Moreover, as the demand of the Imperial Court for furniture, ornamental dresses and decorative pictures increased, departments re lating to various branches of art were insti tuted with the object of encouraging the people to cultivate the fine as well as the useful arts.
Architecture made a great development and attained a high degree of refinement. Un fortunately few, if any, examples of this art have been preserved, the east Pagoda of the Yakushiji, in fact, being the sole existing speci men of the work.
The Era of the Emperor Shomu (724-81 A.D.).— The civilization of the T'ang dynasty, introduced and copied in the preceding era, reached its highest point in this; the erection of Buddhist images and the construction of temples and pagodas were carried out exten sively; and fine arts and various technical in dustries made noticeable progress, furniture, utensils and even playthings being made as showy and gorgeous as possible. The most celebrated monument representative of this glorious and flourishing epoch is the bronze rppresenting Vairpchana Buddha in the Todaiji.
The statue is in a sitting posture and matchless for its colossal size, the height of the body being 53 feet 5 inches, the length of the face 15 feet, and all the other parts being pro portionately gigantic. It is to be regretted, however, that having undergone several re pairs in later ages, it has lost a great deal of its original form. The founder was Kunina lca-no-muraji Kimimaro.
The art of making clay and dry-lacquered images made striking progress during this period and attained a high degree of elaborate ness and refinement. Among the specimens of the former are the images of eShitennos (Four guardian gods; consult (Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. I; 'Kokkwa,' Vols. XLII, CLXX and CLXXXIV; (Shobi Siryo,' Vol. I, 4) in the Kaidan-in of the Todaiji, and the image of “Vajrapanil' in Hokkedo of the same temple (consult 'Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. VIII; 'Kok kwa,' Vol. XXVIII) ; while the ((Bonten" (God Brahma; consult Taikwand Vol. III; 'Kokkwa,' Vol. XXVI) and the °Taisha kutenp (Indra; consult 'Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. X ; 'Kokkwa,' Vol. CCXX XI) in the
Sangatsu-do of the Todaiji, and the sKwannona (Goddess of Mercy) in the Denbo-do belong ing to the Horyuji (consult (Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. XV) are the most celebrated surviving examples of the dry-lacquered images.
The works of this period are signalized by a harmonious combination of reality and imagination and by the well-shaped forms of the bodies of the postures and of the foldings of the garments; while expression was by no means neglected.
Pictorial art also made a remarkable ad vancement in this era. The screen picture rep resenting a beauty under a tree, in the posses sion of the Shoso-in of the Todaiji (consult 'Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. XV; 'Kokkwa,' Vol. CCXXVI) and the Kichijotennyo (Goddess of Fortune, Sri) of the Yakushiji (consult (Shimbi Taikwan,' Vol. II; (Kokkwa,> Vol. LX X XV ; Siryo,' Vol. I, 1) show that they were executed with a masterly caligraphic touch, both their faces and bodies being full of elegance and gracefulness, and especially the latter pic ture displays a gay and gorgeous coloring. The works of architecture were for the most part on a grand scale. The interior of the Hokkedo of the Todaiji, the Kondo of the Toshodaiji and the Shin-yakushiji all bear the marks indicative of the special features of this branch of art as prevalent in the period.
As for the progress of applied art it was simply wonderful. In this connection special mentions must he made of the treasure-house belonging to the Shoso-in of the Todaiji. There are kept in this store nearly 3,000 articles, all being specimens of fine and ap plied arts of this era; bronzes, textile fabrics, embroidery, sculptures, inlaid work of gold or silver, lacquer works, glass, enamel ware, mother-of-pearl lacquer works, gold-dust sprinkled lacquer work, paintings of "mitsuda* (a kind of oil pigment) and Koketsu (a kind of dyeing) being well represented here. It will be seen that during this period many branches of applied art attained the highest degree of elegance and refinement, while their decorative patterns and figures were freely drawn from Chinese or Indian stories and events.