votive offering

Votive offering, in the form of a small rectangle of buff paper rolled into a tube and fastened with a pink gummed paper strip. It bears a single line of black characters. The top two characters read: 'kyouyou' or 'kouyou'. The next two read: 'mikage'. The bottom three read: 'Horyuji'.

Horyuji (Horyu Temple) dates from the beginning of 8th century. It is situated in Nara. It means 'Temple of the Flourishing Law [of Buddhism]'. 'Kyouyou' means 'to have a memorial service' (especially for dead parents). 'Mikage' refers to the dead person's soul.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk