Daihōkōbutsu kegongyō, kan dai-38 大方廣佛華嚴經巻第三十八 [大方広仏華厳経巻第三十八]

Variant title: Kegongyō 華嚴經 [華厳経]. Translator: Buddhabhadra, 4th-5th century. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Nanbokuchō period, 1333-92 ?] . No reliable colophon. The blockprinted kanki at end of roll, dated Nin'an 2 (1167), is spurious, having been added in late-Edo or early Meiji period. This kanki reads: 仁安二年四月日 ／ 金剛佛子重盛書寫. Description: 1 kan, 1 roll (巻子本) in a box. The roll is made up of 12 sheets, each measuring 39-39.5 cm. in length and 28 cm. in height. Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 23-23.5 cm. No vertical rules between columns. Horizontal borders above and below text, now green in colour, were almost certainly drawn originally in gold paint containing a large admixture of copper, which became green through oxidation. These borders probably date from the time of printing or soon after. Kanbun text without kunten or reading marks. 22 lines to sheet, 17 characters to line. Renewed end cover of ganpi paper, ornamented with gold kirihaku inside and out. No title slip or gedai. Title from naidai. Hinoki wood roller, not original. Text paper: kōzo. Edition: One undated kan (maki 38, according to bidai, but this is not confirmed at beginning of roll), from an unidentified edition of Nanbokuchō period. Reference works on early Buddhist printing present no clear picture of the earliest printing of this sutra, although several commentaries on it and related works were published during the Kamakura period. Surviving editions of the main text begin to appear, with printed dates, only from Genkō 3 元亨三年 onwards. A provincial edition was printed at the Fusaiji 普濟寺 monastery in Musashi 武藏 province in Ōan 7 応安七年 (1374). No firm date can be assigned to the present copy. It was probably modelled on a Chinese Song exemplar and was originally in orihon form. It may be an impression printed in late-Nanbokuchō or early-Muromachi period, from blocks engraved earlier in Nanbokuchō (c. 1340-80 ?). The names of two block-cutters, Chōsan 朝三 and Dōni 道二, are printed in various places throughout the roll. Contents: One section (apparently maki 38) of the Kegongyō (Skt. Avataṃsaka-sūtra), translated into Chinese in 60 fascicles by Buddhabhadra in 418-20. This sutra describes the characteristics of the Buddha's enlightenment and sets forth the practices of a bodhisattva. Basic scripture of the Kegon sect.

Unrestricted

Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). B. Buddhist works 仏書 5. Kegon sect 華厳宗

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 7, p. 466; Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, p. 123; Nara kangyōshi 寧楽刊経史, pp. 198-9, 257; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 2, pp. 124, 128; Kokuritsu kokkai toshokan shozō kichōsho kaidai 国立国会図書館所蔵貴重書解題, vol. 1, pp. 13-4; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 46.