DAOXUAN

MS 2541
MS Short Title DAOXUAN
Text DAOXUAN: JI GUJIN FODAO LUNHENG SHILU, SUTRA. PREFACE AND CHAPTER 1, A TREATISE DISCUSSING THE DOMINATING RELIGIONS SUCH AS BUDDHISM, DAOISM AND CONFUCIANISM IN CHINA
Description Blockprint in Chinese on thick, brownish mulberry paper, Kaiyuan temple, Fuzhou city, China, Song dynasty, 1112-1151, 88 pp., folded format (jingzhe zhuang), 30x11 cm, 6 columns, (24x11 cm), 17 characters in Chinese book script.
Binding Japan, 13th c.?, folded binding, pink paper cover.
Provenance 1. Kaiyuan temple, Fozhou (1112-1151); 2. Temple? Japan (13th c.); 3. Ekky Chung collection, Indonesia/Beverly Hills, California (-1997); 4. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary Dao Xuan(596-667), a Tang dynasty monk. The carver's name Xu can be seen in the banxi at the first page. The printing of Kaiyuan Tripitaka was directed by abbot Benming in the 2nd year of Zhenghe reign in the Northern Song dynasty. 

At the same time, the Dongchan Tripitaka was also in production by the rival temple Dongchan si in Fuzhou. The Kaiyuan tripitaka is slightly smaller than the Dongchan edition, and no linguistic interpretation was added after each sutra. The mixture of Dongchan and Kaiyuan Tripitaka was exported to Japan from the 12th c. Japanese scholars regarded them as one edition. In the early 20th c. the sutras from these two tripitakas were re-identified correctly. 

This volume is probably from the mixed Japanese collections.
Place of origin China
Dates 1112-1151