The daruma: the eyeless doll that teaches perseverance
The Japanese daruma between history and legend: Bodhidharma and Zen, the doll that rights itself, the colour red, the Takasaki temple and year-end rites.
Round, red, with a bearded face and two large white eyes still blank, the daruma is a Japanese charm linked to tenacity. Whoever receives one paints in one eye when setting a goal and completes the other only once it has been achieved. This simple gesture sums up a history that goes back to a Buddhist monk who lived some fifteen centuries ago, a figure who remains central to the Zen tradition today.
Bodhidharma, the monk of the wall
Daruma is the Japanese name of Bodhidharma, a monk from India or Central Asia who, according to tradition, brought to China, in the fifth or sixth century, the teaching from which Chan Buddhism arose, known in Japan as Zen. Sources on his life are scarce and largely hagiographical, written long after the events, and many biographical details remain uncertain or legendary.
The most famous legend tells that Bodhidharma meditated for nine years facing a wall, in a cave near the Shaolin monastery. During that long stillness his arms and legs are said to have withered away. This is why the daruma is depicted without limbs, as a compact body wrapped in a red cloak, the colour in which the master's robes are often painted in the Buddhist art of East Asia.
The doll that gets back up
The daruma is made as an okiagari, a doll that rights itself when pushed, thanks to the weight concentrated in its rounded base. The Japanese proverb “fall down seven times, get up eight” is often associated with this figure, which thus becomes an emblem of perseverance. Traditional daruma are made of papier-mâché moulded over wooden forms, then painted by hand with bold strokes that trace the eyebrows and moustache.
The colour red also had another meaning. In Edo-period Japan red was believed to keep away the deity of smallpox, and red pictures and toys were given to children as a good-luck wish. This is evidence of the popular devotion of those centuries, and it partly explains why the daruma, born in a religious setting, spread so quickly into homes as a bringer of good fortune.
Takasaki and the year-end rites
The most famous centre of production is Takasaki, in Gunma Prefecture, where the temple of Shōrinzan Daruma-ji is considered the birthplace of the modern daruma. According to the temple's tradition, in the eighteenth century the monks taught local farmers to make the dolls to supplement their income in hard times. Every year, in early January, the temple hosts a large daruma market that draws visitors from all over the country.
At the end of the year, or when a goal has been reached, many people take their daruma back to temples, where they are burned in public ceremonies. The fire closes the cycle: the doll has done its work, and a new one is bought for the next resolutions. Japanese election candidates also use the daruma, painting in the second eye on the night of victory in front of their supporters.
The daruma is a special kind of charm, because it promises nothing without the commitment of its owner. The blank eye is a daily reminder of the goal to be reached, and the shape that rights itself invites one not to give up after a fall. In this sense the doll preserves something of the spirit attributed to Bodhidharma: the patient discipline that precedes the result, and the conviction that constancy comes before luck.