Translator: Xuanzang (唐) 玄奘 (Japanese: Genjō), Chinese monk, 602-64. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Nanbokuchō period, c. 1380] . Manuscript okugaki on last fold, preceding closing title, is dated Eitoku 3 (1383) and reads: 永徳癸亥六月二十八日 願主左衛門二郎. Description: 1 kan (maki 179), 1 jō 帖. 26.1 x 9.5 cm. (each half-fold). Orihon. Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 20.5-20.8 cm. Thick yellow paper of mixed ganpi and kōzo. Single-line borders above and below text, and vertical rules between lines of text, all in silver paint. Kanbun text without reading marks. 5 lines to single fold, 17 characters to line. Ornamented covers of early date, comprising inner front cover and back cover extended to wrap round and overlap in front. The whole decorated with cloud bands in silver paint, overlaid with gold and silver cut foil and a sprinkling of gold and silver dust. Edge of cover reinforced with a bamboo splint. Manuscript gedai on outer cover: 大般若波羅蜜多經 巻第一百七十九. Printed naidai identical. Edition: The edition to which this single volume belongs has not been precisely identified. An edition of this sutra was produced at the Kōfukuji, Nara, each of the 600 kan having the same woodcut frontispiece and a handwritten kanki dated Eitoku 3, 1383. It is probable that an old Kasuga-ban edition was reprinted from re-cut blocks in the Nanbokuchō period and published with an added frontispiece, silver rules between lines, and covers ornamented with silver and gold, to meet the contemporary taste for de-luxe sōshokugyō 装飾経. Contents: Three volumes from an edition of the Chinese translation of Mahāprajñā-pāramitā-sūtra, the 'Perfection of Wisdom in 600 chapters', first printed in Japan in its entirety in the Jōō-Karoku periods, 1222-27.
Daihannya haramittakyō, kan 179 大般若波羅蜜多經巻第百七十九 [大般若波羅蜜多経巻第百七十九]
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- ReferenceGB 59 Or.64.b.16
- Dates of Creationc 1380
- Language of MaterialJapanese
- Physical Description1 volume Condition: Minor worm damage, not yet repaired, otherwise very good. Impression: Little evidence of wear in blocks, though the script with its thick, bold strokes makes it difficult to assess quality of impression. Illustrations: A large woodcut frontispiece, contemporary with the printed text, depicts the monk Xuanzang, translator of this sutra, in audience with the Buddha, surrounded by a host of attendant deities. This sumizuri illustration extends over five half-folds of the book and measures 20 x 55.3 cm. Seals of ownership: Red oblong seal, Obama-shi zōsho 小汀氏藏書 (library of Obama Toshie) on last fold of book. Manuscript notes: Note following naidai at head of text: 池奧常住也, indicating that this volume formerly belonged to the Daijōji 大乘寺 monastery in Tajima 但馬 province (now Hyōgo-ken).
Scope and Content
Access Information
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Kōbunsō, 15 March 1974.
Other Finding Aids
Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). B. Buddhist works 仏書 2. Basic mahayana scriptures 主要大乗経典
Bibliography
Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 7, pp. 431-3; Ryūmon bunko zenpon shomokuq, 竜門文庫善本書目, pp. 118-9; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 102; Ishii Sekisuiken bunko zenpon shomoku 石井積翠軒文庫善本書目, p. 127; Catalogue of Japanese illustrated books and manuscripts in the Spencer Collection of the New York Public Library, p. 73; Nihon kohanga shūsei 日本古版画集成, text vol., pp. 163-5, plates vol. 2, pl. 11 (of the six Daihannya-kyō editions with frontispieces described in Nihon kohanga shūsei, only the second (其二), illustrated in pl. 11, corresponds exactly with the BL copy. Unfortunately, its location is not stated).Igunma, Jana and San San May (eds.): Buddhism. Origins, traditions and contemporary life. London: British Library, 2019, p.16.