Continental Origins and Culture of Copying:
An Examination of the Prototypes and Textualized
Community of the Japanese Jeweled-StËpa Mandalas
Halle Elizabeth O’Neal

Introduction

R

adiant gold and traces of oxidized silver contrast dramaticallyagainst a deep blue background in the Japanese jeweled-stËpa
mandalas (Kinji hØtØ mandara 金字宝塔曼荼羅) of the twelfth andthirteenth centuries. Tall and narrow, the format complements the
structure of the central, golden stËpa. Rooted in the earthly realm, yetexisting in an otherworldly space, the stËpa is surrounded by graphic
vignettes adapted from the tales of the sËtras. Rather than straight andmeasured architectural lines, diminutive sËtra characters build and fill
the body of the stËpa. Painstakingly constructed from one of two
popular and potent scriptures, the Lotus SËtra1 or the Golden LightSËtra,2 each mandala set produces a particular and complete scripture in
the form of textual reliquaries. Examples of jeweled-stËpa mandalas arefew. Surviving sets exist from ChËsonji 中尊寺 in Hiraizumi, Danzan
Shrine 談山神社 in Nara prefecture, and RyËhonji 立本寺 in Kyoto.
ChËsonji’s set of ten mandalas are visual translations of the GoldenLight SËtra and were likely commissioned around 1170 by Fujiwara
Hidehira 藤原秀衡(1122–1187). The Danzan Shrine version translates the
beloved Lotus SËtra into the jeweled-stËpa mandala format, but with theaddition of two bracketing scriptures—the Innumerable MeaningsSËtra3 as the prologue and SËtra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva
Universal Worthy4 as the epilogue—to form a set of ten mandalas datingfrom the twelfth century. RyËhonji’s jeweled-stËpa mandalas of theearly thirteenth century also capture the twenty-eight chapters of the
Lotus SËtra, both textually and narratively, in eight mandalas.
In service of a larger research project analyzing the jeweled-stËpa
mandalas themselves, this talk situates the paintings within their histori­
cal and religious context through an exploration of some of the practicalmatters concerning the mandalas, such as issues of stylistic origins andthe culture of copying at the time of their production.5 I draw on thecontinental origins as well as the Japanese circumstances that produced112continental origins and culture of copying

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the rare jeweled-stËpa mandalas to reveal that rather than paintings thatemerged sui generis for a brief time in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, a closer look at the continent and contemporary Japanese
copying practices reveals the mandalas as situated in a system of sËtra
copying with some precedence. Therefore, the paper begins with an
examination of the continental prototypes, followed by an exploration of
the culture of sËtra transcription of the eleventh through thirteenth
centuries, which exposes the trend toward innovative and intensive
copying practices. In this way, I locate the continental source of thisunusual style of transcription as well as provide a contextual study ofsignificant trends in sËtra copying around the time of the mandalas’ first
production in Japan, revealing that, although highly original, thejeweled-stËpa mandalas are nevertheless intimately associated with thebroader system of eleventh- through thirteenth-centuries’ sËtra transcrip­
tion.

Continental Prototypes
Though novel at the time of their first production in twelfth- andthirteenth-century Japan, a proto-version of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas
existed in China as early as the tenth century. The British Museum
houses three such examples, each a small, black inked stËpa built of
characters from the concise Heart SËtra.6 A closer look at the oldest
example7 from the tenth century reveals the complex pattern of character
arrangement building the wenzi ta 文字塔 or textual stËpa. The title of thesËtra crowns the stËpa like a canopy: the floating center line begins withthe characters foshuo 佛説 (sermon of the Buddha), while the rest of thetitle is split into two lines. The dangling line to the right of the stËpa
continues with bore boluo 般若波羅 and the left side line concludes thetitle with miduo xinjing 蜜多心経, together forming Bore boluomiduo
xinjing 般若波羅蜜多心経 (Heart SËtra). The sËtra begins its seemingly
erratic and meandering course with the first character of the scripture,guan 觀 (meditative insight), located to the center right of the top line of
the foundation. From there the sËtra continues in a straight, diagonalline down to the left-most character, shen 深 (profound), on the bottom
foundational line. Zigzags, abrupt directional switches, and paths thatcrisscross over themselves construct the rest of the visual puzzle.
Tracing the outwardly haphazard assembly of sacred characters reveals
a complex pattern of diamonds and triangles. Connecting the dots as it
were, even with the assistance of faint red lines occasionally exposing
the trail, is not an easy task. An intimate knowledge of the scripture

