Myōhō rengekyō, kan dai-3 妙法蓮華經巻第三 [妙法蓮華経巻第三]

Translator: Kumārajīva, 4th-5th century. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [printed at Nara or Kyōto, early Kamakura period, c. end of 12th century or beginning of 13th] . No colophon or dated shikigo. Description: 1 kan, 1 roll (kansubon 巻子本) in a wooden box. Roll is made up of 24 sheets, each 51.5 cm. long, 27.2 cm. in height. Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 21.5 cm., 2 cm. between vertical rules. Gold borders above and below text; gold rules between columns. Kanbun text, with manuscript kutōten added in red. Rounded kaisho script. 25 lines to sheet, 17 characters to line. Original protective end cover, ornamented on front and back with squares, strips and fragments of silver and gold foil (金銀切箔). No title slip or gedai. Modern roller with crystal ends. Text paper, white ganpi of high quality, lightly sprinkled with mica dust. Edition: An ornamented sutra (sōshokugyō 装飾経) from an edition not listed by Kabutogi Shōkō in Hokke hangyō no kenkyū 法華版経の研究, nor in any other standard work on Buddhist printing. The style of script, elegant and well spaced, never angular or ponderous, is characteristically Japanese, in marked contrast to other Kamakura editions of this sutra. Another roll from the same edition is in the BL collection (see Or.64.b.34). Contents: The third volume (巻第三) of the Saddharma-puṇḍarīka-sūtra in Chinese translation. Japanese title: Myōhō rengekyō or Hokekyō 法華經. This volume comprises three sections (hon or bon 品) : no. 5, Yakusōyubon 藥草喩品; no. 6, Juki-hon 授記品; and no. 7, Kejōyubon 化城喩品.

Unrestricted

Acquired from Kōbunsō, 24 July 1977.

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

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 10, pp. 356-67; Gyokueidō kosho mokuroku 玉英堂古書目録, no. 119, p. 7; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 8 and pl. 4 (colour).