Hyakumantō Darani

One Million Pagoda

The Hyakumantō Darani (百万塔陀羅尼), literally the One Million Pagodas and Dharani Prayers, is a famous large-scale woodblock printing, the earliest recorded uses of woodblock printing in Japan.

Woodblock-printed books from Chinese Buddhist temples were seen in Japan as early as the eighth century. In 764 the Empress Shōtoku commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll (typically 6 x 45 cm) printed with a Buddhist text, the Hyakumantō Darani. These were distributed to temples around the country as thanksgiving for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764. These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or documented, from Japan. Several examples survive (see link below).

The printing was completed around 770 AD and cost such a colossal amount of money that printing technology did not become widespread and the production and distribution of books continued to rely heavily on hand-copying manuscripts.

External links

• Example from the Schøyen Collection
• Template:Ja icon Digital Exhibition of National Diet Library