Sutra Case (Cast in 1150)
- Date
-
制作年 25th day of the 11th month of Kyūan 6(1150)
- Title
- ドウセイキョウヅツ（キュウアンロクネンメイ）
- Measurements
- H. 25.3, BD. 7.5
- Materials, techniques and shape
- Copper
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Keio Museum Commons Campus Mita
This is a bronze sutra cylinder with an umbrella-shaped lid forming a graceful curve. The double-tiered lid locks onto the cylinder’s top. The outstretched brim at the cylinder’s bottom increases stability. “6th year of Kyuan” (corresponding to 1150) is inscribed on the body in wayo-style (lit. Japanese style) calligraphy of the ancient Heian Dynasty. The design suggests this cylinder was likely cast in northern Kyushu. We can learn from this valuable artifact that the wayo-style calligraphy perfected by Fujiwara-no-Yukinari (also Kozei, 972-1027) had spread to the remote regions like Kyushu by the mid-12th century.
［銘文］ 如法書寫妙法蓮華経一部八巻〈久安六年庚午十一月廿五日／勧進僧神禾・僧根力〉
This sutra case is also said to have been excavated in Kyushu. It has a long and slender cylindrical body, an umbrella-shaped lid, and a knob in the shape of the shaft of a pagoda that was cast separately. In general, these cylindrical cases became thinner with an increasingly smaller diameter as time passed, which seems appropriated considering that the number and kinds of sutra scrolls that were stored in these cases gradually decreased. In Kyushu, sutra scrolls were attached to one another to create a single scroll when buried, and many of these scrolls have narrower bodies than those in the Kinai region. This case has been dated to the sixth year of the Kyūan era (1150), which is slightly after the period when the construction of sutra mounds on the Japanese archipelago reached its height. The fact that the diameter of the sutra is smaller than the number of sutra scrolls in Part of Volume 8 of the Lotus Sutra probably reflects the circumstances mentioned above. The sutra scrolls themselves were not passed on to future generations.
The inscriptions revealing that the project to build the sutra mound was overseen by the Buddhist priests Kanjin Jinka and Konriki is particularly enlightening. The clear dots and flowing strokes of the inscriptions in elegant calligraphy express the strong devotion and longing for the Pure Land of the worshippers.
Description from the exhibition Catalogue "Letter-scape: Century Akao Collection, A World of Letters and Figures", Keio Museum Commons, April 2021
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- Title (EN)
- Sutra Case (Cast in 1150)
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- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1点
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