One of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and Invocation

One of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and Invocation

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This miniature wooden pagoda (tō) is one of one million (hyakuman) commissioned by the Empress Shōtoku (718–770) and distributed to Japan’s ten major temples. It originally was created to commemorate and offer thanks to Buddhist deities for their help in suppressing the Emi Rebellion in 764. This example belonged to the temple Hōryūji in Nara, where three thousand of the one million pagodas were given away in 1908 to those contributing to an appeal for funds. Each pagoda was painted white and contained a printed Buddhist text called a darani (Sanskrit: dharani), or invocation. The text displayed here came from the pagoda on known as the Jishin’in darani, the invocation is one of four from the sacred text Mukujōkōkyō (Sanskrit: Vimala Mirbhasa Sutra) found in the pagodas. These printed texts are among the oldest known in the world. They are likely to have been printed from bronze plates, but some scholars maintain that they were printed from woodblocks.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and InvocationOne of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and InvocationOne of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and InvocationOne of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and InvocationOne of the “One Million Pagodas” (Hyakumanto) and Invocation

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.