Avatamsaka Sutra vol. 41

This manuscript sutra is a scroll-form (gwonjabon) copy of the Avatamsaka Sutra written in silver ink on dark blue-dyed mulberry paper, said to be one of the votive objects recovered from inside a clay seated bodhisattva image also held by the Dong-a University Museum. The opening section of the sutra (gwonsu, the first part of a manuscript sutra) is missing, so it lacks a colophon (saseonggi) recording the date of production, and its exact date cannot be determined. However, in its seventeen-characters-per-line format and the size of its characters it closely resembles Volume 41 of the Avatamsaka Sutra written in silver ink on indigo paper, which was recovered as a votive object from the main Buddha image at Cheongwonsa Temple in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, and is now held in the Dongguk University Museum; the calligraphic style is also nearly identical. The Dongguk University Museum's copy is in accordion-fold (jeopcheopbon) format and is the Zhou-recension translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra rendered by Śikṣānanda of Tang China; its colophon indicates it was produced in 1324, the 11th year of King Chungsuk of Goryeo. As this sutra likewise displays the format and calligraphic conventions of Goryeo-period manuscript sutras, it is presumed to date from the 14th century, around the same time as the Dongguk University copy. Although this volume of the Avatamsaka Sutra lacks a date or colophon of production and is partly missing, it is valued as important material for studying the style and calligraphy of late Goryeo manuscript sutras.

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Where it is

Region

Seo-gu, Busan

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산