Frontispiece of the Chapter on the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra

SOUTH KOREA; Goryeo dynasty

This frontispiece is from a Korean copy of the “Chapter on the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra” from the Avatamsaka Sutra. The chapter records Sudhana’s visit to Samantabhadra who teaches him the Bodhisattva practices, as illustrated in the frontispiece. In 1986, it was listed as National Treasure No. 235.
The frontispiece is bordered by patterned vajras. Vairocana Buddha is on the right, seated on a lotus throne surrounded by Bodhisattvas and disciples. Samantabhadra is on the left, wearing an ornate headdress and sitting on a Sumeru throne. Sudhana is the small figure near the bottom of the image between the thrones, kneeling with his palms joined in reverence. The spiraling lines depicting the fabric of the robes on the knees of Vairocana and Samantabhadra are common on illustrated manuscripts from mid-14th century. Unlike early Korean Buddhist sutras in which black ink was used for transcription on yellow paper, silver and gold lines were used since the end of the Silla dynasty (57 BCE–935 CE).