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would be necessary, and given the brevity of the Heart SËtra, complete
memorization would have been common. But even with the scriptureinternalized, the path is elusive. Indeed, it is not until well past the
halfway point of the sËtra that the appearance of a random collage ofcharacters arranged without meaning or order is broken and the interiororder, once assumed structure-less, is revealed to be a patterned systemof semantically connected lines of text symmetrical along the verticalaxis.8 This process would thus require that the puzzle be carefully
devised beforehand.
As the earliest example of the textual stËpa format, this tenth-century
manifestation is markedly different from the Japanese versions analyzed
in this project. In terms of the character configuration, whereas the textof the Japanese jeweled-stËpa mandalas continues in an easily observ­
able order as it constructs the stËpa, the order of the characters in the
proto-versions is intentionally complicated. The puzzle-solving aspectof the textual stËpa was thus largely abandoned before arriving in Japan.
Additionally, while the tenth-century textual stËpa did require careful
pre-planning before its execution, it is hardly on the scale of theelaborate sets commissioned in medieval Japan. The Japanese mandalastranscribe long sËtras resulting in sets composed of eight to ten large
scrolls. The tenth-century Chinese versions are made of less expensive
materials such as paper and black ink, while the Japanese mandalas use
costly resources like large and numerous sheets of dyed blue paper andinks of gold and silver. In light of these fundamental differences, I do
not believe that the earliest examples of the textual stËpa format were
the direct model for the later Japanese mandalas. The textual stËpa
developed further on the continent—and likely in Korea, though noearly examples remain—before arriving in Japan, where the idea wasgreatly transformed into expensive and involved icons of elaborate
visual beauty and pious intent.
Later on, the imperial records of the Qianlong Emperor 乾隆帝 (1711–
99) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) entitled, Pearl Forest in the SecretHall, 9 document fifty-one textual stËpas composed from the Songdynasty (960–1279) to the Qing.10 These crucial records offer insights
into the mysterious production of these rather rare and intricately com­posed images; sadly, such a resource is unavailable for the Japanesemandalas studied here. The brief entries give vital information such as
the copyist (including the name when possible), the dynastic date, thechosen sËtra, and the number of scrolls produced. From this, it isrevealed that while not popularly pursued, persons of elevated rank suchas literati and even emperors created textual stËpas. The most commonlycontinental origins and culture of copying

