Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Garland Sutra), Volumes 48, 64, and 83

The Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra is a work of the gyojang (敎藏, doctrinal canon) genre, based on the Zhou-dynasty recension of the Avatamsaka Sutra, one of the Mahayana sutras; it consists of a commentary by the Tang-dynasty monk Chengguan, further annotated by Jingyuan of the Song dynasty. The Avatamsaka Sutra is commonly known for short as the Flower Garland Sutra, and its central teaching is that the Buddha and sentient beings are not two but one. In Korea it is the fundamental sutra of the Hwaeom school and, together with the Lotus Sutra, a text that had a major influence in establishing Korean Buddhist thought. To this sutra, Chengguan, a great master of Hwaeom studies in the Tang dynasty, added his commentary, which Jingyuan of the Song dynasty then annotated. This edition was printed from woodblocks that the author Jingyuan sent to Uicheon through the merchant Seo Jeon; of the 120 annotated volumes printed from the woodblocks of this commentary on the Zhou recension of the Avatamsaka Sutra, the surviving set here comprises Volumes 48, 64 and 83, in relatively good condition. The cover uses paper dyed with acorn juice, and the title label at the centre, and the title written within it, are both rendered in gold ink. A distinctive feature of the layout is the single-line borders at the top and bottom, with fifteen characters arranged per line. Each sheet is folded into five panels, and the joins between sheets bear a pansuje (板首題), a heading marking the start of each printing block, apparently for the convenience of production and management. The paper is made entirely of mulberry paper, of a high-quality Goryeo type showing traces of beating to give the surface a sheen and prevent the ink from spreading. At the end of Volume 83, however, there remains an ink inscription reading "嘉靖 31年 (1552), imja year … sibong (侍奉) …," which is difficult to read as a printing record and is thought instead to be a note of ownership. The calligraphic style appears to be the typical style of Ouyang Xun that was popular in Song-dynasty editions, and since the strokes on the printed surface remain crisp, the volumes appear to have been printed relatively early. As three volumes out of the 120-volume Commentary on the Zhou Recension of the Avatamsaka Sutra from the Goryeo period, this is a valuable source for understanding both the circumstances of State Preceptor Uicheon's collection of Buddhist texts and the cultural exchange that extended to Song China and Japan.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물