Star Mandala

In ancient Japan an understanding of astrology and the impact of celestial bodies on human activity was considered the purview of Mikkyō (Esoteric Buddhism). Certain monk-scholars at both Shingon and Tendai temples devoted themselves to mastering astral magic, whether based on Daoist and Buddhist precedents from the continent or derived from even more ancient from Iranian sources that had been earlier received in Tang China. Daoist teachings, for instance, had long advocated the worship of the seven stars of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) as a means of ensuring human longevity. Astrology had always been an indispensable component of the Mikkyō belief system, though it was not necessarily deterministic or fatalistic, since monks could resort to magic to avert or overcome inauspicious events predicted by the stars.

By the early Heian period (794–1185) complex Star Mandalas unique to Japan were being conceived and used in rites for the prevention of natural calamities and epidemics, as well as for prolonging life. Already by the ninth century in Japan, scholar-monks who practiced Mikkyō created mandalas incorporating anthropomorphic representations of celestial bodies developed earlier in China, strongly influenced by Daoist imagery. Star Mandalas (hoshi mandara) by definition feature arrays of astral deities, including planets, zodiacs, naksatras (the lunar mansions, or the constellations along the path of the Moon), and the seven stars of the Big Dipper. This type of mandala always has a Buddha at the center; for instance this example has the historical Buddha Shakyamuni as the primary icon. Such mandalas were used in Mikkyō ritual practice in medieval times to pray to and appease the deities depicted. Buddhist monk practitioners of horoscopy (Sukuyōdo) could be affiliated with either Shingon Esoteric Buddhism (Tōmitsu 東密) or Tendai Esoteric Buddhism (Taimitsu 台密). Monk-astrologers would create horoscopes and advise believers on what kind of offerings to make the deities to placate them.

In Japan two distinctive types of Star Mandalas, both with the Great Dipper highlighted as the central constellation, were created from the Heian period onwards. The variety having the deities related to celestial bodies arranged as squares within squares is referred to as the Kankū style, since it is said to have been devised in the mid-tenth century by Monk Kankū 寛空 (884–972) of Tōji, a Shingon temple in Kyoto. Early examples of this type from the are preserved in the John C. Weber Collection in New York City, Kumedadera, Osaka, and the Imperial Collection at Sannomaru Shōzōkan. The type of star mandala represented here, with the constellations and deities arrayed in concentric circles, is known as the Keien style, and said to have been formulated in the late tenth century by Keien 慶円 (944–1019), chief abbot of Enryakuji, the Tendai Buddhist sect’s headquarters on Mount Hiei, northeast of Kyoto. The earliest known template for this kind of Keien circular mandala is the twelfth century example at Hōryūji Temple in Nara. Other early examples are found in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (09.87), as well as in Japanese temple collections (see the checklist below).

Star Mandalas were used to identify auspicious days for Buddhist rituals or for arranging personal and official matters, and even planning for battles during times of war. Study and consultation of these mandalas could, it was believed, helped to avert preordained disasters and other overcome the nefarious influence of unfavorable astral configurations.

This particular Keien-style star mandala features five concentric circles and an external ring of figures. The Buddha Shakyamuni of the Golden Wheel (Japanese: Shaka Kinrin) is seated within the central disk, a golden wheel on his lap, his hands forming the Dharma-realm meditation mudra (Hokkai jōin 法界定印). This inner circular area is enclosed by four circular bands, painted in alternating background colors of green and blue, each outlined in fine strips of kirikane (cut gold leaf). Each band contains constellations that increase in number as the eye moves outwards. All told, this celestial diagram comprises fifty-six stellar deities, and is surrounded by a large number of guardian figures and their animal companions, serving as a veritable compendium of astrological phenomena represented symbolically.

The disks in the second circle represent the seven stars of the Big Dipper, including the double-star Alcor (輔) as a single disk. The third circle contains the Nine Luminaries or Nine Planets (Japanese: Kuyō), including Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, Mercury, the Sun, and the Moon, as well as the lunar nodes Rahu and Ketu. Each of the planets is represented in anthropomorphic forms of a variety derived ultimately from Iranian-Mesopotamian types, as seen in other Japanese star mandalas.

The fourth circle contains the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac (or the Twelve Stations of Jupiter), with unusual Central Asian iconography. In the fifth circle are the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions (Indian nakṣatras, referring to the constellations along the orbital path of the Moon).

