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recto overall
Unidentified Sutra known as the "Kiyohirakyô"
recto overall
recto overall

Unidentified Sutra known as the "Kiyohirakyô"

Series TitleCollection of old sutra fragments (Ko shakyo dankan shû)
CultureJapanese
Date12th century
MediumHandscroll fragment mounted as an album leaf; alternating lines of gold and silver ink on indigo-dyed paper
DimensionsImage: 10 1/8 × 20 3/8 inches (25.72 × 51.75 cm)
Mount: 13 × 23 1/16 inches (33.02 × 58.58 cm)
Credit LineGift of John M. Crawford Jr.
Object numberF75-18/9
On View
Not on view
Collections
Gallery Label

Handwritten copies of sutras, sacred scriptures of Buddhism, were essential to promoting the faith. All temples required copies for use in ritual recitation. The text is read from top to bottom, right to left. Since the 1500s, the beauty of scribes' calligraphy came to be prized by collectors. Many sutras were cut up like this fragment and pasted into albums.

Sutras are generally written in regular script Chinese characters. This is the most legible of all Chinese calligraphic scripts-equivalent to clear printed lettering in the Roman alphabet.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


overall
Kamakura period (1185-1333)
F75-18/19
overall
Heian period (794-1185)
F75-18/22