Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents

Published by the royal court in the early Joseon period, this Buddhist sutra expounds on how boundless and profound a parent's kindness is; it is also known as the Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents. Unlike the Confucian Classic of Filial Piety, it gives a detailed account of just how great a mother's kindness is in particular. No Sanskrit original has been found, and since its content simply carries over and emphasises the traditional Chinese idea of filial piety, it is considered an apocryphal sutra composed in China. Precisely because of this emphasis on filial piety, however, it circulated very widely in Korea, China and Japan, and numerous illustrated frontispieces were produced for it. According to its publication record, it was printed together with several other sutras at Gwangheungsa Temple in Andong in the seventeenth year of King Myeongjong's reign (1562). As an illustrated early Joseon-period woodblock edition, it is valuable material for research into the history of Buddhist sutra publication, the history of the Korean language, and Joseon-period printmaking. Bound together with the Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents is the Sutra of Prolonging Life and Eliminating Sin to Protect All Children. The book's border is a single frame line on all four sides, the text has no ruled lines dividing the columns, each leaf is printed as a plain single sheet, and each leaf runs to eight lines of sixteen characters.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Danyang, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산