Quite unusually it seems, the Thirty-Six Calendric Animals (Sanjūroku Kingyōzō 三十六禽形像, alternatively known as the Chikusan Reiki 畜産暦) are paired with the Thirty-Six Celestial Guardians (Note that the relationship between the Egyptian decans and the thirty-six Chinese/Japanese animals has been well documented in scholarly literature for over a century; see Yano Michio in References). The group originated in China, wherein the thirty-six were divided into four groupings, with each comprising nine animal-deity pairs, with each grouping representing one of the four cardinal directions. The animals are also sometimes grouped in triads, with three animals combined under one of the twelve Zodiac Signs. In Japan, this group was included in the Nichū Reki 二中暦, a Japanese calendar from the second half of the fourteenth century. Although, the position of the cat seems to be out of normal sequence here, it is one of the Thirty-Six Calendric Animals, is associated with the 24th hour, and is said to protect against evil cabals 善浄 and evil people 悪党 in general. The cat, bat, and rat are usually combined under the zodiacal sign of the rat, and should be part of the northern cluster.

Specialists have pointed out that the most unusual aspect of this work is the horoscope arrangement of the luminaries, and the inclusion of the thirty-six animals, including the mysterious “cat” which is out of normal sequence. In short, it appears to be a rare surviving example of a horoscopic mandala. This suggests, quite remarkably, that the juxtaposition of the planets in relation to the signs of the zodiac is not in a standard symmetrical array, but rather the configuration of planets is clearly arranged to indicate a specific point in time.

Jeffrey Kotyk, a specialist in ancient East Asian astrological practices, has proposed that this mandala was created to show the positions of the planets at a given time and date, probably to indicate when a particular person was born (a natal chart). Such mandalas allow a monk-astrologer to interpret the planetary positions according to various doctrines in order to make observations on the individual’s personality type and prognostications of his or her fortunes in life. Kotyk observed that in the case of this star mandala, each planet seems to have been purposely placed in alignment with a particular zodiac sign. He noted that “Saturn is in Capricorn, Jupiter is in Sagittarius, Mars is in Leo, the Sun is in Libra, Venus is in Scorpio, Mercury is in Libra or Scorpio, the Moon is in Libra, Rāhu [ascending node of the Moon] is in Pisces, and Ketu [lunar apogee] is in Gemini.” (Kotyk, p. 105) He thereby calculated that this configuration could only correspond to October 3, 1225 (first year of the Karoku era, when Emperor Go-Horikawa was on the throne). Kotyk assumes that this star mandala was created as a natal chart, and that it must have been commissioned by or on behalf of a prominent individual sometime during his or her lifetime, suggesting a thirteenth or possibly early fourteenth century date of production for the work. (The dating of this particular mandala is difficult to pin down precisely based purely on stylistic grounds.

—John T. Carpenter (March 10, 2021)

Other Known 13th–14th Century Star Mandala Paintings:

Star mandala. Hōryūji Temple, Nara, mid-late 12th century, 117.3 x 83 cm. (Ten Grotenhuis, figs. 73–75 and Saitō, no. 212).

Kankū-style (concentric square) Star Mandala, Kumedadera, Osaka, Heian period, 12th century, 165.1 x 133.1 cm. (Ten Grotenhuis, fig. 76 and Saitō, no. 213).

Star mandala, Shinrin'in Temple, Kyoto, 13th century, 60.4 x 40.3 cm. (Saitō, no. 214).

Star Mandala, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Kamakura period, 13th century, 109.9 x 81.1 cm. (Acc. no. 09.87)

Star Mandala, Sanzen'in Temple, Kyoto, 14th century, 80 x 57.5 cm. (Saitō, no. 216).

Star Mandala, Takakura-dera Hōshaku'in, Osaka Prefecture. 13th–14th century, 120.2 x 62.1 cm. (Saitō, no. 217)

Star Mandala, Sannomaru Shōzōkan (Museum of the Imperial Collections), Tokyo, 14th century, 88 x 57.9 cm. (Saitō, no. 215).

Star Mandala, Osaka Museum of History, 14th century, 131.1 x 86.5 cm. (Saitō #218).

Kankū-style (concentric square) Star Mandala, John C. Weber Collection, Heian to Kamakura periods, 12th–14th century. 87 x 52.7 cm.

The references for the publications noted above are:
Saitō, Ryūichi. Dōkyō no bijutsu/Taoist art. Japan: Yomiuri Shinbun Ōsaka Honsha, 2009.

Ten Grotenhuis Elizabeth. Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.

—Checklist courtesy of Patricia Graham (March 10, 2021)

Private collection; [ Kokon, Inc. (Koichi Yanagi) , New York, until 2012; sold to Clark]; Sue Cassidy Clark , New York (on extended loan to MMA, 2013–20; her gift to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Arts of Japan Galleries," February 2–July 28, 2013.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.

Michio, Yano. Esoteric Buddhist Astrology: Japanese Sukuyodo & Indian Astrology. Translated by Bill M. Mak. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2019.