National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This ceramic sutra container was allegedly unearthed from Mt. Shiōji in Fukuoka. Toward the end of the Heian period, the Buddhist concept of mappō, an age of future dharmic decline in which the Buddha’s teachings would be forgotten, took hold. This prompted a wave of practices centering around rebirth into paradise, which spread from the capital city of Kyoto to Kyushu. Northern Kyushu was, in fact, the earliest place in Japan to see the practice of burying Buddhist sutras underground and building mounds over them as a means of passing the Buddha’s teachings on to future generations. Since then, sutra mounds have sprouted all over Kyushu, concentrated on some major sites like Usa, Oita; Mts. Hiko and Kubote in Fukuoka, as well as the aforementioned Mt. Shiōji.

Most containers created to store these sutras for burial are made of bronze, though some are made of ceramic. What makes this particular object unique is how it was made in China, and features decorative elements such as a lotus pedestal. Although its exact place of production is unknown, experts believe it may have been created in southern China (possibly Zhejiang or Fujian) in the twelfth century. Since several of the sutra mounds on Mt. Shiōji were constructed by Song Chinese merchants who had immigrated to Hakata, it is likely that this was one among a number of ceramic sutra containers that they had ordered and imported directly from China. In other words, this artifact offers a glimpse not only into the permeation of sutra burial culture in northern Kyushu, but also the state of trade happening across the East China Sea.

This sutra container features a hat-like lid that curves upwards towards the rim, topped with a large, pagoda-shaped knob. The body of the container swells slightly toward the middle, and is decorated with two pairs of incised lines, one toward the top, and one toward the bottom. A horizontal band separates the main body from a bottom portion, which is carved into the shape of a lotus pedestal. This is supported by a low, flared base. In terms of material, this container was created out of light gray clay. Its external surface was then covered in white slip and coated in a slightly green transparent glaze; its inner surface and bottom were left as is.

This container came together with a small white porcelain jar, a knife, and a container lid. The jar bears a large crack and a damaged mouth. These objects may have been buried in the same sutra mound as the container.