Chester Beatty
Prayer from Darani of one million pagodas (Hyakumantō darani)
Unknown
Printed prayer (darani) from the 'Darani of one million pagodas' (Hyakumantō darani), printed in ink on paper in Japan between 764 and 770. These one million printed Buddhist invocations (darani) and the miniature wooden pagodas crafted to house them were created at the order of Empress Shōtoku (718-770) for dedication to ten major temples around the capital at Nara. Each printed prayer was rolled and placed inside a pagoda. These prayers remain the earliest known printed texts from Japan.
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