Schutz durch magische Formeln. Amulette (o-fuda) des japanischen Strahlenglanz-Dhāraṇī-Glaubens aus der Sammlung Kadono Konzen bunko

摘要

This paper explores the function and history of Japanese paper charms\ud(o-fuda) from the viewpoint of their issuing institutions. First, it differentiates between\udpaper charms issued by Shintō shrines and those issued by Buddhist temples:\udShintō paper charms are said to be potentially harmful even for their owners,\udbecause they absorb evil powers to protect them, so one has to exchange these\udpaper charms usually after one year of use. Buddhist paper charms, on the other\udhand, are of no harm, thanks to the ever-lasting protective power of the Buddhas,\udBodhisattvas or Holy Men that are depicted on them. Their iconographic decoration\udmade Buddhist paper charms attractive to western collectors who came to\udJapan; one of the greatest and most well-known of these collections by the French\udjapanologist Bernhard Frank (1927–1996) just went online in summer 2012.\udThe definition of ‘paper charm’ is tricky: How can we be sure that a paper has\udreally been charmed and is not only a piece of printed paper? Should derivative\udforms like hanging scrolls or contract forms printed with the same image as the\udpaper charm also be regarded as charms? How does a paper charm function in the\udframework of economic activities of a Buddhist temple? These and other questions\udare answered on the basis of a special private collection of a specific iconographic\udtype of paper charms from Mount Koya covering a period of 200 years.