Title: Daihannyaharamita-kyo (The Great Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra Volumes 151 and 196). Circa 1200-1333. Two Kamakura Period, Kasuga-Ban Fascicles of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, with Proofreading Inscriptions of the Oei Era
Author: Formerly owned by Enpuku Zenji Temple, in Kosaka County, Bitchu; Translation of Xuánzàng
Condition: Very Good
An extremely rare, Kamakura Period, 13th to mid 14th century woodblock printed edition of the Daihannyaharamita-kyo or Da bore Boluomi Duo Yan Biao Di, also known as the Great Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras or Mahaprajnaparamita, being the 151st and 196th fascicles of the original 600, taken from the first collection of Prajñāpāramitā verses. This is a Kasuga-ban edition utilizing the Xuánzàng Prajñāpāramitā Library translation.
Translated as the Great Perfection of Wisdom, it is derived from the collection of Chinese scholar and translator Xuánzàng, who possessed a massive Sanskrit collection of Prajñāpāramitā sutras, which he later returned to China with, and later condensed into 600 scrolls, containing 5 million Chinese characters.
The collection comprises of 16 Prajñāpāramitā texts, among which includes the Diamond sutra, being scroll number 577.
Each sutra has been printed on strong mulberry paper and printed using a very fine ink in a bushy font, which would be expected for most Kasuga and Karoko-ban editions of the Kamkura and Muromachi Period.
At the end of fascicle 196, there is a later colophon stating that it was proofread on August 22nd, 1398, the Fifth Year of the Oei Era. It was also formerly owned by Enpuku Zenji Temple, located in Kosaka County, Bitchu.
A Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from Kucha, Kumarajiva is one of the greatest (if not the greatest), translators of Chinese Buddhism, with his translations continuing to see usage even today, and throughout much of Japanese Buddhist sutras and imprints.
Kasuga-ban initially refers to the books published by Kofukuji Temple in Nara since around the end of the Heian period. The term is commonly due to the kanki (printed colophon) often declaring faith in the god of Kasuga, the guardian deity of the Hosso sect. Kasuga-ban books mainly consist of sutras, doctrines and their commentaries related to the Hosso sect, though it is still somewhat unclear when exactly the first Kasuga editions were printed.
The text has been printed in a 5-column format, with up to 17 characters per column.
Both volumes have been enclosed in a case for preservation.
Two volumes in orihon format (26.7 x 11.5 cm), 74, 76 leaves
These volumes are in very good shape, with minor rubbing and wear to the bindings. There is some damp staining to fascicle 151, heaviest to the upper and lower margins, and the endpapers. A couple dozen leaves to the upper margins have minor worm tracks, not impacting text. Fascicle 196 has minor staining throughout and minor worm tracks to the upper margins of the few leaves. The lower margins of the last 20 leaves have been gnawed by old rodent damage, not impacting the text. Some leaves have repaired splits, though a few repairs have worn off.