|
Tōdai-ji Kon-dō
is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admired Tang dynasty. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year 752 CE. The temple has undergone several reconstructions since then, with the most significant reconstruction (that of the Great Buddha Hall) taking place in 1709. However, it was on the verge of collapse in the late 19th century due to the weight of its huge roof. The collapse was prevented through a first restoration (1904–1913), and its current appearance was completed using rebars and concretes between 1974 and 1980. Its Great Buddha Hall ( ''Daibutsuden'') houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as ''Daibutsu'' (). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture, Japan. , Nara has an estimated population of 367,353 according to World Population Review, making it the largest city in Nara Prefecture and sixth-largest in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara is a core city located in the northern part of Nara Prefecture bordering the Kyoto Prefecture. Nara was the capital of Japan during the Nara period from 710 to 784 as the seat of the Emperor before the capital was moved to Nagaoka-kyō, except for the years 740 to 745, when the capital was placed in Kuni-kyō, Naniwa-kyō and Shigaraki Palace. Nara is home to eight major historic temples, shrines, and heritage sites, specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji, and the Heijō Palace, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Etymology By the Heian period, a variety of different characters had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Treasures Of Japan
Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is " Tangible Cultural Properties designated by law in modern Japan as having extremely high value." Specifically, it refers to buildings, arts, and crafts designated as especially valuable from among Important Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). A Tangible Cultural Property is considered to be of historic or artistic value, classified either as "buildings and structures" or as "fine arts and crafts". Each National Treasure must show outstanding workmanship, a high value for world cultural history, or exceptional value for scholarship. Approximately 20% of the National Treasures are structures such as castles, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, or residences. The other 80% are paintings; scrolls; sutras; works of calligraphy; sculptures of wood, bronze, lacquer or stone; crafts such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritsuryō
is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kyaku'' () are amendments of Ritsuryō, ''Shiki'' () are enactments. Ritsuryō defines both a and an . During the late Asuka period (late 6th century – 710) and Nara period (710–794), the Imperial Court in Kyoto, trying to replicate China's rigorous political system from the Tang dynasty, created and enforced some collections of Ritsuryō. Over the course of centuries, the ''ritsuryō'' state produced more and more information which was carefully archived; however, with the passage of time in the Heian period, ''ritsuryō'' institutions evolved into a political and cultural system without feedback. In 645, the Taika reforms were the first signs of implementation of the system. Major re-statements of Ritsuryō included the following: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
200604 Model Of Todaiji Kondo Of Its Foundation
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon also has 6 edges as well as 6 internal and external angles. 6 is the second smallest composite number. It is also the first number that is the sum of its proper divisors, making it the smallest perfect number. It is also the only perfect number that doesn't have a digital root of 1. 6 is the first unitary perfect number, since it is the sum of its positive proper unitary divisors, without including itself. Only five such numbers are known to exist. 6 is the largest of the four all-Harshad numbers. 6 is the 2nd superior highly composite number, the 2nd colossally abundant number, the 3rd triangular number, the 4th highly composite number, a pronic number, a congruent number, a harmonic divisor number, and a semiprime. 6 is also the firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amaterasu
, often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () and the (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and as the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with two of her siblings (the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm-god Susanoo) she ranks as one of the "Three Precious Children" (, ), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi. Amaterasu's chief place of worship, the Grand Shrine of Ise in Ise, Mie Prefecture, is one of Shinto's holiest sites and a major pilgrimage center and tourist spot. As with other Shinto ''kami'', she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan. Name The goddess is referred to as ''Amaterasu Ōmikami'' ( / ; historical orthogr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner Shrine, Naikū (also officially known as "Kōtai Jingū"), is dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu and is located in the town of Uji-tachi, south of central Ise, where she is believed to dwell. The shrine buildings are made of solid cypress wood and use no nails but instead joined wood. The Outer Shrine, ''Gekū'' (also officially known as "Toyouke Daijingū"), is located about six kilometers from Naikū and dedicated to Toyouke-Ōmikami, the god of agriculture, rice harvest and industry. Besides Naikū and Gekū, there are an additional 123 Shinto shrines in Ise City and the surrounding areas, 91 of them connected to Naikū and 32 to Gekū. Purportedly the home of the Sacred M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gyōki
