are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in

East Asian Buddhism East Asian Buddhism or East Asian Mahayana is a collective term for the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism that developed across East Asia which follow the Chinese Buddhist canon. These include the various forms of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vi ...

in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are

dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "'' dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are a ...

manifestations of the

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Vajrapāṇi (Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, meaning, "Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power. Vajrapāni is also c ...

, the oldest and most powerful of the

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Buddhist

pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

. According to scriptures like the

Pāli Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

as well as the ''Ambaṭṭha Sutta'', they travelled with Gautama Buddha to protect him. Within the generally pacifist tradition of Buddhism, stories of

dharmapalas A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are als ...

justified the use of physical force to protect cherished values and beliefs against evil. They are also seen as a manifestation of

Mahasthamaprapta Mahāsthāmaprāpta is a bodhisattva mahāsattva who represents the power of wisdom. His name literally means "arrival of the great strength". Mahāsthāmaprāpta is one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism, along with Mañjuś ...

, the

of power that flanks

Amitābha Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...

Pure Land Buddhism Pure Land Buddhism (; ja, 浄土仏教, translit=Jōdo bukkyō; , also referred to as Amidism in English,) is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism focused on achieving rebirth in a Buddha's Buddha-field or Pure Land. It is one of the most wid ...

and as

Vajrasattva Vajrasattva ( sa, वज्रसत्त्व, Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ། ''Dorje Sempa'', short form is རྡོར་སེམས། ''Dorsem'', Монгол: Доржсэмбэ) is a bodhisattva in the Maha ...

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

Manifestations

Symbolic meaning

They are usually portrayed as a pair of figures that stand guarding temple entrance gates usually called '' Shānmén'' (山門) in China, in Japan and ''Geumgangmun'' () in Korea. The right statue is traditionally called Guhyapāda and has his mouth open, representing the vocalization of the first

grapheme In linguistics, a grapheme is the smallest functional unit of a writing system. The word ''grapheme'' is derived and the suffix ''-eme'' by analogy with ''phoneme'' and other names of emic units. The study of graphemes is called ''graphemics' ...

of Sanskrit

Devanāgarī Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

(अ) which is pronounced "a".Transliterations fro
Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
/ref> The left statue is traditionally called Nārāyaṇa and has his mouth closed, representing the vocalization of the last grapheme of Devanāgarī (ह ) which is pronounced "" (हूँ). These two characters together (A-un, a-hūṃ/a-un) symbolize the birth and death of all things. (Men are supposedly born speaking the "a" sound with mouths open and die speaking an "" and mouths closed.) Similar to Jaya-Vijaya, they signify "everything" or "all creation". The contraction of both is Om, Aum (ॐ), which is Sanskrit for The Absolute.

Guhyapāda

Guhyapāda (Traditional Chinese: 密迹金剛; simplified Chinese: 密迹金刚; pinyin: ''Mìjī jīngāng''; Japanese language, Japanese: ''Misshaku Kongō''; ''Korean language, Korean: Miljeok geumgang''; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Mật tích kim cương'' ) is a symbol of overt violence: he wields a ''vajra'' mallet "" (a diamond club, thunderbolt stick, or sun symbol) and bares his teeth. His mouth is depicted as being in the shape necessary to form the "ha" or "ah" sound. In China, he is also known as Heng and Ha, General Ha (哈将 Hā Jiāng) in reference to this iconographic detail. Similarly, he is also known as Agyō (阿形, "a"-form, general term open-mouthed statues in aum pair) in Japan due to this detail as well. In Chinese Buddhism, Guhyapāda is regarded as one of the Twenty-Four Protective Deities, who are a grouping of

often enshrined in the Mahavira Hall of temples and monasteries. In addition, Guhyapada is also sometimes paired or identified with the Wisdom King Ucchusma, Ucchuṣma, who is commonly known in Chinese as ''Huìjì Jīngāng'' (穢跡金剛). Dadaocheng Cisheng Temple2018哼將軍

Nārāyaṇa

Nārāyaṇa (Traditional Chinese: 那羅延金剛; simplified Chinese: 那罗延金刚; pinyin: ''Nàluōyán Jīngāng''; Japanese language, Japanese: ''Naraen Kongō;'' Korean language, Korean: ''Narayeon geumgang''; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Na la diên kim cương'') is depicted either bare-handed or wielding a sword. He symbolizes latent strength, holding his mouth tightly shut. His mouth is rendered to form the sound "", or "heng" or "un". In China, he is also known as Heng and Ha, General Heng (哼将 Hēng Jiāng) in reference to this iconographic detail. Similarly, he is also known as Ungyō (吽形, "um"-form, general term closed-mouthed statues in aum pair) in Japan due to this detail as well.

