Mogao Caves: Frontispiece and Manuscript of the Lotus Sutra - Universal Gateway Chapter

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Western Xia period

This illustrated sutra manuscript was discovered in 1959 in a small pagoda on the Dangquan River near the Mogao Caves. The “Universal Gateway Chapter” of the Lotus Sutra is arranged in 256 lines of Tangut script on 51 folded manuscript pages. The sutra is wrapped in colored silk with an ancient coin from between 1078 and 1085 tied to the end. Water-Moon Avalokitesvara is printed across the two pages of the frontispiece. The Bodhisattva’s left hand rests on the ground and the right hand holds prayer beads. Detailed waves fill the background. In the left corners, an apsara and a male figure hold offerings. The text is accompanied by 54 illustrations of Avalokitesvara rescuing sentient beings from danger. A total of 166 figures are shown. This rare print is one of the oldest illustrated sutras found in China, and is an important resource in the study of Chinese woodblock printing.