Segment of Decorated Lotus Sutra
- Date
-
制作年 AD12
- Title
- ソウショクホケキョウダンカン
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
Although decorated sutras made their early appearance during the Nara Period, the majority of them were produced during the latter Heian Period, strongly reflecting the aristocratic taste in aesthetics. Heian nobles seeking instant good fortune or a peaceful death embodied such ardent desires in lavishly decorated sutra manuscripts. The Lotus Sutra had much to do with these aristocratic practices. When Priest Saicho established Tendai Sect Buddhism by erecting a temple on Mount Hiei, he designated the Lotus Sutra as the most fundamental of the sect’s scriptures. Many sutra reading sessions were held across different classes of people, in many parts of the country, further prompting the popularity of the Lotus Sutra. The deepening understanding of the sutra encouraged enthusiastic coping of its text, as this act, as well as those of holding the sutra and chanting its text, was considered beneficial to one’s spiritual life. This is why we have such wealthy legacy of decorated Lotus Sutra manuscripts to this day.The exhibited decorated sutra is a segment of Lotus Sutra Volume 5 Chapter 14 “Peaceful Practices”. The top and bottom margins are decorated with gold and silver foils, a technique also found in the Kunoji-Kyo Sutra (completed in 1142). Quite different from the neatly aligned brushwork of professional sutra artists, this segment shows an individualistic style, so perhaps it was written and completed by a devout court noble himself. The notations in red were later added by monks who used this copy for sutra chanting.
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Identifiers
- Title (EN)
- Segment of Decorated Lotus Sutra
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1幅
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