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FODING XING TUOLUONI JING, SUTRA | MS 2562 (1)

FODING XING TUOLUONI JING, SUTRA

MS 2562
MS Short Title FODING XING TUOLUONI JING, SUTRA
Text FODING XING TUOLUONI JING, SUTRA
Description Blockprint in Chinese on paper, Beijing, China, 1442, 78 pp., 28x9 cm, 5 columns, (22x9 cm), 9 characters in Chinese book script, 73 half-page, one full-page and one 3-page illustrations.
Binding China, 20th c., concertina-folded format (Jingzhe zhuang), blue paper covers and wrappers.
Context MSS 2543, 2555 and 2563 contain the same sutra
Provenance 1. 1Ekky Chung collection, Indonesia/Beverly Hills, California (-1997); 2. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary Following the frontispiece, there is a striking stele containing the inscription: May the emperor enjoy a life of a million years. Each page was divided into two sections, the illustration and the text. Each illustration corresponds to the text. The sutra declares how Guanyin had requested the Buddha to allow the preaching of this sutra to be spread in this world, and contains descriptions of the miracles generated through the worship. The second half of the text provides superstitious methods and the taboos for women to suppress evil powers during childbirth. According to the colophon the sutra was printed by Puxiu for his deceased son, Desheng. The detailed illustration implies that the devotee was from a higher class, and shows the quality of printing in the capital at the time.
Place of origin China
Dates 1442 AD