Japanese Works : Hyakumantō darani

Japanese Works

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Commissioned by the Empress Shōtoku 称徳天皇 (718-770), a large number of the Buddhist invocations called Darani 陀羅尼 (dhāraņī) were printed by woodblock between the years 764 and 770, each of which then enclosed inside a small wooden pagoda. Cambridge University Library possesses four examples of Darani (dhāraņī): Jishin’in darani 自心印陀羅尼 (short), Jishin’in darani 自心印陀羅尼 (long), Sōrin darani 相輪陀羅尼 (short), Konpon darani 根本陀羅尼 (long). These are among the oldest printed materials in the world, with the possible exception of a single <i>dhāraņī</i> found in Korea.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> <iframe width="600" height="480" src="https://sketchfab.com/models/f0c76e17c0724b8b8e7f8dbf3b31cd26/embed" frameborder="0" allowvr allowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" onmousewheel=""></iframe> <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://sketchfab.com/models/f0c76e17c0724b8b8e7f8dbf3b31cd26?utm_medium=embed&utm_source=website&utm_campain=share-popup'>Hyakumantō darani (FG.870.1-4)</a> by <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://sketchfab.com/CamDigLib?utm_medium=embed&utm_source=website&utm_campain=share-popup'>Cambridge Digital Library</a> on <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://sketchfab.com?utm_medium=embed&utm_source=website&utm_campain=share-popup'>Sketchfab</a></p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This item was included in the Library’s 600th anniversary exhibition <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://exhibitions.lib.cam.ac.uk/linesofthought/artifacts/transporting-texts-the-pagoda/'><i>Lines of Thought: Discoveries that changed the world</i></a>.</p>