Title: Myohorengekyo (The Lotus Sutra), Circa 1250-1333. A Rare Woodblock Printed, Complete Kasuga Ban Edition of the Lotus Sutra, With Accompanying Kanbun Kundoku to translate Literary Chinese into Japanese. Beautifully Produced on Mulberry Paper Treated with Mica Dust, in Eight Volumes
Author: Chinese Translation by Monk Kumarajiva
Condition: Very Good
An extremely rare, Mid to Late Kamakura Period, 13th to mid 14th century woodblock printed edition of the complete Myohorengekyo, or Lotus Sutra in 8 volumes, and 28 chapters. This is a Kasuga-ban utilizing the great translation of the Qin Dynasty Chinese Monk Kumarajiva.
Arguably one of the most influential and revered Buddhist Mahāyāna sutras, it is the primary scripture upon which the Tiantai school of Buddhism and all of its successors (including the Japanese Tendai and Nichiren, Korean Cheontae, and Vietnamese Thiên Thai schools) were established. It also highly influenced the Zen School of Buddhism. It has been often viewed in Eastern Asia as containing the final comprehensive teachings of the Shakyamuni Buddha, with the two core teachings being the doctrine of the One Vehicle, and the idea that the lifespan of the Buddha is immeasurable, and that due to that, he never truly passed onto Nirvana but still teaches to this day in Dharma.
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.
Several Kasuga editions of the Lotus sutra, including this one, were produced, though the oldest known Kasuga edition of the Lotus Sutra is dated Karoku 1 (1225).
Each sutra has been printed on luxuriously produced paper (likely mulberry), like most Kasuga editions, and have also been treated with mica dust. The text has been printed using a very fine ink in a bushy font, which would be expected for Kasuga-ban imprints of sutras.
Accompanying the main text is also a series of kundoku, which is a Japanese method of reading, annotating and translating literary Chinese, and in this case the kanji. Most likely, it served as a reading aid for Buddhist devotees and practitioners who were unable to or struggled to reach kanji.
A later owner has added notes and corrections in red ink to the Kanbun text.
The text has been printed in a 5-column format, with up to 17 characters per column.
The volumes have been beautifully bound in covers decorated with golden brocade fabric, and the pastedowns decorated with speckles of gold.
On provenance, there is sadly no temple stamp/seal, or even an inscription of a monk, or donation signature from a Buddhist follower.
Eight volumes in orihon format (26.9 x 19.9 cm), 104, 120, 112, 98, 108, 104, 96, 84 leaves
These volumes are in very good shape, with some rubbing and wear to the bindings, with some of the brocade fabric gone in patches. There is a bit of worming to a few covers. One leaf in the first volume has split halfway down the middle but is holding. The third volume text block has split cleanly at the final quarter. There is some worming throughout all eight volumes, mainly to the margins, but heavier to the seventh volumes, with some text affected. There are a few, small repairs. There is minor, scattered soiling and ink staining throughout.