was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera, a temple in Nara, at the age of 15 and studied under Dōshō as one of his first pupils. Gyōki studied Yogachara (唯識), a core doctrine of Hosso, at Yakushi-ji. In 704, he returned to his birthplace to make his home into a temple, then started to travel around Japan to preach to commoners and help the poor. He formed a volunteer group to help the poor mainly in the Kansai region, building 49 monasteries and nunneries that also functioned as hospitals for the poor. Gyōki and his followers roamed the countryside, teaching common people about Buddhism, building temples that were more like community centers and organizing irrigation and other public works projects. Since regulations at the time strictly prohibited activities by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived Syllabary, syllabic scripts of and . The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as , by a process similar to China's simplified Chinese characters, simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the general public. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
735–737 Japanese Smallpox Epidemic
The was a smallpox epidemic that afflicted much of Japan. Killing approximately one third (around 1 million individuals) of the entire Japanese population, the epidemic had significant social, economic, and religious repercussions throughout the country. Origins A few decades prior to the outbreak, Japanese court officials had adopted the Chinese policy of reporting disease outbreaks among the general population. This recording practice greatly facilitated the identification of smallpox as the disease that afflicted Japan during the years 735–737. Increased contact and trade between Japan and the Asian mainland, directly and through Korea, had led to more frequent and serious outbreaks of infectious diseases, including smallpox. The smallpox epidemic of 735–737 was recorded as having taken hold around August 735 in the city of Dazaifu, Fukuoka in northern Kyushu. The infection had ostensibly been carried by a shipwrecked Japanese fisherman who had contracted the illness a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagaya
Nagaya ( ') (684 – 20 March 729) was a politician of the Nara period and an imperial prince of Japan, a son of Prince Takechi (grandson of Emperor Tenmu). His father was Prince Takechi and his mother Princess Minabe (a daughter of Emperor Tenji and Empress Genmei's sister). He married Princess Kibi (his cousin, a daughter of Empress Genmei and Empress Genshō's sister). He was substantially influential in politics owing to his membership of the Imperial family of the most noble birth, and there were no other competitive Imperial members at that time. A large residence was allocated to him in a prestigious part of Heijō Kyō, Heijō-kyō. The Fujiwara clan were the most powerful competitors of Nagaya. Fujiwara no Fuhito, the leader of the house, had been the most powerful courtier in the court in the days when Japan was under the reign of Empress Genshō, a cousin of Nagaya's. After Fuhito's death in 720, Nagaya seized complete power within the court. This power shift was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yamato Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, the name was written with one different character (), but due to its offensive connotation, for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters () (see Names of Japan). The final revision was made in the second year of the Tenpyō-hōji era (). It is classified as a great province in the '' Engishiki''. The Yamato Period in the history of Japan refers to the late Kofun Period (c. 250–538) and Asuka Period (538–710). Japanese archaeologists and historians emphasize the fact that during the early Kofun Period the Yamato Kingship was in close contention with other regional powers, such as Kibi Province near present-day Okayama Prefecture. Around the 6th century, the local chieftainship gained national contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provincial Temple
The are Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temples established in each of the provinces of Japan by Emperor Shōmu during the Nara period (710 – 794). The official name for each temple was Konkomyo Shitenno Gokoku-ji (Konkōmyō Shitennō Gokoku-ji ) History The ''Shoku Nihongi'' records that in 741, as the country recovered from a 735–737 Japanese smallpox epidemic, major smallpox epidemic, Emperor Shōmu ordered that a monastery and nunnery be established in every Provinces of Japan, province. Each temple was to have one statue of The Buddha, Shaka Nyorai and two attendant Bodhisattva statues, and a copy of the Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras. Later, it was added that each temple must also have a seven-story Japanese pagoda, pagoda, copies of ten volumes of the Lotus Sutra and a copy of the Golden Light Sutra in golden letters. To provide funds for the upkeep, each temple and nunnery was to be assigned 50 households and 10 Japanese units of measurement#Area, ''chō'' o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
