The port-city of Ningbo, has often represented all of China for the Japanese people. During the Tang dynasty the city was known as Mingzhou and it was later called Qingyuanfu during the Southern Song dynasty. As the gateway and entry port for embassies to China during the Tang and for trade between China and Japan during the Song and Ming dynasties, Ningbo developed as a key center of the maritime commerce that has linked China and Japan from ancient times. 　　　　Ningbo has been more than anything else an enduring object of admiration and attraction for the Japanese due to the depth of a Buddhist culture that is rare in Chinese history. Ayuwang-si temple, a center for the worship of relics of the Buddha, Putuoshan, sacred to the worship of Guanyin (Jp. Kannon), and Tiantong-si temple, considered one of the Five Mountains of Chan (Jp. Zen) Buddhism are some of the many Buddhist temples that dot the landscape of Ningbo and that have deep ties with Japan. Throughout history, many Japanese monks crossed the sea to make pilgrimages to these sacred sites. When these monks returned to Japan with the latest forms of Buddhist knowledge, which had been obtained during their stays in Ningbo, they established the foundations for new developments in Japanese Buddhism.		Important cultural property Seated Avalokitesvara Sennyûji, Kyoto
By holding the special exhibition "Sacred Ningbo, Gateway to 1300 Years of Japanese Buddhism", we at Nara National Museum hope to spotlight this aspect of Ningbo as a sacred of Chinese Buddhism and introduce the attractions of the Buddhist art that was imported from Ningbo to Japan. We see the exhibition as an opportunity to highlight such masterpieces as the intricately fashioned metalwork related to the worship of relics of the Buddha at Ayuwang-si temple, Buddhist sculpture conveying the elegant form of of the Guanyin of Putuoushan, and famed Buddhist paintings and scripture created in Ningbo, and to display them all under a single roof and at the same time. We hope that the public will be able to experience to their fullest satisfaction the world of beauty that was fostered in the Buddhist culture of Ningbo.

National Treasure Standing Sâkyamuni, the Historical Buddha Seiryôji, Kyoto 　 National Treasure Huike Offering His Severed Arm by Sesshû Sainenji, Aichi EXHIBITION DATES July 18 (Saturday) - August 30 (Sunday), 2009 PLACE Nara National Museum East and West wings CLOSED Mondays (except for July 20 and August 17), July 21(Tue.) OPEN HOURS 9:30 - 17:00 * Open until 19:00 on fridays, August 13(Thu.), 15(Sat.) and 16(Sun.) (New admission ends 30 minutes before closing) SPECIAL EXHIBITION ADMISSION individual advanced /group Adult 1,200 yen 1,000 yen High School/ University Student 800 yen 600 yen Elementary/ Middle School Student 500 yen 300 yen *group: more than 20 people. *Admission is free for handicapped persons and their helpers (one each). 　(Presentation of a handicap passbook is required at the window.) * August 13 (Thu.) - 15 (Sat.) are free of charge for Middle School students and below. * July 22(Wed.) and August 22 (Sat.) are "The day of man and wife". Admission is half price when you come to our museum together as man and wife. *This Admission fee includes admission to regular exhibition. *Advance Tickets are on sale at 　Nara National Museum (〜7/17), 　Kintetsu Reservation Ticket Office, 　Lawson Ticket [L-Code 54614], Ticket PIA [P-Code 688-686], 　JTB, Nippon Travek Agency, Kinki Nippon Tourist 　and JR Tokai Tours (〜8/30) ENTRIES 175 objects *National treasure： 10 objects MAIN ENTRIES 　 exhbition name  Owner Image ● Permits to Travel in China for Dengyô Daishi Saichô ※Period: 8/11 - 8/30 Enryakuji, Shiga ■ ● Standing Sâkyamuni, the Historical Buddha (Jp. Shakanyorai, Ch. Shijia rulai) ※Period: 7/18 - 7/30 Seiryôji, Kyoto ■ 　 [Artifacts from Leifeng Pagoda, Hangzhou] Silver Pagoda of Asoka (Ch. Ayuwang, Jp. Aikuô) Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Hangzhou ■ 　 Ten Kings of Hell Metropolitan Museum, New York  ■ ◎ Seated Avalokitesvara (known as Yôkihi Kannon, Ch.Yang Guifei Guanyin) ※Period: 7/18 - 8/2 Sennyûji, Kyoto ■ ◎ Five hundred Arhats (Jp. Rakan, Ch. Luohan) Daitokuji, Kyoto  ■   Arhats Bestowing Alms to the Poor and Viewing Radiance of the Relic from the Five Hundred Arhats Museum of Fine Arts , Boston ■ ● Fukanzazengi (Univeral Promotion of Zen Meditation) by Dôgen ※Period: 7/18 - 8/9 Eiheiji, Fukui ■ ◎ Portrait of Jianxin Laifu (Jp. Kenshin Raifuku) ※Period: 7/18 - 8/9 Manzaiji, Saga  ■   Calligraphy of Yang Yi (Jp. Yô I), a verse presented to Ikô Tokuken ※Period: 7/18 - 8/9 Uedaryû Wafûdô, Hiroshima ■ 　  [Artifacts Recovered from the Sunken Ship at Sinan, Korea] Celadon bowl, with shinogimon motif National Museum of Korea  ■ ● Huike Offering His Severed Arm by Sesshû ※Period: 8/11 - 8/30  Sainenji, Aichi ■ ※●：National treasure, ◎：Important cultural property Important cultural property Five hundred Arhats Daitokuji, Kyoto ORGANIZATION Nara National Museum, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Osaka, NHK Nara Broadcasting Station SUPPORTERS Agency for Cultural Affairs, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Japan, Ningbo Municipal People's Government SPECIAL COOPERATION Zhejiang Provincial administration of cultural Heritage, Shanghai Museum COSPONSORSHIP Shimizu Corporation, Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co., Ltd.. SUPPORTERS' ORGANIZATION Nippon Kodo Co.,Ltd,, Buddhist Art Foundation, Japan Airlines, Ningbo Native Foundation Japan, Ningbo Project Link Ningbo Project

▲ page top