社札, votive slips pasted on the statue by pilgrims and visitors.

The Ueno Daibutsu body was melted down during WWII, thus today only the face remains on display in Ueno Park. Holding the belief that the statue “won’t fall any further,” it’s become a place for Japanese students to pray so they won’t fail exams.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Kamakura Sightseeing Map (1912)

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After the opening Japan in 1859, the old backwater capital of Kamakura was transformed into an international tourist destination. This bilingual tourist map from 1912 (Meiji 45) provides a glimpse into which Kamakura sites were seen as most significant, including the Kamakura Daibutsu.

The Complete Map of Kamakura Famous Places for Sightseeing (Kamakura yūran meisho zenzu 鎌倉遊覧名所全圖), loosely rendered into English as The Drawing of Kamakura Nipoon [sic], came inside a paper folder printed with symbols of the Japanese empire. The map was prepared by Kawakami Yasujirō 川上安次郎.

By the early 1890s, the Kamakura Kaihin Hotel, a converted medical therapy facility for seawater bathing, emerged as the premier resort for Kamakura travelers. In March 1893, the Japanese Welcome Society was established to help promote foreign travel in Japan.

For many Japanese travelers, the main attraction was the Hachiman Shrine, a large complex in the heart of the city found at the end of a long central promenade leading to the ocean. The red dot seen here suggests this site was highlighted by the original owners of the map.

Among the many dozens of sites named on the map, only a handful are marked by a red dot. Of those highlighted is Hase-dera, temple home to a famous 31-foot tall Eleven-Headed Kannon statue.

Another highlighted tourist attraction is the Kamakura Daibutsu at Kōtoku-in, here depicted by a small, yet easily identifiable, icon. For a digitized collection of Japanese maps held by the C. V. Starr East Asian Library at UC Berkeley, see tinyurl.com/yutj576z.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Pierre Dieulefils’ Angkor Wat Pilgrimage Postcard

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Given countless images showing the architectural grandeur of Angkor Wat, it’s easy to forget it was once an important religious site – not just a tourist destination. Here we see a photo by Pierre Dieulefils from 1905 showing “Buddhist monks on pilgrimage” to the sacred site.

In anticipation of the Exposition coloniale de Marseille in 1906, Dieulefils toured Cambodia to take photographs. His photos reveal many active shrines throughout the Angkor Wat complex, most of which have been cleared out and placed in museums today.

Dieulefils arrived in Vietnam as part of French military forces in 1885. Many of his photographs of Angkor Wat were printed as postcards that were popular among French officers who mailed them home to France.

This Theravadin monk wears his outer cloak (saṃghāti) covering both shoulders, while the monk behind drapes his folded cloak over his left shoulder, bearing his right. Based on contrasting shades, we may infer this monk is wearing maroon robes, while the others wear brighter saffron.

Despite Dieulefils’ photographic record, French colonial guide books portrayed Angkor Wat as an abandoned archaeological marvel, see further discussion in Michael Falser’s “From Colonial Map to Visitor’s Parcours” in ‘Archaeologizing’ Heritage? (2013).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Liebig Dalai Lama Advertising Card

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The first photograph of the Dalai Lama in Tibet was taken in 1921; it depicts “the Great Thirteenth,” Tubten Gyatso (1876–1933). The image was published in various Western media, even making its way on to a multicolor lithograph trade card for the German company Liebig in 1935.
*The first photograph of the Dalai Lama was taken in India in 1910 following the incursion of the Qing army into Tibet.

The photograph was taken by Charles Bell and Rabden Lepcha at Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lama. Previously, images of the Dalai Lama were only spread through devotional tapestries (thangka) and gilt statues; now photographs could be shared among faithful Tibetans.

The Liebig company started printing colorful advertising cards in 1872, helping to support a popular collector’s hobby. This set from 1935 focused on Lhasa and included six cards, including an image of Potala Palace and large Tibetan prayer wheel, both iconic images in popular consciousness.

The original black and white photograph shows the Dalai Lama sitting on a throne behind an ornate dais. On the back wall hangs nine silk thangka depicting the Buddha, but the lithographic artist only loosely renders them as Buddhist images.

For a brief account of the Dalai Lama photograph and discussion on the impact of photography in Tibet, see Riga Shakya’s Lenses of Modernity: Photography in Tibet and the Himalayas, viewable here: tinyurl.com/bdzzcw4m.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Used Postcard with Kamakura Daibutsu Dimensions

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In 2025, seven of the top ten tallest freestanding statues in the world are Buddhist figures (as well as 31 of the top 50). The colossal size of Buddhist statuary is nothing new; foreign travelers in Asia have often noted this fact, as we see in this postcard message from 1906.

Used postcards are valuable because they reveal which aspects of the Kamakura Daibutsu site in Japan were more salient to visitors. The exact measurements given here were not taken on site by the visitor, but were likely copied from one of the popular Japan tourism guides.

The reverse gives us some insight into the “extended biography” of the postcard after its departure from Tokyo. Notably, the missing postage stamp suggests it was prized by a philatelist – a stamp collector.

The focus on the size, craftsmanship, and materials of the statue minimize the religious importance of such an icon and highlight its value as fine art.

Teaching Resource: For a brief introduction to material analysis that uses this postcard as an example, see the post and handout: Making Materials Speak: Performing a Material Analysis, viewable here: tinyurl.com/nhhuh4nk.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Herbert Ponting’s Shwethalyaung Sleeping Buddha Stereoview

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This colossal Sleeping Buddha was lost to the jungle when the Burmese city of Bago fell to invading forces in 1757. The statue was recovered in 1881 after railroad workers began digging through a tree-covered mound looking for scrap stone.

At 55 meters (180 ft) long and 16 meters (52 ft) high at the shoulder, the Shwethalyaung Buddha is among the largest reclining Buddha statues ever constructed. Made of brick and stucco, it is believed to have been built in the late tenth century under the patronage of a local king.

This stereograph was taken by Herbert Ponting who had returned from Manchuria after photographing the Russo-Japan War for publisher H. C. White.

Ponting had an expert eye; his placement of the man in the foreground produces a strong three-dimensional depth effect when viewed stereoscopically.

An earlier photograph of the Shwethalyaung Sleeping Buddha before decoration was published in Julius Smith’s Ten Years in Burma from 1902, viewable here: tinyurl.com/5n85dsxn.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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