- 金銅鰐口
- 1 object
- Gilt bronze
- W 17.8, D 15.8
- Kamakura period/Kenchō 6 (1254)
- Nara National Museum
- 1185(工250 H)
A waniguchi gong is a type of slit gong suspended from tie beams between pillars in Buddhist halls or Shinto shrines’ worship halls. The gong is sounded by shaking the rope that hangs in front of it. Most are made of bronze, or more rarely, iron. This particular gong is bronze but was gilt across its entire surface. It is unusually small for a waniguchi gong. Sutra verses and other inscriptions are engraved on the front, back, and sides. These include verses from the Smaller Sukhavativyuha Sutra, the Lager Sukhavativyuha Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra. The inscription says the gong was dedicated to Tenjingū Shrine at Enseiji Temple in Yamaguchi of Suō Province (now southeast Yamaguchi Prefecture) in the 5th month of Kenchō 6 (1254) by a person named Jiren or Mokuren (dates unknown). The design is the same on the front and back. It is divided into three sections by pairs of raised lines forming circles. The center has a lotus petal design where the gong was struck. The eight-petal lotus flower is largely unadorned, but the pistil and stamens are rendered in the center. There is a slit at the bottom of the gong with a heart-shaped opening at either end. The handles are shaped like lotus seeds.
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