Title: One Million Small Wooden Pagodas and Dharani Prayers

Description

• Hyakumanto Darani (The one million pagodas and Dharani prayers) is the oldest traceable publication in the world whose production date is clearly identified. In 764, the Empress Shōtoku (718-770) ordered the donation of Hyakumanto Darani, each containing a small scroll printed with four Buddhist Dharani sutras, to ten major temples. The National Diet Library holds several of the scrolls that were donated to the Hōryūji Temple in Nara prefecture in western Japan. These three-tiered pagodas were painted with white clay. It is unclear whether the printing blocks were of wood or metal.

Language

• Chinese

Place

• East Asia > Japan

Time

• 500 CE - 1499 CE

Topic

• Religion > Other religions > Religions of Indic origin

Additional Subjects

• Prayers

Type of Item

• Manuscripts

Physical Description

• 3 pages; 5.7 × 46.5 centimeters; 5.5 × 39.7 centimeters; 5.5 × 55 centimeters

Institution

• National Diet Library