Silver on Indigo Paper Brahmajala Sutra Bodhisattva Gye and Bodhisattva Gyeui

This comprises two rolls bound as a single accordion-fold volume, measuring 26.3 by 10 cm. The page layout has single silver-ink borders top and bottom, 17.1 cm apart; each sheet measures 26.3 by 89.4 cm and carries 54 lines of 16 characters, folded into nine sections (formed by joining eight sheets) to make the accordion binding. The title given at the head of the roll reads, in translation, 'Silver-on-Indigo Brahmajala Sutra: The Chapter on the Bodhisattva Mind-ground Precepts Preached by Nosana Buddha, Volume 10, Part 2', while the title at the end of the roll reads 'Method for Receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts'. This sutra reproduces a single chapter — the Chapter on the Bodhisattva Mind-ground — drawn from the Brahmajala Sutra's 120 rolls and 61 chapters, in the Chinese translation made by Kumarajiva of the Later Qin dynasty. The Chapter on the Bodhisattva Mind-ground originally consisted of two parts, upper and lower, and the lower part is known separately as the Sutra of the Bodhisattva Precepts or the Text of the Bodhisattva Precepts. The cover is decorated with four gold-ink lotus flowers set against a ground of silver-ink scrolling arabesque design, with the title 'Combined Volume of the Brahmajala Bodhisattva Precepts Sutra and its Ritual' written in gold ink within a rectangular frame, in the manner of a title label. The sutra is arranged with an illustrated frontispiece followed by a preface to the Brahmajala Bodhisattva Precepts, the Chapter on the Bodhisattva Mind-ground Precepts Preached by Nosana Buddha, and the Ritual for Receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts; the sutra text itself is written in silver ink. The frontispiece, titled 'Illustration of the Brahmajala Bodhisattva Precepts Sutra', extends across four panels: Nosana Buddha appears on the right, while below, a thousand Buddhas are shown manifesting upon lotus flowers. The content sets out the ten grave offences a bodhisattva must keep firmly in mind — the Ten Major Precepts, including 'do not kill', 'do not steal', 'do not commit sexual misconduct' and 'do not speak falsely' — together with forty-eight lesser precepts, such as 'respect your teachers and friends' and 'do not drink alcohol'. The Ritual for Receiving the Bodhisattva Precepts is a commentary on the verses and following passages of the sutra's lower roll. This is a hand-copied Goryeo transcription of the Brahmajala Bodhisattva Precepts Sutra. It carries no colophon recording the date of production, but the style of the cover decoration and frontispiece, together with the manner of transcription, suggest a date in the late 14th century, in the late Goryeo period. Frontispiece illustrations depicting the content of the preface chapter are rare, and the quality of the transcription here is excellent.

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Where it is

Region

Jung-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산