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This chapter argues that, across the first millennium of representations of the life of the Buddha in Japan, writers and artists tended to hew closely to accounts received from the Asian continent. Individual scriptures in Chinese translation and encyclopedic Chinese compilations of scriptural material provided major sources for Japanese homiletic texts and their related tale literature, such as the long biography of the Buddha in the Konjaku monogatarishu. Likewise, material and ritual recreations of the life of the Buddha adhered closely to precedents that may be identified, or posited, for the clay dioramas at the temples Horyuji and Yakushiji; ancient illustrated handscrolls and medieval hanging scrolls; the illustrated “biography” of the “living” image of the Buddha at the temple Seiryoji; and the Shiza koshiki liturgy, composed by the monk Myoe Koben. These diverse works consistently expressed a “will to canonicity,” adducing authoritative sources to punctuate and support their narratives. Doctrinally, these biographies recapitulated the classification of Buddhist scriptures characteristic of Tendai Buddhism. Their Buddha was principally a pedagogue.

This introduction provides an overview of the four Buddhist temples discussed in this volume—Asukadera, Kudara Ōdera, Kawaradera, and Yakushiji—by far the most important architectural projects of the initial phases of Buddhism in Japan, during the seventh century (i.e. last decade of the sixth and the first decade of the eighth centuries). It analyzes two problems of the early Buddhist period that have most occupied scholars: the dating of the west compound (saiin) of “Hōryūji” and the status of the Yakushi triad and east pagoda of Heijōkyō Yakushiji. In both cases, reliance on the documentary sources and other existing data led essentially to an impasse prior to archaeological investigation. The chapter also presents a historical background prior to the Four Great Temples.

This chapter discusses the history, construction, utilization, and excavation of the temple Yakushiji, the most well-known member of the Four Great Temples group. Three of the four temples were transferred from the old capital, Fujiwarakyō, to the new capital, Heijōkyō, in the early part of the Nara period. In contrast to the other two that were transferred (Asukadera and Kudara ōdera), Yakushiji retained essentially the same plan in its new location; this allows a comparison of seventh- and eighth-century manifestations of a single religious institution. Particularly important is the actual nature of the “transfer” of temples, an issue that has engaged scholars for a long time and can be especially well studied in the case of Yakushiji. The chapter attempts to elucidate key factors related to the “transfer” of the great temples from the old to the new capital as well as the manner in which Yakushiji was integrated into the first full-scale capital in Japan, Fujiwarakyō, thereby initiating a relationship between capital and temple that remained important in subsequent centuries.

This concluding chapter summarizes key themes and presents some final thoughts. It argues that the conceptualization of the Four Great Temples group was intimately related to many of the most significant political developments of the seventh century. In tracing this process, it is evident that Asukadera is different from the others since it was not a “royal” temple, but one founded by the powerful Soga clan; consequently, it was only later, somewhat reluctantly, included in the group. Nevertheless, it was in many respects the great temple of the seventh century, even if not initially a “great temple.” The chapter also identifies a common thread running through the process of the establishment of the Four Great Temples, as each ruler and court vowed and built a grand temple as a sign of supremacy. However, the extent to which this process was motivated by politics or personal piety is unclear.