BuddhasInTheWest

Keystone’s Nara Kokūzō Stereoview

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3D Kokūzō 虛空: In the early 20th century, Keystone View Company emerged as a premier publisher of stereoviews with several tens-of-thousands of images in their catalogue. Around 1901, Keystone issued its first views of Japan, including a run of 23 odd-lot stereoviews.

Among their 1901 offerings, a 1/4 were stereo-photographs of religious sites or objects; this includes two views of Buddhist statues. At this time, other companies started offering special Japan box sets and following the Russo-Japanese War Japan sets became far more popular.

The card here depicts the Daibutsu Hall of Tōdai-ji in Nara. Curiously, it does not show the main figure for which the hall is named, the Nara Daibutsu. This icon is Kokūzō Bosatsu, otherwise known as Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva (Keystone simply labelled it as a “god.”)

Part of Keystone’s commercial success was selling stereoviews to schools across the US. To view part of their early selection of Japan views, see the digitized collection at the Library of Congress, viewable here https://tinyurl.com/bdewbmva.

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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The Cheat (1923) Production Photograph

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A Lost Film: The remake of The Cheat in 1923 starred Pola Negri in her second American film; she gave rise to the cinematic femme fatale. As with many silent films of the era, The Cheat is considered lost and theatrical stills are some of the only pictorial documents remaining.

Theatrical stills – shot since the advent of feature films in the 1910s – are simply production photographs. Over the last century they have become highly collected artifacts, here we can see where the photo was affixed to an album page.

The image here shows Charles de Rochefort playing a cunning art dealer masquerading as an East Indian Prince. The set design uses a multi-arm statue to underscore his foreign, and potentially nefarious, identity.

Looking closely at the statue, is does not appear to be a studio-made prop. The features and style suggest an authentic East Asian icon.

The richly brocaded costuming hints at the character’s royal pedigree, while his posture of reverence reveals his non-Christian religious allegiance.

A similar icon was photographed by German photographer Hedda Morrison in China between 1933–1946. It is viewable through Bristol’s Visualizing China project here: https://hpcbristol.net/visual/Hv08-085

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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D.A. Ahuja’s Buddhist Priests Postcard

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Buddhists & the British Crown: When Ceylon became a colony in 1815, the first Buddhist monks became subjects of the Crown. Burmese monks were added to their ranks in 1885. Victorian reports said the total Buddhist population was 500 million, nearly 40% of the global population.

British newspapers of the time printed engravings of the expanding empire, often focusing on exotic architecture and the clothes and customs of new subjects. The shaven heads and golden robes of Burmese monks, called poongyis in the press, garnered some of this attention.

Consequently, when D. A. Ahuja (c.1865–c. 1939) started publishing colorized postcards of Burma, monks dressed in colorful robes were a popular theme. This is card is a German lithographic-halftone print published circa 1910.

The popular press often described Burmese monks as indolent, but never-the-less kind-hearted. While Ahuja’s licensed photograph (taken by Philip Klier) seems to depict monks at rest on the stairs of a temple, it’s noteworthy one studious monk holds a notebook and pencil.

For further reflections on how Burmese Buddhism was represented in Victorian mass media, see Eiben, Emily Rose. “Representing Buddhism in British Media and Popular Culture, 1875-1895.” Ph.D dissertation, Ludwig Maximilian University, 2016

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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American Express Daibutsu Advertisement

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After the opening of the Panama Canal and the end of WWI, the first around-the-world commercial cruise was chartered by the American Express Company in late 1922. The following summer of 1923, American Express began advertising for its next cruise using the Great Buddha of Kamakura.

The success of the inaugural cruise is celebrated in the advertising copy. It notes how the journey is “luxuriously comfortable, wholly delightful, and easily obtainable.” The brief itinerary lists the major ports to be visited, including a long 13 day stay in Japan.

The most conspicuous element is the large cropped photo of the “sacred idol of Japan” – the Kamakura Daibutsu. Notably, the photo depicts the inaugural cruise passengers positioned in front, looking directly at the camera lens.

Unfortunately, the Great Kantō earthquake struck in September 1923, damaging the Daibutsu. The Second American Express Cruise Round the World continued, however, leaving New York in November 1923 and returning in March 1924.

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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Baron Raimund von Stillfried’s Daibutsu Carte de visite

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Early Photographic Souvenirs: When Baron Raimund von Stillfried (1839–1911) opened his Yokohama studio in 1871, globe-trotting was becoming the rage among wealthy elite. This phenomenon was reflected in Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, published in 1873.

A decade earlier, the small format carte-de-visite had emerged as one of the most popular products of commercial photography studios. Originally used as inexpensive family portraits carried in jacket pockets, they soon turned into common tourist souvenirs.

The 19th century globe-trotting circuit included port in Yokohama, the first landfall as you came west across the Pacific. Stillfried’s souvenir photo bears a handwritten note:
This is Diaboots
The Japanese God
what they worship
he is a big size

“Diaboots” refers to Daibutsu.

Stillfried became well known for his Japanese landscapes, a genre that was also popular among foreign globe-trotters.He would carefully frame Japanese people into his shots to underscore elements of foreignness.

Stillfried also published larger format prints bound into albums. An early exemplar from 1872, titled Views and Costumes of Japan, is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, viewable here: https://tinyurl.com/yuuf52u9.

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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Korea’s Eunjin Mireuk Postcard

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Colonized Korean Landscapes: This statue, known as Eunjin Mireuk 恩津彌勒, is on the grounds of Gwanchoksa Temple in South Korea. At just over 18 meters (60 feet), it is the tallest Buddhist statue in Korea.

