佚名 · Public domain
Nara period · 701–756
Emperor Shōmu
聖武天皇 · Japan
The emperor who ordered the casting of the Great Buddha of Nara
He reigned from 724 to 749, a time of constant natural disasters and epidemics; the smallpox epidemic of 735–737 killed huge numbers of people, and the capital was moved four times. To steady the nation through Buddhism he ordered provincial temples (kokubun-ji) built across the country in 741, and in 743 ordered the casting of the Great Buddha, later housed at Tōdai-ji. His empress, Kōmyō, of the Fujiwara clan, was the first empress not born into the imperial family.
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History · Tōdai-ji
An emperor's attempt to steady the nation through Buddhism
Emperor Shōmu's reign was beset by natural disasters and epidemics; the smallpox epidemic of 735–737 killed a large part of the population, and the capital was moved four times. Believing that Buddhism could protect the nation, in 741 he decreed the founding of provincial temples across the country, and in 743 he decreed the casting of the Great Buddha. Tōdai-ji was founded in 738, and in 752 the Great Buddha was consecrated; this Vairocana Buddha is still the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world.
