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context: calligraphy > Zen
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Nichiren, 1222-1282
This image, the Daimandara Honzon from 1281, is a calligraphic mandala, a mystical and magical work. We see a sutra in the middle, with names of Buddhist guardians in the corners, and it's dotted with famous names. It's Buddhist in broad terms, rather than specifically Zen, but it reminds me very much of medieval Western religious painting, except here we have the names of holy figures and so on, rather than images of them. I think this fascinating difference in how these holy figures are presented says something important about the centrality of calligraphy in the Japanese psyche.