NARA PERIOD (764-70)

This is one of one million miniature wooden pagodas commissioned by Empress Shotoku (718-770) in gratitude for the suppression of a rebellion by the Emi and in prayer for the future protection of the realm. Nine hundred thousand were distributed to temples throughout Japan and the remaining one hundred thousand to the Ten Great Temples in and around Nara (then the capital). They have been dispersed over the centuries and today only the Horyuji retains some of its original allocation. The tiny scrolls are the oldest datable examples of printing in existence, with the possible exception of a single earlier Korean contender; it remains uncertain, however, whether the blocks were of wood or metal.