farfel_n03_054_158

158
Aug. 1983
J. S. Edgren, Carmel
$20.00
Ta po jo ching (Japanese, Daihannya kyo) sutrs.
See #433 dated 1225-1227. (early Kamakura, Karoku - 1225-27
period, Kasuga edition.
Format: 3 columns of 17 characters.
Border: none. fine paper
26.8x5.8cm.
Paper composed of mulberry + gampi fibers + dyed yellow
Printing was 1st used in Japan in connection with Buddhism + the "Hyakumanto [inserted] the million charms of Empress Shotoku (770) [end inserted]
druani" est. a pattern which continued maltered wntil the last decade of the 16th C.
Up to that time no book was printed outside a temple + very few books not
related to Buddhism were produced at all. Buddhist printing before the
late 16th C can be divided into 3 categories according to the location of the
temples: books printed in Nara temples, known as Nara-han; those
printed in the Kyoto temples, known as Kyoraku-han; + those
printed in provincal regions outside those 2 cities which were of much less
importance
The single greatest achievement of Kofuku-ji printing (one of the "6
temples" of Nara) in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), regarded by some as
the greatest achievement in the whole of kamakura period was the
Daihanuya-kyo, or Prajnaparamita-sutra. This huge text was
originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Hsuan-tsang *(659)
[inserted] *the most famous + prolific of Chinese monks who engaged in the translation of the Buddhist canon. [end inserted] and became one of the basic Buddhist texts both in China + Japan.
not illustrated The ecact circumstances surrounding the decision to print this work in
600 markin *roll chapter) are not known, but some idea of when it
was done can be gauged from the dates printed at the ends of maki
34, 35, 46, 53 + 100. These aspan the years 1223 to 27 + since 4 of
the five dates fall within the Karoku gra (1225-27) this ed. of
the Daihannya-kyo is usually known as the Karoku-ban
Diahannya-kyo. It is certainly a superb example of the printer's
art, with the fet black sumi (Indian ink) text printed on paper composed of
mulberry + gampi dibers + dyed yello. Like the Shinjo-ban
ed. of the Hokke-kyo, this printing of the Daihannya-kyo est. a
standard text, which was used throughout the Kamakura period +
beyond. It seems fairly certain that the blocks for the Karaku-ban