Buddhism first came to Japan in the middle of the sixth century, when a visiting Korean delegation presented the Japanese emperor with gifts including a bronze image of Buddha, sutras, banners and canopies, and a letter praising the Buddhist philosophy (dharma).
As the religion gained support in Japan, dozens of Buddhist monasteries, shrines and temples were established across the country. Buddhist temples traditionally had tile floors, distinctive curved roofs and a large main hall that could be partitioned with screens or paper walls. On special occasions, the hall was decorated with silk banners, like this 19th-century example with a gilt dragon.
Dragons were regarded as benevolent protectors of Buddhist laws, and dragon iconography has featured prominently in Japanese temples since Zen Buddhist monks encountered it while training in China in the 12th to 14th centuries. Today many Buddhist temples in Japan include the word “dragon” in their names.
This banner depicts a powerful dragon rising out of the sea through clouds, vapors, mist and wind: its habitat and source of power. The dragon is rendered using the “kinran” technique — also imported from China by Japanese monks — which incorporates threads wrapped in gilt paper in every other weft row to form the pattern. The dragon’s feet each have three claws, an auspicious number that is common in Japanese dragons.
