page_title: Hōryū-ji
section_title: Yumedono (Guze) Kannon
hierarchical_section_title: Hōryū-ji / Treasures / Yumedono (Guze) Kannon
caption_attribution_description: English: Facsimile of the so-called "Horiuzi Palm-leaf MSS." of Hōryū-ji monastery. The manuscript was preserved in Hōryū-ji since 609 AD. The manuscript itself dates from the first half of the 6th century[1]. Original caption: "Facsimile of the two palm-leaves of Horiuzi, sent to Prof. Max Müller in 1880. Catal. of Japanese books and mss. in the Bodleian Library, No. 45." The manuscript begins with the Heart Sūtra. From page 2, line 2 we find the Uṣnīṣavijaya Dhāraṇī. The last line is a complete Sanskrit syllabary in Siddhaṃ script - preceded by the word siddhaṃ and ending with llaṃ kṣa. Each texts begins with the auspiscious mark called yigmo in Tibetan, which is sometimes erroneously interpreted as oṃ. The text of the Heart Sūtra on this ms. is extremely corrupt. It contains numerous errors and omissions (visargas and anusvāras, syllables, words, and one whole phrase) and one repetition of part of a phrase. The writing is poor and difficult to read in places. `This ms. is cited as a source by Dr Edward Conze in his critical edition of the Heart Sutra as Ja. Note that instead of namo bhagavatyai prajñāpāramitāyai, this text opens with the salutation: namas sarvajñāya. 日本法隆寺所藏《梵本心経并尊勝陀羅尼》,以悉曇體梵文書寫於貝葉之上。
context_page_description: Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji, or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery.
  The temple was founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607, but according to the Nihon Shoki, in 670 all buildings were burned down by lightning. However, reconstructed at least 1,300 years ago, the Kondō is widely recognized as the world's oldest wooden building.
  A fire that broke out during the dismantling and repair of Kondo on January 26, 1949 destroyed a mural of the Asuka period, a national treasure, and shocked the Japanese. Based on this accident, the day when the fire broke out is now fire prevention day for cultural properties.
  In 1993, Horyu-ji Temple, along with Hokki-ji, was registered as Japan's first UNESCO World Heritage site under the name of Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area.
  A tree ring survey conducted in 2001 revealed that the shinbashira of the five-story pagoda were cut down in 594, before burned down in 670.
context_section_description: This Kannon is a statue that supposedly is the representation of Prince Shotoku.  It is approximate six feet and one inch and some sources believe that Shotoku was that height.  It is 197 centimeters in height. The kannon is made of gilded wood.  It is suggested that the statue was made to assuage the dead prince's spirit based on the fact that the halo was attached to the statue by a nail driven through the head. The statue bears a close resemblance to extant portraiture of the prince.
  The Kannon retains most of its gilt.  It is in superb condition because it was kept in the Dream Hall and wrapped in five hundred meters of cloth and never viewed in sunlight.  The statue was held to be sacred and was never seen until it was unwrapped at the demand of Ernest Fenollosa, who was charged by the Japanese government to catalogue the art of the state and later became a curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Art historians suggest that this figure is based on the Tori Busshi style.
caption: A replica of The Heart Sutra and Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra manuscript in Siddham script on palm-leaf in 609 CE. First page and the first line of second page is The Heart Sutra second page is Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra Hōryū-ji, Japan. The last line is a complete Sanskrit syllabary in Siddhaṃ script
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