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selected sËtras are the Diamond SËtra11 with fifteen scrolls and the LotusSËtra with nine scrolls; although the Heart SËtra is only selected twice,an enthusiastic Manchu emperor, Shengzu Ren huangdi 聖祖仁皇帝(1654–1722), also known as the Kangxi Emperor 康熙帝, configured thescripture into a textual stËpa fifteen times. Other scriptures used are theAmida SËtra12 with three scrolls, the Scripture of the Original Vows of
the Medicine Master TathØgata of Lapis Light otherwise known as the
Medicine Buddha SËtra13 with three scrolls, and the Golden Light SËtra
with one scroll. As mentioned above, the entries are brief in the Pearl
Forest in the Secret Hall, providing valuable but scant information.
However, as best as can be ascertained given the brevity of the passages,
seventeen of the textual stËpas recorded in the Qing text are now housedin Taibei’s National Palace Museum.14
The only Korean example I am aware of is in the collection of TØji 東
寺 in Kyoto.15 And while the dating and precise provenance of the textualstËpa is uncertain, by calculating the reign year mentioned in the vow(願文 gammon) located at the very bottom of the scroll, the date of 1369
is believed to be the corresponding year.16 If so, this places it nearly two
centuries beyond the earliest examples of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas ofJapan. However, it seems likely that other examples simply have notsurvived or are currently unknown. Precisely how the painting came to
be in the collection of TØji is also unclear. TØbØki 東宝記, the historical
record of TØji from its founding to the Muromachi period (1333–1573),
documents its place in the collection by the fourteenth century with abrief citation recording the existence of an image of a stËpa made fromthe text of the Lotus SËtra of Korean provenance.17
In contrast to the Japanese versions which portion out the sËtra
transcription into the conventional volume divisions thus making large
sets of eight or ten scrolls, this seven-story Korean stËpa contains theentire Lotus SËtra.18 And rather than paper, silk dyed a deep blue is used.
Bright, golden characters shine against the blue background. The area
enclosing the textual reliquary is gracefully decorated with bosatsu,
flying paradisiacal deities (飛天 Jpn. hiten, Ch. feitian; Skt. apsarases),
worshipers (perhaps portraits of the donors), and flowers that rain downfrom heaven, all rendered using fine, gold line. On the first floor two
identical Buddhas sit side-by-side, their iconography indicative ofÍåkyamuni and PrabhËtaratna (多宝 Jpn. TahØ, Ch. Duobao). On eachsuccessive story, a Buddha is depicted emanating rays of light. At thebottom of the painting, a vow is written and flanked by standing, haloed
figures; unfortunately, the text of the inscription has sustained damage
over the years, making it difficult to read. But importantly, a passage

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praising the combinatory practice marrying sËtra and stËpa is legible; itsays that if an image of a stËpa is made with sËtra text, happiness andgreat merit will be returned to the practitioner. 19 This rare direct
explanation of the patron’s ambition in commissioning the textual stËpa
illuminates a fourteenth-century understanding of the vast rewards
engendered by the imbrications of sËtra and stËpa.20 Conspicuously
absent from the textual stËpas of China and Korea are the narrative
vignettes (経意絵 kyØie) that prominently surround the twelfth- andthirteenth-century Japanese mandalas. The narrative vignettes seem tobe a distinctly Japanese addition but not a consistent feature after the
production of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas of this study, since many later
Japanese textual stËpas lack vignettes. It appears that the Japanesemethod of textual stËpas enclosed by sËtra pictorializations was neveradopted in China and Korea. Indeed this stark difference leads Miya
Tsugio 宮次男 to assert that simply referring to the jeweled-stËpa
mandalas as mojitØ 文字塔 or textual stËpas is too limiting. Because of
the inclusion of graphically-narrativized sËtra passages rendered in astyle similar to that of transformation tableaux, Miya concludes thatmuch like the broad application of “mandara” to these paintings, thetitle should also be applied in the case of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas
because to simply classify them as textual stËpas would be to neglect the
pictorializations of the sËtra.21
At this point, it is impossible to know the precise origin ordevelopmental path of the jeweled-stËpa mandala format. From what
can be gathered from the simplified proto-versions discussed above, thetextual stËpa style originally possessed strong indications of a visualpuzzle for the pious and erudite. From the imperial records, it is clearthat learned persons, such as literati and monks, and even emperors
copied the scriptures into the form of a stËpa, demonstrating that thiscurious style was known and practiced by the educated and elite. But
given that the very process of creating a textual stËpa requires the
copyist to be literate, intimately familiar with the scriptures, and inpossession of the texts, the association of the textual stËpa with thehighly ranked levels of society comes as little surprise. This sameconnection with the upper echelons continues in the Japanese twelfthand thirteenth-centuries’ jeweled-stËpa mandalas, the ChËsonji set beinga particularly applicable case. The difference is that their immense scaleand sumptuous artistry necessitates a transfer of brush from elites toprofessional copyists and artists.

