Goryeo-era Transcribed Sutra

Embodying Wishes in Gold and Silver Returns

- Goryeo-era Transcribed Manuscript of Vol. 6 of Saddharmapundarika Sutra (The Lotus Sutra) to Be Revealed to the Press in Commemoration of Its Retrieval -

On June 15, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at the National Palace Museum of Korea (located in Jongno-gu, Seoul), the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA; Administrator: Choi Eung-chon) will introduce to the press a Goryeo-era transcribed manuscript of Vol. 6 of Saddharmapundarika Sutra (hereafter the Lotus Sutra). It has recently been returned from Japan through the efforts of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF; Chair: Kim Jung-hee).

※ Saddharmapundarika Sutra (The Lotus Sutra), Vol. 6
Presumably produced in the 14th century / transcribed in gold and silver on indigo paper
Size: (folded) H. 27.6 cm × W. 9.5 cm, (unfolded) W. 1,070 cm, (thickness) 1.65 cm

The volume 6 of the Lotus Sutra is a Goryeo-era manuscript that contains content from the Lotus Sutra transcribed on indigo paper using geumni and eunni (gold and silver paints). It is bound in a jeolcheopbon (concertina) format. The existence of this manuscript became known in June 2022 when its owner expressed an intention to sell it to the OKCHF. With active administrative support from the CHA, the OKCHF successfully completed the repatriation this March after several in-depth investigations and thorough negotiations.

* Geumni•eunni: Pigments made by mixing gold or silver powders with glue
* Jeolcheopbon: An edition of a book bound in a folding screen format

Sagyeong refers to hand-copied Buddhist sutras. Such transcribed sutras were originally produced to propagate Buddhist doctrine, but they came to be considered a means to accumulate merit through sutra transcription. The production of transcribed sutras was popular in Korea, particularly during the Goryeo Dynasty. Goryeo-era transcribed sutras were produced at the state level to wish for the wellbeing of the country and on the individual level to pray for deceased parents’ rebirth in paradise.

The Lotus Sutra centers on the fundamental principle that all beings have the potential to become Buddhas. The sixth volume emphasizes the significance of the transmission of the Lotus Sutra and the practice of making offerings. In particular, the twenty-third chapter “Ancient Accounts of Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva” in the sixth volume relates that the Lotus Sutra is the foremost among the Buddhist sutras. It further explicates that if one transcribes the sutra after hearing it or sponsors another person do it, he or she can accumulate merit, which is so infinite that cannot be fathomed even by the wisdom of the Buddha.

* In Korea, the version commonly circulated was the one (seven volumes and twenty-eight chapters) translated into Chinese by an Indian monk named Kumarajiva (344–413) during the later Qin period (384–417). The retrieved artifact is a transcription of the sixth among the seven volumes of the Kumarajiva version (Chinese translations). It contains the contents of the eighteenth to twenty-third chapters.
* “Ancient Accounts of Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva”: The twenty-third chapter of the Lotus Sutra, it expounds on the previous life of Bodhisattva Bhaisajyaraja, who made an offering by burning his body, and encourages Buddhist practitioners to devote themselves to the pursuit of their faith.

The returned sixth volume of the Lotus Sutra includes a front cover with four lotus flowers painted in gold set vertically inside a rectangle. Vine designs in silver fill the remaining space within the rectangle, and on top of the lotus flowers there is a cartouche (oblong frame) in which the title of the sutra is inscribed.

The illustration that visually summarizes the contents of the Lotus Sutra is depicted over four pages. It consists of the most dramatic scenes from the sixth volume of the Lotus Sutra. In the right portion are Shakyamuni Buddha preaching on the Lotus Sutra and his gwonsok (subordinates). To the left of them is a scene from the twentieth chapter “Sadāparibhūta Bodhisattva.” In it, Sadāparibhūta Bodhisattva says “All of you will become a Buddha” even though angry people are throwing stones at him. Another scene from the twenty-third chapter illustrates Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva making an offering by sacrificing his body in a burning flame. The retrieved manuscript bears characteristics of Goryeo-era transcribed sutras from the late fourteenth century in that the preaching scene in the right section occupies a large portion of the picture plane and the entire composition is filled with line drawings.

* Gwonsok: Those who practice the Buddhist law while following the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
* “Sadāparibhūta Bodhisattva”: The twentieth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, it presents exemplary Buddhist practices through the achievements of Sadāparibhūta Bodhisattva, who never looked down on the people he met despite his many difficulties and told them that they would become Buddhas.

The texts of the sutra are written across 108 pages in the format of six vertical lines per page with seventeen Chinese characters on each line. Borders are drawn in gold, and each character is transcribed in silver with care.

The volume 6 of the Lotus Sutra, which was revealed this time, hasexcellent religious and aesthetic values as a Buddhist cultural heritage, and is expected to be used for various research and exhibitions in the future as it is in good condition even after about 700 years have passed. The CHA and the OKCHF hope that the public viewing of this repatriated cultural heritage will offer an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of transcribed sutras from the Goryeo Dynasty and understand the wishes of people of the time imbedded within them. They plan to continue their robust efforts to locate and retrieve important Korean cultural heritage housed overseas through active administration and the expansion of on-site cooperative networks. The retrieval was undertaken using lottery funds.