Sutra Case (Cast in 1109)
- Date
-
制作年 11th day of the 10th month of Tennin 2(1109)
- Title
- ドウセイキョウヅツ（テンニンニネンメイ）
- Measurements
- H. 23.5, BD. 8.4
- Materials, techniques and shape
- Copper
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Keio Museum Commons Campus Mita
This exhibit shows a bronze sutra cylinder with an umbrella-shaped lid. The lid’s raised central curve forms an elegant line and the double-layer lid locks onto the cylinder’s top. The double-line horizontal engraving decorates the lower part of the cylinder. The broad rim line enhances the stability of the base area. The inscription on the base reads, “Myoho Renge-Kyo (Lotus Sutra) Part I, 10 Chapters and Amithaba sutra script, 11th day of October 1109 by Priest Jogon.” The classical wayo (Japanese) calligraphic style of the ancient court is particularly beautiful. Priest Jogon created manuscripts (hand copies) of the 8-volume Lotus Sutra, one-volume Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings (Jap. Muryogi-kyo) and one-volume Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue (Jap. Kanfugen-Kyo). He then added the manuscript of the one-volume Smaller Sutra on Amithaba (Jap. Amida-Kyo). Obviously, Priest Jogon copied these sacred scriptures in prayer for reincarnation into the Buddhist pure land (Jap. Gokuraku Jodo). Similar sutra artifacts have been excavated in northern Kyushu, so this exhibit may well have also originated in that region.
［銘文］ 妙法蓮華経一部十巻／阿弥陀経一巻／天仁二年〈己／丑〉十月十一日／壬午／願主僧良厳
During the late Heian period (late 11th–12th century), sutras were copied and buried in mounds in various parts of the Japanese archipelago. The items buried in these mounds include sutras on paper, sutras carved on steatite, and cylindrical cases made of copper, ceramic or stone that contained paper sutras. From the Pillow Book (late 10th–early 11th century), which includes the phrase: “the Lotus Sutra and other works,” we know that the Lotus Sutra was the most revered Buddhist scripture at the time, and was often copied. Other renowned sutras at the time include the Sutra on Vajra Peak, the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, and the Sutra of the Buddha Amida. Since ancient times, sutra mounds have often been built on the sacred grounds of temples and shrines on or near a mountain summit. The mounds were mainly built in the capital Kyoto and the Kinai region surrounding it, and on Kyushu.
The exact location where this cylindrical sutra case was found remains unclear, but it is said to have been excavated in Kyushu. The lid is in the shape of an umbrella and an orb at the top, and in the middle it is covered with two lines. The inscription mentioning the second year of the Ten'nin era (1109) in kanji (Chinese characters) is consistent with the trend of building sutra mounds in the early 12th century. Although the worshipper and occasion of the dedication remain unclear, it is believed that the worshipper hoped for his own rebirth in paradise through the merit of copying a total of eleven scrolls of the Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra and the Sutra of the Buddha Amida.
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 1109)
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- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1口
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