Transcription of Saddharmapundarika Sutra (The Lotus Sutra) in Gold on Indigo Paper, Volume 7

The Lotus Sutra (Myobeop yeonhwagyeong), often abbreviated as Beomhwagyeong, holds as its central teaching that the path to Buddhahood is open to all people. As the foundational scripture of the Cheontae (Tiantai) school, together with the Avatamsaka Sutra it exerted great influence on the establishment of Korean Buddhist thought. This volume is a transcription of Kumarajiva's Chinese translation, corresponding to the last of the Lotus Sutra's seven fascicles. Inside the back cover, the title Beopchilsajang is written in gold. The text is written in gold powder on dark indigo paper, in an accordion-fold format that opens like a screen, and measures 31.3 cm in height and 11 cm in width. At the end of the book is a colophon recording that in 1366, the fifteenth year of King Gongmin of Goryeo, Gwon Do-nam and others enshrined this volume at Bongjeongsa Temple to pray for the repose of their late father and ancestors. As the calligraphy and paper of this colophon differ from those of the main text, it is thought to have been added when the Gwon family obtained an already-existing copy of the Lotus Sutra and donated it to Bongjeongsa. Judging by its overall form, the volume appears to date from the late Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물