During the Korean colonial period (1910–1945) postcards were made by various Japanese entities. One of the largest private publishers was Taishō Shashin Kōgeisho, headquartered in Wakayama (see logo in stamp box). The design tells us this card was printed between 1933 and 1945.

Hyung Gu Lynn has argued that images of Japan’s colonies were often depicted as backwards or in stasis. This included depicting rural villages and ancient historical locations. Does this Japanese postcard fit into this discourse?

The name “Mireuk” points to the bodhisattva Maitreya. The hands on this statue, however, are suggestive of an East Asian Guanyin. The Eunjin Mireuk is example of early Goryeo era (918–1392) sculpture and reflects an unusual regional style.

A photo was taken of this statue by US navy officer George Clayton Foulk in the mid-1880s. It has been digitized by the Library of Congress and can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/bdh7pwvc.

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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Auguste Wahlen’s “Bonzes chinois” Engraving

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What did Buddhist Monks look like to Europeans? At least one visual tradition going back to the late 17th century depicts Buddhist monks in comedic caricature, possibly wearing attire similar to court minstrels. The figures here are identified as “bonzes chinois” (Chinese clerics).

There’s plenty of research yet to be done in this arena. This image appeared in Auguste Wahlen’s Mœurs, usages et costumes de tous les peuples du monde in 1843, showing the durability of this trope. The illustration was executed by Edouard Vermorcken.

Wahlen tells us Europeans generically call Buddhist monks “bonzes” – which is a corruption of the Japanese bonsō 凡僧, “cleric.” He also acknowledges Chinese monks are called “heshang” 和尚 and Tibetan monks “lamas.”

While Wahlen does not address the monk’s clothing, he does note their use of musical instruments ritual practice. Identified in the text as a “machine de bois, creuse et de forme ovale” (wooden, hollow, oval-shaped instrument), this instrument is now commonly called a “wooden fish.”

Wahlen’s book and accompanying illustrations have been scanned by the Getty Research Institute, available here: https://tinyurl.com/5n6pyedy #BuddhasInTheWest

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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Pierrot’s “Prisonnier dans la pagode” Magazine Cover

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Prisoner in the Pagoda: Between World Wars, European periodicals geared towards boys grew in popularity. Many of these were written as action and adventure stories. Exotic locales, many of which were directly or indirectly colonized, became the sites of such exploits.

Pierrot, an illustrated French magazine first published in 1925, was a periodical in this vein. This 1933 issue has stories about pirates, piranha, and race cars, as well at the illustrated cover story, The Prisoner in the Pagoda.

The art was intended to bring to mind the Temple of the Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok. The two-page spread tells the story of Patrice, an overly curious young boy who finds himself locked inside a Bangkok Buddhist temple overnight.

It follows a common trope of a mischievous boy who disregards his parents’ warnings and gets into trouble. Beyond mere trespassing, Patrice grows fearful of the strange buddhist icons that inhabit the temple.

The Emerald Buddha is not drawn true to life and is made foreboding by its size and directional lighting.

The collection of Pierrot magazines has been digitized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The issue under review can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yck22hde.

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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Paul Frenzeny’s Chinese Temple Print

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Chinatown Smoke: After completing the transcontinental railroad, many periodicals ran stories about the American west, including the popular illustrated miscellany, Harper’s Weekly. Images of Chinatown joss houses emerged as popular visual tropes for the semi-exotic frontier.

The illustration was made by Paul Frenzeny and the engraving was prepared by the talented Charles Maurand. Frenzeny went on a well publicized tour of the US in 1873, but this dramatic image was likely pieced together from older published images of Chinatown and hearsay.

The illustration was meant to be didactic and moralizing – the image was paired with another engraving showing similar “degraded” devotions in South American Catholic churches. The accompanying text compares the “superstitions” of Chinese American temples and Romish churches.

As Laurie Maffly-Kipp has explored, the focus on material culture – icons, incense smoke, enclosed spaces – tied together anti-Catholic and anti-Chinese sentiment of the period.

While unidentified, the main icon here is likely a poor rendition of Guandi, one of the most popular figures put on display in Chinese temples.

Maffly-Kipp’s article, “Engaging Habits and Besotted Idolatry,” can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/u3zc2nne.

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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Fresno Japanese Buddhist Temple Postcard

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First Buddhist Temple Constructed on Mainland US: Two Japanese Buddhist temples were dedicated in San Francisco and Sacramento by 1900, but these were old converted residences. The Fresno temple was the first constructed to primarily function as a Buddhist temple.

The Fresno Buddhist Church was designed by the Japanese immigrant Kuninosuke Masumizu (1849-1915), a temple and shrine architect. The three-story wood structure was built on 1340 Kern Street and opened April 8, 1902. Construction continued through 1904.

This postcard is one of a few remaining photographs of the original building, it burned down in 1919. This card was postmarked in 1908 and was printed in Germany, the leader in photomechanical postcard printing of the era.

Reports describe the temple as having a Japanese style. In truth, the style is rather hybrid, with upward sloping eaves on the roof and a temple-style gate for the front porch. Overall, however, the building could easily blend into the residential architecture of the period.

The Fresno Buddhist Church was rebuilt in 1920. This building was sold in 2018 to local Burmese Americans and is now the Mrauk Oo Dhamma Center. The Japanese Jōdo Shinshū congregation built a new temple that opened in 2022.

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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