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Culture of Copying
The jeweled-stËpa mandalas, although the product of an elaborate
commission requiring great skill, time, and resources, were nonethelessin both function and intention sËtra transcription projects. The mandalas
served no other ritualistic function, were likely never the main icon (本尊Jpn. honzon, Ch. benzun) of veneration, and indeed were probably only
displayed on rare circumstances. However, despite this lack of function
beyond the ritual of transcription and the intention of garnering theconsequent merit, the mandalas like many other copying projects wereembedded in a system of meaning where the semiotic expression ofsacred word carried its own contextually specific connotations and thevisual combinations of text and image manifested different and fascinat­
ing Buddhist philosophies. I discuss here the culture of copying during
the eleventh through thirteenth centuries—a time of burgeoning andtremendous innovation in sËtra transcription—so as to place themandalas amongst other inventive projects in a time that trended towardfinding the more extreme and extraordinary forms of sËtra copying.

Artistic Innovation in Decorated Sūtras (装飾経 sōshokukyō)
The decorated sËtras of the late tenth through thirteenth centuries
experienced a dramatic increase from the Nara period (710–794) not
only in quantity but also in the variegated manners of production andvisual formatting. Examples like the twelfth-century KunØjikyØ 久能寺経and Heike nØkyØ 平家納経, dated 1164, offer tantalizing glimpses of theextravagant projects of this time. Slivered, squared, and sprinkled goldand silver generously decorate the frontispieces and background of theKunØjikyØ sacred transcription. Washes of gold and silver lend thescrolls a hazy softness. The preponderance of precious materials
ornamenting the KunØjikyØ reveals its royal associations, for the scrolls
are the product of Emperor Toba 鳥羽天皇 (1103–56), Empress Dowager
Taikenmon’in 待賢門院 (1101–45), Empress Bifukumon’in 美福門院
(1117–60), and other aristocrats, and were dedicated in the twelfth
month of 1141.22 Also lavish are the ipponkyØ of the Heike nØkyØ.
Commissioned in 1164 by Taira no Kiyomori 平清盛 (1118–81) for
dedication at Itsukushima Shrine 厳島神社 on Miyajima, this elaborate
project boasts thirty-three scrolls transcribing multiple sËtras. 23
Kiyomori, writing the petition scroll with his own brush, enlisted thirtytwo members of his family and important retainers to compose a scroll
each, resulting in one of the most celebrated sËtra transcription

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projects.24 Packed with opulent decoration, the Heike nØkyØ layers gold
upon gold with infusions of silver and bright colors. While these two
sets are among the finest of their kind, numerous other examples ofscrolls of vibrant colors paired with precious materials survive.25
Compared with these scriptures, most decorative sËtra copies were
not quite as sumptuous and elaborate, although they were radiant intheir own right. The conventional design took the form of deep indigo
dyed paper with gold and/or silver ink for the transcription of the sËtra,a format known as konshi kinginji kyØ 紺紙金銀字経 (blue paper, gold andsilver script sËtra), which was often accompanied by frontispiece paint­
ings (見返絵 mikaeshie). This particular type of decorative transcription
gained popularity by the tenth century and continued undiminishedthroughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. One of the morecelebrated blue-and-gold projects is surely the early eleventh-century
Lotus SËtra copy at Enryakuji 延暦寺. This eight-volume set offers a rareview of an early transcription whose lines of scripture are composed ofalternating gold and silver. Because of the great popularity and highregard of this format, many examples remain from this time of abundanthand-copied scriptures.26 Of course, decorative paper was not used
exclusively for sËtra transcriptions but often served as the ground forsuch productions as ornamental collections of literary tales (物語monogatari) and poetry (和歌 waka).27
The jeweled-stËpa mandalas are rare in their particular design but notnecessarily in their expression of inventiveness because the time sur­rounding their production saw great momentum in innovative sËtra art.
As shown above, trends toward the decorative in sËtra transcription had
a firm hold by the tenth century. By the eleventh century, copying saw aburst of innovation in text and image collaboration and a few examples
are discussed here in order to establish the fashions in copying during
the eleventh through thirteenth centuries that reveal the mandalas as an
iteration of a transcription system trending toward more and moreinventive designs and at times extremely intensive practices. Rather thanretain the structural chasm between graphic illustration and scriptural
text of conventional sËtra copies, word and picture began to mingle, as
evident in the Ichiji butsu hokekyØ (one character, Buddha Lotus SËtra
scroll; 一字仏法華経) at ZentsËji 善通寺 in Kagawa prefecture.28 In thisscroll, a small drawing of a Buddha seated upon a lotus pedestal issketched beside each character of the sËtra, creating alternating lines often characters followed by ten Buddhas. The Buddhas are drawn inblack ink with red robes and a seat of green lotus petals, and eachfigure’s face and countenance are depicted differently. The style of thecontinental origins and culture of copying

