Important Cultural PropertyTemple Bell

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  • 梵鐘
  • By Chin Monju
  • 1 piece
  • Cast bronze
  • H 38.7, D(rim) 20.6
  • Six dynasties, China/Taijian 7(575)
  • Nara National Museum
  • 760(工155)

 This is a small temple bell made of cast bronze. A double headed dragon on the handle (ryuzu) at the top of the bell bites the domed crown (kasagata), while a sacred jewel is placed on the center of the head. The domed crown is divided into the inner and outer parts by a line and the main body is also divided into areas by horizontal belts (upper, middle, lower) and vertical line. There are areas of bosses (chi no ma), for inscription (ike no ma) and for patterns (kusa no ma), but bosses (chi) were not casted and the lower rim (koma no tsume) wasn’t projected outside. Two striking panels (tsukiza) with the eight-petaled lotus flower motif are placed at the right angles to the ryuzu. The center of the tsukiza is high and positioned almost in the middle of the main body. The overall shape of the bell is vertically long, and the style is older than those in Myoshinji Temple in Kyoto Prefecture and Kanzeonji Temple in Fukuoka Prefecture. According to an inscription on part of the vertical line, it was made in Chinese six dynasties, Taijian 7 (575). This bell is a precious precedent from the six dynasties period in China that is thought to have been the origin of Japanese temple bells.

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