Currently not on view
Divisions of Vowed Morality Sutra (J: Konponsetsu issai ubu binya; Skt: Mūlasarvāstivada nikaya vinaya sūtra), from Jingoji Temple ,
ca. 1150
Anonymous
Japanese
Late Heian period, 794–1185
y1959-121
In Buddhist communities in East Asia, the act of transcribing sutras is believed to generate merit for the copyist as well as for the sponsor and other living creatures. Transcribing sets of the Issaikyō (Sanskrit: Tripitaka)—the complete collection of Buddhist scriptures that numbers some four or five thousand volumes—was thus considered to bring great benefit. In the premodern era, numerous sets of the Issaikyō were made in Japan, China, and Korea and were commissioned by emperors through mass donations from devout commoners. This scroll is a fragment of the Issaikyō originally owned by Jingōji temple in Kyoto and has been identified as the Konponsetsu-issaibu-binaya, volume 7, book, 3, chapter 2. The text, consisting of information about clerical codes in India, is written in gold dust on indigo-dyed paper, with lines of silver. The frontispiece depicts the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, giving a sermon at the foot of Vulture Peak (located today in Rajgir, Bihar, India), a sacred site where the Buddha gave many of his lectures.
Information
Title
Divisions of Vowed Morality Sutra (J: Konponsetsu issai ubu binya; Skt: Mūlasarvāstivada nikaya vinaya sūtra), from Jingoji Temple
Dates
ca. 1150
Maker
Medium
Handscroll; gold and silver paste on indigo paper
Dimensions
25.9 x 885.0 cm. (10 3/16 x 348 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Caroline G. Mather Fund
Object Number
y1959-121
Place Made
Asia, Japan
Marks/Labels/Seals
Seal of monastery in red at bottom of second column of text
Description
A “decorated sutra” (soshoku-gyō 裝飾經) with text written in gold or silver paste on colored paper and preceded with a painted frontispiece with floral designs on the reverse. The scroll comes from the Jingoji Temple (Jingoji 神護寺) where the imperial family had dedicated 2,317 scrolls in 1141. In this scroll, the painted frontispiece shows the Buddha preaching at Vulture Peak; the text follows. The format of painted frontispece followed by text follows Tang dyansty Chinese models, as does the arrangement, in most cases, of having 17 characters in columns defined by silver lines, which resembles sutras found at Dunhuang. The calligraphy is in a standard-script style similar to Tang sutras, and it also uses archaic character forms, such as erh 尒 (爾) and e (悪), that were used in Tang sutras. Both the painting and text are executed in gold and silver paste on indigo paper. The faceted metal and crystal knobs match those on other sutra scrolls from the Jingoji Temple.
Identified as Komponsetsu issai ubu binaya根本說一切有部毘奈耶。卷第七, 斷人命學處第三之二 (http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/T23n1442_007 ), is a fragment of the Issaikyo (Skt: Tripitaka) originally owned by the Jingoji temple, Kyoto.
Identified as Komponsetsu issai ubu binaya根本說一切有部毘奈耶。卷第七, 斷人命學處第三之二 (http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/T23n1442_007 ), is a fragment of the Issaikyo (Skt: Tripitaka) originally owned by the Jingoji temple, Kyoto.
Culture
Period
Materials
Subject
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"Recent acquisitions", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 20, no. 1 (1961): p. 24-27.
, p. 26 - Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 288 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 340
