Title: Daihannyaharamita-kyo (The Greater Wisdom of Perfection Sutra Volume 45), Circa 1050-1185. A Rare Heian Period Manuscript Sutra
Author: Translation of Xuánzàng
Condition: Good
A Late Heian Period, mid 11th to late 12th century manuscript edition of the Daihannyaharamita-kyo or Da bore Boluomi Duo Yan Biao Di, also known as the Great Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra or Mahaprajnaparamita, being the 45th fascicle of the original 600, taken from the first collection of Prajñāpāramitā verses. This example has been written in the fashion of the printed Kasuga-Ban imprints, 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.
The sutra has been written on strong mulberry paper and using a fine ink in a bold, blocky font, which does compare favorably to several Heian Period Sutras digitized on the KNM Collection Database (Objects BK97, BK145, BK146).
The sutra has been written in a five-column format, with up to 17 characters per column.
One manuscript in orihon format (27 x 9.2 cm), 100 leaves
This manuscript is in good shape, with minor wear and pinprick worming to the covers. There are some marginal worm tracks throughout, some being repaired, with minor character loss. There are some old repairs to the rear.