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

The Avatamsaka Sutra, also known for short as the 'Flower Garland Sutra', is centred on the idea that the Buddha and sentient beings are not two but one. As the fundamental scripture of the Hwaeom school, it exerted, together with the Lotus Sutra, a decisive influence on the establishment of Korean Buddhist thought. This transcription, the Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra from the Avatamsaka Sutra in Gold on Indigo Paper, corresponds to Volume 34 of the forty-volume Zhenyuan edition of the Avatamsaka Sutra translated by Prajna of the Tang dynasty, and contains the chapter in which the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra preaches to the youth Seonjae-dongja the ten vows he must practise to attain the Buddha's merit. The text is painted and written in gold powder on dark indigo paper, in a format that unfolds like a folding screen; when folded it measures 34 cm in height and 11.5 cm in width. At the head of the scroll is a colophon recording that it was produced in 1334, the third year of the restored reign of King Chungsuk of Goryeo, by An Saehan of the Yuan dynasty in honour of his parents' fine teachings. This is followed by a frontispiece illustration (byeonsangdo) painted finely in gold to summarise the preached content, and behind it the main text, likewise written in gold. Although it was made at private initiative, its craftsmanship is refined, and it fully retains the proper form of Goryeo-period Buddhist sutras, making it a valuable historical record.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물