Transcription of Maha prajnaparamita Sastra (Perfection of Wisdom) in Silver on Oak Paper, Volume 28

Buddhist scriptures can broadly be divided into the Three Baskets (Tripitaka) of sutra (scripture), vinaya (monastic rules) and sastra (treatise); the Daejidoron (Maha prajnaparamita Sastra) belongs to the sastra category. Written by Nagarjuna, it is a great treatise that functions as a kind of Buddhist encyclopaedia, conveying the Buddhist thought of its time, around the second century. It was translated by Kumarajiva of the Later Qin dynasty and corresponds to volume 28 of the complete hundred-volume Daejidoron. This is a transcription of the text in silver script on brownish paper, in the form of an accordion-folded book that opens out like a folding screen; when folded it measures 31 cm in height and 11.2 cm in width. The front and back covers and the first six leaves have been lost, so that only thirteen leaves now survive. Beneath the title at the end of the book is marked 'geonpal' (建八), a Cheonjaham marking — a method of numbering volumes according to the sequence of the Cheonjamun (Thousand Character Classic) — confirming that this volume is one of a set of Buddhist scriptures numbered according to that sequence. The quality of the paper and the calligraphy of the text match those of the volume kept at Girimsa Temple, and the book is accordingly presumed to have been produced in the mid-fourteenth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gwanak-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물