Vixentrox Posted October 28, 2010 Posted October 28, 2010 What an eye popping find this must have been. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/missing-sacred-swords-of-todaiji-found-after-1250-years Missing sacred swords of Todaiji found after 1,250 years Tuesday 26th October, 06:50 AM JST NARA — Two swords found under the Great Buddha of Todaiji temple in the Meiji era have been identified as sacred swords that had been missing for some 1,250 years since around 760 after Empress Komyo, the wife of Emperor Shomu who built the Buddha, dedicated them along with other items to the temple, the temple said Monday. The swords, decorated with gold, silver and lacquer, appear on the top of about 100 swords in the weapon list of the Kokka Chimpo Cho (the book of national treasures to Todaiji) kept at the Shosoin repository at the temple in the ancient capital of Nara, and can be considered important historical materials in the related research. The swords were discovered at the end of the Meiji Period (1868-1912) along with other items such as a silver pot near the pedestal on which the Great Buddha sits when three holes were created nearby for research purposes, and were designated together as national treasures in 1930. When maintenance workers recently took an X-ray photo of the swords, they found the inscriptions ‘‘Yoken’’ and ‘‘Inken’’ on the blades, which indicate the swords are highly likely those called ‘‘Yohoken’’ and ‘‘Inhoken’’ that the empress dedicated in 756 at a memorial service for the emperor who died earlier in the year. The swords were likely removed from the Shosoin treasure list at the request of the empress and buried in the location where they were found. The landmark discovery nonetheless led to a new mystery as to why Empress Komyo, who died in 760, bothered to remove them from the treasure list and buried them under the foot of the Great Buddha, experts say. Ikuo Mori, an expert in historical archeology and an honorary professor at Tezukayama University in Nara, said he believes the empress did so ‘‘hoping that the Buddha hall would last forever.’’
Rev R Posted October 29, 2010 Posted October 29, 2010 Nice! I would love to see them...ok strike that. I want to hold them.
Shion Posted November 12, 2010 Posted November 12, 2010 Very interesting, I wish the article would have had more detail about the swords, the site, and why it took so long to re-discover the swords and do proper work on them.
OpheliaGinger Posted November 13, 2010 Posted November 13, 2010 Nice! I would love to see them...ok strike that. I want to hold them. I want to see them as well. I also want to see a depiction of the empress as well.
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