A long historic piece of paper with some tearing due to age on the right side; in the middle, there is Japanese text in black ink.

Mukujôkô Daidarani Kyô (one of “The Million Prayer Towers”) and Sôrin darani 相輪陀羅尼 (The Nine-Ringed Spire Incantation)
764–770
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Spencer Collection

 

Mukujôkô Daidarani Kyô (one of “The Million Prayer Towers”) and Sôrin darani 相輪陀羅尼 (The Nine-Ringed Spire Incantation)

The miniature pagoda shown here has a lid, or finial, that can be removed to allow access to the hollow interior in which a scroll, or sutra (a piece of Buddhist scripture), is nested. Created around 770, the scroll is remarkable for being one of the very earliest examples of printed text.  Empress Shōtoku (718–770) commissioned one million of these towers—abstract representations of Buddha’s body and his spoken prayer within—and distributed them to 10 large temples. Created to commemorate and give thanks to the Buddhist deities for their suppression of the Emi Rebellion in 764, the structures and their contents reflect the empress’s desire to restore equilibrium and long-term peace to the nation.

: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Spencer …

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