Who do you think it would be, Ganesh in the first photo plus the head in the second picture? That's my husband! His belly looks like six month pregnant. And he always makes a face like the mask when trying to be funny.
Joking aside, this seated Ganesh, the son of the Hindu god Shiva whose pot belly represents wealth and richness, is from Cambodia while the mask of a drunken Persian king's servant being from Horyuji temple in Japan, but far from Tokyo, which made me wonder how these two items ended up in this same museum here in Tokyo?
According to the exhibition label, the Cambodia Ganesh came from École française d'Extrême-Orient in exchange for another art or artifact. So first, it must have been stolen by France, then fallen into the hands of this French school and ended up in Japan. A legacy of colonialism and imperialism, isn't it?
But this also holds true for the mask. Its former owner, Horyuji temple, had to sell more than 300 masks and statues, including this 7th to 8th century Buddhism ceremony tool, in 1878 for only 10,000 yen then (i.e., 400 million yen or 4 million dollars currently) to survive the abolition of Buddhist temples and statues, the so-called "haibutsu kishaku." It was triggered by the Meiji government's decision in 1868 to make Shinto the state religion by separating from Buddhism to make the country stronger and more modern like western imperialist countries..... The movement, however, more or less destroyed all Buddhist temples across Japan, forcing not only this one of the oldest and most famous temples in Japan to sell such many statues and masks, but also another old and revered temple, Kofukuji temple, to almost sell its five-storied pagoda for 25 yen (currently worth 1 million yen or 10,000 dollars).
Without the imperialism/colonialism in Europe and Japan, the Cambodian god and the Persian servant wouldn't have met at the museum, which is so ironic...
You can see the seated Ganesh at the Toyo Kan (Asian Gallery) and the mask at the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures of the Tokyo National Museum.
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一方、法隆寺宝物館の展示物は全て1868年に法隆寺から皇室に献上（というか当時の1万円で売却）されたもの。廃仏毀釈から寺を守るための決断だったそうです。興福寺も五重塔を25円（今の100万円）で売ろうとしました。こちらも日本帝国主義の犠牲と言えます。
西欧と日本の帝国主義のせいで、カンボジアの神様と奈良の酔っ払い従者が東京で出会ったんですね。歴史ってつながってるんですね｡｡。
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| Seated Ganesh ガネーシャ座像 |
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| Mask of drunken Persian king's servant 伎楽面（酔胡従） |
Joking aside, this seated Ganesh, the son of the Hindu god Shiva whose pot belly represents wealth and richness, is from Cambodia while the mask of a drunken Persian king's servant being from Horyuji temple in Japan, but far from Tokyo, which made me wonder how these two items ended up in this same museum here in Tokyo?
According to the exhibition label, the Cambodia Ganesh came from École française d'Extrême-Orient in exchange for another art or artifact. So first, it must have been stolen by France, then fallen into the hands of this French school and ended up in Japan. A legacy of colonialism and imperialism, isn't it?
But this also holds true for the mask. Its former owner, Horyuji temple, had to sell more than 300 masks and statues, including this 7th to 8th century Buddhism ceremony tool, in 1878 for only 10,000 yen then (i.e., 400 million yen or 4 million dollars currently) to survive the abolition of Buddhist temples and statues, the so-called "haibutsu kishaku." It was triggered by the Meiji government's decision in 1868 to make Shinto the state religion by separating from Buddhism to make the country stronger and more modern like western imperialist countries..... The movement, however, more or less destroyed all Buddhist temples across Japan, forcing not only this one of the oldest and most famous temples in Japan to sell such many statues and masks, but also another old and revered temple, Kofukuji temple, to almost sell its five-storied pagoda for 25 yen (currently worth 1 million yen or 10,000 dollars).
Without the imperialism/colonialism in Europe and Japan, the Cambodian god and the Persian servant wouldn't have met at the museum, which is so ironic...
You can see the seated Ganesh at the Toyo Kan (Asian Gallery) and the mask at the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures of the Tokyo National Museum.
ガネーシャの首から下と伎楽面（酔胡従）を足すとうちの旦那様になります。お腹は妊娠6か月、そして親父ギャグを言うときは決まってこんな顔（自分では受けたと思っているようです）になります。ガネーシャは東京国立博物館東洋館、伎楽面（酔胡従）は同法隆寺宝物館に陳列されています。
ガネーシャ坐像はカンボジアのもので「フランス極東学院交換品」。植民地時代に持ち出され、日本の美術品と交換された帝国主義の遺物とでも言えましょうか。
ガネーシャ坐像はカンボジアのもので「フランス極東学院交換品」。植民地時代に持ち出され、日本の美術品と交換された帝国主義の遺物とでも言えましょうか。
一方、法隆寺宝物館の展示物は全て1868年に法隆寺から皇室に献上（というか当時の1万円で売却）されたもの。廃仏毀釈から寺を守るための決断だったそうです。興福寺も五重塔を25円（今の100万円）で売ろうとしました。こちらも日本帝国主義の犠牲と言えます。
西欧と日本の帝国主義のせいで、カンボジアの神様と奈良の酔っ払い従者が東京で出会ったんですね。歴史ってつながってるんですね｡｡。
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