Deity Family Tree — System Master | Buddhist Cosmology & Guardian Hierarchies | Japonista Archive

DEITY FAMILY TREE · SYSTEM MASTER

Root Cosmology, Classification Logic, and Navigational Intelligence for Buddhist Sacred Art

What this page is (and what it is not)

This is a functional map for museum reading, temple literacy, icon identification, and responsible collecting. It is not mythology. It is a role-and-function legend: identify the class, then posture, hands, implements, expression, and placement become readable as one language.

Deity Family Tree — System Master

(Root Page · Human-Readable Review Draft)

System Position

This page is the root map for all Buddhist deity pages in the Japonista archive.

It does not catalog personalities or myths.
It classifies figures by function, then branches into category hubs and individual deity dossiers.

Upstream context:

• Archive Hub

• Visual Grammar Hub

How to Use This Tree (Read This First)

This system must be read in order. Skipping steps causes misidentification.

1. Body first
   Read posture and stillness (body logic comes before everything else)

2. Hands second
   Confirm mudra only after posture is understood

3. Tools last
   Implements may override hand-state, never posture

4. Class before name
   Identify whether the figure is:

   • Nyorai (Buddha)

   • Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)

   • Myōō (Wisdom King)

   • Guardian / Ten

   • Specialized or Syncretic

5. Context check
   Use ensemble logic (triads, mandala) and restoration ethics

Rule:
Name is always last.
Function is always first.

Root Map (Tiered Structure)

This archive branches in three tiers:

Tier 0 — Root

• Deity Family Tree (you are here)

Tier 1 — Category Hubs

• Nyorai Deity Hub

• Bosatsu Deity Hub

• Myōō Deity Hub

• Ten & Guardians Hub

• Specialized & Syncretic Figures Hub

Tier 2 — Deity Dossiers

• Individual pages for each deity

• Each dossier includes:

  • History

  • Iconographic grammar

  • Typical ensembles

  • Period variation

  • Collector & restoration notes

The 7-layer Japonista deity classification (master tree)

Class 1: Buddhas (Nyorai)

• Function: awakened reference point; doctrinal axis.
• Visual cues: calm symmetry, stable mudra, minimal aggression.
• Space cues: central axis placement; honzon logic.
• Collector note: stillness is fragile—over-restoration ruins value.

Class 2: Bosatsu

• Function: vow-driven mediator; compassion expressed as method.
• Visual cues: ornament and richness often encode vow and access.
• Collector note: mislabels happen when ornament is misread as “less.”

Class 3: Myoo

• Function: corrective intervention; wrath against delusion.
• Visual cues: flames, tools, decisive posture, calibrated intensity.
• System logic: often arranged as center + four quarters; direction matters.

Study systems: Godai Myoo — System Master · read grammar: Myoo Iconography Module.

Class 4: Ten

• Function: oath-bound protectors and administrators.
• Visual cues: armor/regalia, command posture, cosmological protection.
• Difference from Myoo: command/order vs correction/transformation.

Class 5: Guardians

• Function: protect access and space (threshold enforcement).
• Visual cues: muscular motion; pair logic; gate placement.
• Collector note: pairs matter; lone figures may be fragments.

Class 6: Retinues & Legions

• Function: stabilize assemblies; structured rings around the axis.
• Collector note: high literacy collecting is system collecting, not random icons.

Class 7: Hybrids & Syncretic overlays

Japan contains overlays and role shifts. Resolve ambiguity via placement, ensemble context, implements, and expression calibration. If it feels like a node, identify role before naming identity.

Temple placement logic

Center axis: Buddhas/Bosatsu. Thresholds: Guardians. Flanking systems: Ten/Myoo. Rings: retinues. Placement is doctrine; investigate contradictions as rearrangements or missing ensemble logic.

How to read an unknown statue in 90 seconds

1. Placement: gate vs axis vs flanking vs ring.
2. Calibration: stillness vs vow-grace vs decisive wrath vs command authority vs threshold force.
3. Hands/implements: stable mudra vs method tools vs regalia vs pure force.
4. System feel: if it is a node, name role before identity.

Object culture: collectors, value, and traps

• Why people buy: museum presence, devotion, system building, cultural literacy, integrity-driven rarity.
• #1 value destroyer: cosmetic over-restoration that erases doctrinal expression and tool clarity.
• Common traps: Ten/Myoo mislabels; guardian de-pairing; retinue sold as standalone gods; repainting for modern taste.

Collector tools: Condition & Restoration Ethics · Implements Dictionary · Mudra Visual Grammar.

Glossary

Nyorai: Buddha-class; awakened reference axis.

Bosatsu: vow-based mediator; compassion with method.

Myoo: corrective force; cuts delusion.

Ten: oath-bound administrator/protector.

Guardians: threshold enforcement.

Retinues: ring systems.

Where to go next

• Mikkyo (Esoteric Buddhism) — Ritual Technology
• Mandala Pair (Taizokai & Kongokai)
• Myoo (Wisdom Kings) — Iconography Module
• Godai Myoo — System Master
• Return to Archive Hub