Illustrated manuscript of Lotus Sutra

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 Illustrated manuscript of the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing), Volume 2, Unidentified Artist (mid-14th century), Accordion-fold book; gold and silver on indigo-dyed mulberry paper, Korea

The illustrated manuscript is also known as Miaofa lianhua jing, from the Korean culture. This is from the Goryeo dynasty, in the period of 918 through 1392. The exact year it was made in 1340, however the artist is unknown. There are many versions and paintings like this that are classified as volumes. This specific painting is considered Volume 2. This piece is an accordion-fold book. The practice of making these well-appointed Buddhist sutras used of very lavish materials. These materials extended beyond Japan to China and Korea.  The gold and silver is painted on indigo dyed mulberry paper. This example from Korea shows the intricate combination of silver and gold pigments with midnight blue indigo-dyed paper. The purpose of this is to saturate the sacred written word with a glowing luminosity. The Lotus Sutra, or the Sanskirt Saddharmapunarīka-sūtra. The Lotus means the Good law, or the True Doctrine. From early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts venerated as the ideal essence of truth by the Japanese Tendai and Nichiren sects. The illuminated Manuscripts, or sagyong, formed scrolls and folded books. The very intricate and amount of splendid detail in the piece displays the level of complete endorsement of Buddhism. The covers, both front and back, were decorated with posing tangcho, which are large flowers. The significance of the flowers is to show precious visages. In the rectangular box on the lower edge of the front cover is the title of the text. All of the text is in gold lettering to show significance of the Buddha’s words that are contained with in. The title was enclosed in a mantra corresponding to the siddham seed character, known as Om, which means the “lions roar”, symbolizing the Buddha’s voice. Monk scribes write the scripts on the manuscript. These monks gained great merit for the work and are experts in calligraphy. The monks shared their teaching through the artistic manuscripts and are greatly praised for spreading knowledge and Buddha’s teachings. The person who commissioned the art also gained a lot of praise for sharing the Buddha’s beliefs. The artists of the manuscripts would expect a more promising future life because of their spiritual efforts. The size of the piece is somewhat large. The image width is 9 inches by 4.5 inches. Overall, including the border, the piece is about 13 inches by 4.5 inches, by 7/8inches. 

 

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36451

Comments

  1. David FloresNovember 14, 2020 at 2:07 PM

    This was really cool to read about, I was surprised to learn this piece is 13 inches wide I was expecting this piece to be at least 30 inches wide. From looking at the picture, I also think its cool that is only 13 inches wide which could make it easy to transport. But the most interesting thing about this piece is how old it is and how much detail was put into it. It would be cool to this in real life.

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