Transcription of Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Garland Sutra) in Gold on Indigo Paper

The Great Expansive Buddha Flower Garland Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, is known for short as the Hwaeomgyeong. The fundamental scripture of the Hwaeom school, its central teaching is that the Buddha and sentient beings are not two but one; the Chapter on the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra is the part in which Samantabhadra teaches the way into the world of awakening. This is one of five sutras — the Diamond Sutra, the Sutra of Long Life, the Amitabha Sutra, the Sutra of Parental Love and the Chapter on Samantabhadra's Practices and Vows — that Yi Yaseonbulhwa of Goryeo had made to pray for his own health and long life and the peace of his family. It is carefully written in gold on dark blue paper and opens out like a folding screen, 26.4 cm high and 9.6 cm wide when folded. The cover is decorated with flowers in gold and silver, with the title in gold at the centre. At the head is a finely drawn gold frontispiece summarising the chapter. The year in the colophon is erased, so the exact date is unknown, but the era name beginning Zhi and the quality of the book suggest it was made between 1341 and 1367, at the end of Goryeo. It had gone to Japan and was brought back; damp has damaged the colophon and a few other places, but it is otherwise well preserved. It is especially important because the words 'frontispiece of the Chapter on Practices and Vows, painted by Mungyeong' on the back of the frontispiece name its painter.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보