丙子椒林剣
Heishi Shōrinken
Aussi connu sous le nom de: Sword of Prince Shōtoku; Treasure Sword of Shitennō-ji
Description
The Heishi Shōrinken is one of two swords (the other being the Shichiseiken) traditionally attributed to Prince Shōtoku (Shōtoku Taishi, 574–622), the regent who championed Buddhism in Japan and founded Shitennō-ji temple in Osaka. A straight single-edged sword (jōkotō) of the Asuka period, it measures 65.8 cm and bears a gold-inlaid inscription reading 'Heishi Shōrin' (Binomial Cyclamen Forest — or more precisely, a four-character combination of a cyclical calendar sign and a poetic image) in a style resembling continental Chinese or Korean manufacture of the Six Dynasties or early Tang period. The sword is thus very possibly an imported continental piece rather than Japanese-made — a supreme diplomatic or ceremonial gift in the context of the intensive cultural exchange that Shōtoku Taishi himself promoted between Japan and the Asian mainland. It is a National Treasure preserved at Shitennō-ji for over fourteen centuries, representing the era before the curved Japanese tachi was developed and connecting the entire tradition of Japanese sword culture to its continental roots. Surviving the 1615 Battle of Osaka, WWII bombing raids, and numerous other historical catastrophes, it is periodically displayed in the temple's treasure hall.
Légendes et récits
The Heishi Shōrinken and its twin sword, the Shichiseiken, together constitute the legendary 'dual swords of Prince Shōtoku' — the pair that Japan's most celebrated early statesman is said to have worn at his side. The most dramatic context for their legendary use is the battle of 587, when Prince Shōtoku and Soga no Umako faced the anti-Buddhist Mononobe no Moriya in armed conflict. Before battle, the young prince is said to have carved images of the Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennō) from the wood of a nut tree and vowed: 'If we win this battle, I will build a temple to the Shitennō.' The victory — and the subsequent founding of Shitennō-ji — is the founding narrative of Japanese Buddhism's decisive establishment. The sword worn at that turning point became a sacred relic of the temple built in fulfillment of the vow. In the medieval period, popular 'Taishi-kō' devotion to Prince Shōtoku as a kind of bodhisattva brought pilgrims from across Japan to Shitennō-ji, and the swords he had allegedly worn acquired the status of holy relics with miraculous power — the earliest layer of the Japanese belief that great swords carry spiritual force. The sword survived the Battle of Osaka (1615) and the devastating air raids of 1945 through deliberate preservation efforts, and is today occasionally displayed in the temple treasury, where it continues to carry fourteen centuries of religious and historical significance.