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Tenjukoku Shucho

Part of the medieval Tenjukoku Shucho Mandala. Part of the medieval Tenjukoku Shucho Mandala.

The Tenjukoku Shucho ('Embroidery of the Long Life in Heaven') is a set of original fragments plus those of two large draperies, that themselves are thirteenth century reproductions of the original embroidered silk that had the representation of the Buddhist paradise. They are the oldest extant pieces of embroidery known from Japan, apart from some excavated examples.

The original was worked by court ladies in the early seventh century on the order of Tachibana no Oiratsume, the wife of Shotoku Taishi. It was kept in the Chuguji nunnery of the Horyu-ji temple outside the city of Nara, Japan. The inscription is said to have been told by the prince to his consort: "The world is folly. Only the Buddha is real."

The embroideries are now housed in the Nara National Museum.

Digital source (retrieved 1 October 2016).

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 1 October 2016).

WV

Last modified on Friday, 09 December 2016 19:00