Vajrapāni

Both ''Guhyapāda'' and ''Nārāyaṇa'' are seen as manifestations of Vajrapani, Vajrapāni (Traditional Chinese: 執金剛神; simplified Chinese: 执金刚神; pinyin: ''Zhíjīngāng shén''; Japanese language, Japanese: ''Shūkongōshin;'' Korean language, Korean: ''Jip geumgang sin''; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''Chấp kim cang thần),'' with the name literally meaning "''vajra''-wielding god".

Nio Zen Buddhism

Nio Zen Buddhism was a practice advocated by the Zen monk Suzuki Shōsan (1579–1655), who advocated Nio Zen Buddhism over Nyorai Zen Buddhism. He recommended that practitioners should meditate on Nio and even adopt their fierce expressions and martial stances in order to cultivate power, strength and courage when dealing with adversity. Suzuki described Nio as follows: "The Niō (Vajrapani) is a menacing God. He wields the kongōsho (vajra) and he can crush your enemies. Depend on him, pray to him that he will protect you as he protects the Buddha. He vibrates with energy and spiritual power which you can absorb from him in times of need."

Influence on Taoism

In Chinese folk religion and Taoism, they are known as ''Heng Ha Er Jiang'' (). Within the Taoist novel ''Fengshen Yanyi'', Zheng Lun and Chen Qi (Investiture of the Gods), Chen Qi were finally appointed as the two deity, deities.

Hellenistic influence

Kongōrikishi are a case of the transmission of the image of the Greek hero Heracles to East Asia along the Silk Road. Heracles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples. This transmission is part of the wider Greco-Buddhism, Greco-Buddhist syncretic phenomenon, where Buddhism interacted with the Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic culture of Central Asia from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD.''"The origin of the image of Vajrapani should be explained. This deity is the protector and guide of the Buddha Sakyamuni. His image was modeled after that of Hercules. (...) The Gandharan Vajrapani was transformed in Central Asia and China and afterwards transmitted to Japan, where it exerted stylistic influences on the wrestler-like statues of the Guardian Deities [Nio]."'' (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p23)

Gallery

File:Bust of a Buddhist guardian figure, from China, Yuan Dynasty, 14th century CE. The British Museum.jpg, Bust of a Buddhist guardian figure, from China, Yuan Dynasty, 14th century CE. The British Museum File:Statue of the Two Vajra Warriors (金刚力士 Jinggang Lishi) or Nio (仁王 Renwang) - Guhyapada (密跡金剛 Miji Jinggang) and Narayana (Naluoyan Tian) in Tze Shan Monastery (慈山寺 Císhànsì) in Hong Kong.jpg, Statue of Mìjī jīngāng (''Guhyapada'') on the right and Nàluōyán Jīngāng (''Narayana'') on the left of the shanmen in Tsz Shan Monastery in Hong Kong File:Temple Guardian (Miljeok Geumgangyeoksa) at Hwa-Eom Temple-.jpg, Narayeon Geumgang at Hwa-Eom Temple in South Korea File:Two Niō who stand in the left (Ungyō) and right (Agyō) of the sanmon gate at Zentsū-ji in Zentsū-ji City Kagawa pref.jpg, Two Niō who stand in the left (Ungyō) and the right (Agyō) of sanmon (gate) at Zentsū-ji in Japan File:Niō or Temple Guardian. Banna-ji. Ashikaga, Togichi.jpg, Niō or Temple Guardian. Banna-ji File:Niō - Temple Guardian. Banna-ji. Ashikaga, Togichi.jpg, Niō - Temple Guardian. Banna-ji. File:Kongōrikishi by anonymous sculptor (Kōfuku-ji, 3) (National Treasure).jpg, Agyō and Ungyō in Kofuku-ji were made by the Kei school in the 13th century, the Kamakura period in Japan. National Treasure of Japan. File:Vajirapani Shukongōshin Tōdai-ji before 1939.jpg, Shukongōshin in Tōdai-ji at Nara, Japan. Made in the 8th century. National Treasure of Japan.

Notes

References

* ''Religions of the Silk Road'' by Richard Foltz, 2nd edition (Palgrave, 2010) * ''The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity'' by John Boardman (Princeton University Press, 1994) * ''Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times'' by Jerry H.Bentley (Oxford University Press, 1993) * ''Alexander the Great: East-West Cultural contacts from Greece to Japan'' (NHK and Tokyo National Museum, 2003)

External links

Nio Protectors, the benevolent kings
{{Buddhist temples in Japan Bodhisattvas Buddhist gods Chinese gods Japanese gods Buddhism in Japan Buddhism in Korea Heracles Japanese architectural features Buddhist architecture Twenty-Four Protective Deities