− | The shrine contained for many years a temple bell cast in Korea in [[956]]. The bell was designated a [[National Treasure]] in [[1907]], but was destroyed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. Only the dragon-shaped head of the bell (the loop from which it would be hung) survived; this today resides at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum. | + | The shrine contained for many years a temple bell cast in Korea in [[956]]. The bell was designated a [[National Treasure]] in [[1907]], but was destroyed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. Only the dragon-shaped head of the bell (the loop from which it would be hung) survived; this today resides at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum. No other examples of [[Goryeo]] bells survive in Okinawa.<ref>Gallery labels, ''Okinawa fukki 50 nen kinen tokubetsu ten Ryukyu'' 沖縄復帰50年記念 特別展「琉球」exhibit, Tokyo National Museum, 2022.</ref> |
− | According to the ''[[Nanto fudoki|Nantô fudoki]]'', the bell was 2 ''shaku'', 7 ''sun'', 1 ''bu'' (roughly 80 cm) tall, and roughly 1 ''shaku'', 8 ''sun'', 8 ''bu'' in diameter (about 55 cm). It had a rather typical form overall, but is said to have been decorated with [[apsara]]s and bodhisattvas, a rare feature. The ''Nantô fudoki'' records the full inscription on the bell, and its author, [[Higaonna Kanjun]], writes that the bell was cast in 956, and was at one time the oldest bell in [[Goryeo]]. The bell originally hung in a temple in Korea; how it came to be in Okinawa and at Naminoue remain unclear,<ref>"Naminoue-gû bonshô" 波上宮梵鐘。 ''Okinawa Encyclopedia''. vol 3. p79.</ref> but some have suggested it may have been plundered from the Korean temple by ''[[wako|wakô]]'' who then brought it to Ryûkyû.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 45.</ref> | + | According to the ''[[Nanto fudoki|Nantô fudoki]]'', the bell was 2 ''shaku'', 7 ''sun'', 1 ''bu'' (roughly 80 cm) tall, and roughly 1 ''shaku'', 8 ''sun'', 8 ''bu'' in diameter (about 55 cm). It had a rather typical form overall, but is said to have been decorated with [[apsara]]s and bodhisattvas, a rare feature. The ''Nantô fudoki'' records the full inscription on the bell, and its author, [[Higaonna Kanjun]], writes that the bell was cast in 956, and was at one time the oldest bell in Goryeo. The bell originally hung in a temple in Korea; how it came to be in Okinawa and at Naminoue remain unclear,<ref>"Naminoue-gû bonshô" 波上宮梵鐘。 ''Okinawa Encyclopedia''. vol 3. p79.</ref> but some have suggested it may have been plundered from the Korean temple by ''[[wako|wakô]]'' who then brought it to Ryûkyû.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2019), 45.</ref> |