THE GREAT BUDDHA OF NARA

In a survey of the ancient history of Japan, one is amazed at the deep and lasting influence that the Hada people had exerted on the nation. Aside from silk raising and weaving, they brought the knowhow of metallurgy, the technique that was thoroughly utilized in the casting of the statues of numerous Buddhas in the Nara period (710-784 C . E .). It was in this period through the active encouragement of the Emperor Shomu (724-749 C. E.) that Buddhism reached its zenith of power and influence. New temples were founded at Nara, the capital of Japan at that time. Demands for sacred images and image makers increased in this great golden age of sculpture. Craft guilds were founded. Buddhist monkshops started, and the great Bronze Casting industry reached a peak it has yet to attain again. In the great industrial and cultural revival of those times, the Hadas stood first and foremost in the vanguard of those who initiated this unbelievably great renaissance.

The mightiest of all the bronze Buddhas cast in this period was the original 53 ft. seated Buddah Roshana, dedicated at the Todaiji Temple, Nara in 752 C.E. Identified with the solar power, it was a Buddha above all Buddhas presiding over a cosmos formed of countless worlds. This great image commanded the highest types of skill in its construction. It has been said that so difficult was the work, and so numerous the failures, that the Emperor thought at one time to abandon the project; but in one last desperate gamble, he decided to send his envoy to Usa, site of the largest Had colony, and asked the chief to help him build the mighty image. The Hadas sent their finest craftsmen to Nara to complete the masterpiece.

Since then many fires destroyed the original image of Buddha, t the sheer perfection of the original may be judged by the few lotus petals that remain beneath the present image. In later centuries was the image restored as the famous Daibutsu of Nara, better known to the world as the "Great Buddha."

A bronze lantern of the same date and at the same temple, with elaborately clad heavenly musicians and hurtling lions in relief on lattice panels, is held equal to the best casting of the Italian Renaissance period. The oldest wooden building in the world, the Horyuji Temple, is also believed to have been built with technical assistance rendered by the Hada craftsmen.