Shukongoshin

Shukongōshin (Japanese: 執金剛神) is one of the two Niō (仁王, lit. Two kings) protective deities, the wrath-filled and muscular guardians of the Buddha, standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in Japan under the appearance of frightening wrestler-like statues.

Shukongōshin, also called Agyo (阿形), is a symbol of overt violence: he wields a thunderbolt stick and bares his teeth. He is a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, protector deity of the Buddha.

Shukongoshin is an interesting case of transmission of the image of the famous Greek god Herakles to the Far-East along the Silk Road. Herakles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha (See also [1]), and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Budhist temples. This transmission is part of the wider Greco-Buddhist syncretic phenomenon, were Buddhism interacted with the Hellenistic culture of Central Asia from the 4th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D.

External link:

Nio Protectors, the benevolent kings

See also

• Greco-Buddhism
• Greco-Buddhist art

References

• "Religions and the Silk Road" by Richard C. Foltz (St. Martin's Press, 1999) ISBN 0312233388
• "The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity" by John Boardman (Princeton University Press, 1994) ISBN 0691036802
• "Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times" by Jerry H.Bentley (Oxford University Press, 1993) ISBN 0195076397
• "Alexander the Great: East-West Cultural contacts from Greece to Japan" (NHK and Tokyo National Museum, 2003)