Segment of Lotus Sutra Characters on Precious Stupa (Togakushi-gire)
- Person
-
作者藤原定信
- Date
-
制作年 AD12
- Title
- イチジホウトウホケキョウダンカン（トガクシギレ）
- Materials, techniques and shape
- Ink on paper
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
Pulverized seashells mixed with glue were brushed on the surface of this paper, on which eight “precious stupas” are depicted with mica. Characters of the sutra text were written, one by one, on each stupa. The result is the so-called “single-character stupa” sutra, a kind of decorated sutra in which the characters are meant to represent the images of Buddha. Originally, a stupa was built to preserve Buddha’s remains. As such, votive offerings and prayers to this sacred structure was considered a duty of every devout Buddhist. The benefits of erecting Buddha statues and stupas are described in the Lotus Sutra as well as in many other scriptures, but the symbolic depiction in Lotus Sutra Volume 4 Chapter 11 “Beholding the Precious Stupa” is noteworthy. Also beneficial is the transcribing of the sutra text, which is actually the manifestation of the concept that “each letter in the Lotus is immediately the Buddha itself” as professed in the Lotus Sutra and Its Traditions.The faintly blackened paper is known as “Kankon-shi,” or the “paper of the returned soul.” In memory of the deceased, often a letter received from that person was de-inked and the paper fibers dissolved in water and then reformed, resulting in Kankon-shi. Originally, this segment was a part of a ten-scroll set including the eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra, the opening sutra (Sutra of Innumerable Meanings) and the closing sutra (Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue). The exhibited segment, a part from Lotus Sutra Volume 4 Chapter 11 “Beholding the Precious Stupa”, was written by Fujiwara-no-Sadanobu (1088-1156?), the fifth-generation descendant of Fujiwara-no-Yukinari (also Kozei, 972-1027). The speedy movement of his brushstrokes seems to have caused the right shoulder of each character to tip upward. Vowing to copy, single-handedly, the Issaikyo (a complete set of scriptures comprised of 5048 volumes) in 23 years, the author must have adopted this unique, shorthand-like style of writing, often using the side of the brush to create thick lines. Perhaps Sadanobu copied the Issaikyo in memory of someone close to him. It is kept at Togakushi Shrine in Shinshu Province (Nagano Prefecture), hence the name “Togakushi-Gire”. However, it’s most likely that the original sutra copies were dedicated to some temples in Kyoto and Nara but were gradually dispersed, with this copy ended up at Togakushi.
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Identifiers
- Title (EN)
- Segment of Lotus Sutra Characters on Precious Stupa (Togakushi-gire)
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1幅
- Materials, techniques and shape
-
Materials 銀泥宝塔下絵
- Attachments
- 外箱（二重箱）、包裂
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