Title: Myohorengekyo (The Lotus Sutra), Circa 1676. A Rare Woodblock Printed, Complete 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 Early Edo Period, late 17th century woodblock printed edition of the complete Myohorengekyo, or Lotus Sutra in 8 volumes, and 28 chapters. This edition uses the 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.
Each sutra has been printed on finely produced paper (likely mulberry). The text has also been printed using a very fine ink in a bushy font, and the pastedowns are decorated with speckles of gold.
Accompanying the main text is also a series of kanbun 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.
The text has been printed in a 5-column format, with up to 17 characters per column.
The volumes are bound in blue covers, which have been hand painted and decorated with floral designs.
The volumes come in an early, rickety, wooden storage box. Whether it is the original, contemporary box is difficult to confirm.
Eight volumes in orihon format (28.4 x 9.9 cm), 104, 120, 112, 96, 108, 104, 96, 84 leaves
These volumes are in very good shape, with varying degrees of rubbing and wear to the bindings, heaviest to the first volume. There are minor worm tracks to the upper and low margins intermittently, not impacting text. There is minor staining throughout, and a few minor leaf repairs.