七支刀
Nanatsusaya-no-Tachi
Aussi connu sous le nom de: Seven-Branched Sword
Description
The Nanatsusaya-no-Tachi (Seven-Branched Sword) is the oldest National Treasure sword in Japan, enshrined at Isonokami Jingū in Nara. Dating to approximately 369 CE, it is unique among all surviving ancient swords: its blade bears three lateral branches on each side — six branch-blades plus the central blade, seven in all — making it clearly a ceremonial and diplomatic object rather than a weapon. Gold-inlaid inscriptions (61 readable characters) record its creation date and identify it as a gift from the king of Baekje (ancient Korea) to the king of Wa (Japan). The inscription's exact reading has been debated for over a century, as it bears directly on the diplomatic relationship between Baekje and Yamato Japan in the 4th century. Referenced in the Nihon Shoki under the entry for Empress Jingū, the sword is one of the most important physical documents of ancient East Asian international relations. Preserved for over 1,600 years within the sacred precinct of Isonokami Jingū — one of Japan's oldest shrines, dedicated to divine swords — it was designated a National Treasure in 1953 and remains largely inaccessible even to researchers.
Légendes et récits
The Seven-Branched Sword sits at the intersection of legend, diplomacy, and archaeology. The Nihon Shoki records that in the reign of Empress Jingū (a semi-legendary consort-regent credited with conquering the 'three kingdoms' of Korea), the king of Baekje presented a seven-branched sword to the Yamato court — and the sword's gold-inlaid inscription appears to confirm a gift from Baekje to Wa around 369 CE, though whether the inscription reads as Baekje submitting to Yamato or Yamato receiving a gift from an equal ally remains fiercely debated by historians in both Japan and Korea. The sword was entrusted to Isonokami Jingū — Japan's most ancient shrine of divine swords, whose original sacred object is the Futsu-no-Mitama, the magical blade that aided Emperor Jinmu's eastern campaign in mythological times — where it was preserved as a sacred object for over sixteen centuries. The physical preservation itself is remarkable: the fall of the Mononobe clan (587 CE), who had served as the shrine's ritual custodians, could easily have led to the sword's destruction in the religious conflicts surrounding the introduction of Buddhism, yet the shrine's sacred status protected it. Designated a National Treasure in 1953, the sword is kept under strict restriction; the inscription that sparked a century of scholarly controversy — about one sword's role in mapping ancient East Asian international relations — can still be partially read in gold against the ancient iron.