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scriptural characters suggests an eleventh-century date.29
Scrolls such as the Ichiji hØtØ hokekyØ (one character, jeweled-stËpa
Lotus SËtra scroll; 一字宝塔法華経) which adorn each textual characterwith a stËpa demonstrate another manifestation of the expansion of sËtra
art at this time. Several of the scrolls made in this style modify theconventional blue-and-gold transcription type by retaining the pictorial
frontispiece and color scheme while incorporating an enshrining stËpa
for the scriptural characters. Beautifully preserved, the nine scrolls at
Honmanji 本満寺, Kyoto produced in the twelfth century are an excellent
example. Against a deep blue, individual stËpas vividly expressed withluminescent silver for the body and pedestal and fine gold detail for thefinial (相輪 sØrin) enthrone the sacred characters composed in generous
gold. The stËpas of the Ichiji hØtØ hokekyØ format range from highly
individualized and detailed, like those of the Honmanji scrolls,30 to thecursory and abbreviated, like the scrolls dated to 1163 and commis­
sioned by the monk, Shinsai 心西.31 This format also employed decora­tive paper like the twelfth-century scroll of Togakushi Shrine 戸隠神社 in
Nagano prefecture, using light grey paper adorned with mica powderedstËpas enshrining individual characters of black ink thought to havebeen written by Fujiwara Sadanobu 藤原定信 (1088–1156) because of
the slanted style of calligraphy.32 And in the typical style of the HeikenØkyØ scrolls at Itsukushima Shrine, the Lotus SËtra’s “Apparition of theJeweled-StËpa”33 chapter (c. 1164) is composed on ornamented paper
embellished with gold and silver and each character drawn within astËpa.34
Another format corresponding to this type of inventive copying is the
Ichiji rendai hokekyØ 一字蓮台法華経 (one character, lotus pedestal LotusSËtra scroll) in which each character rests upon a lotus pedestal. The
two scrolls of the eleventh or twelfth century in Kyoto National
Museum35 and the nine in the collection of RyØkØji 竜光寺 in Fukushima,
believed to be from the same original set, depict a complex pattern of
coordinated lotus pedestal colors.36 For instance, the lotus pedestals ofchapter twenty-one of the Lotus SËtra in the collection of the Kyoto
National Museum are arranged in rotating colors along the horizontal
lines of text beginning with pale blue and followed by red, green, andsilver37 moving from left to right. Chapter twenty-two, also in the Kyoto
National Museum, further complicates the color arrangement, producing
a pattern of interwoven color in the form of a diamond.38 The twelfthcentury Ichiji rendai hokekyØ in the collection of Nara’s Yamato
Bunkakan 大和文華館 is a highly ornamented scroll making use of large
amounts of gold and silver and a full-color frontispiece illustration.39

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The lotus pedestals, colored white, cinnabar, and blue-green, enthrone
each character of the scripture. The handwriting is thought to be that of
Go-Shirakawa 後白河天皇 (1127–92), and correspondingly the central
aristocratic figure in the frontispiece is believed to represent the emperor
with his consort seated slightly behind him and at an angle in a scene ofgathered monks and aristocrats chanting the Lotus SËtra.40 The scrolls of
the Ichiji butsu hokekyØ, Ichiji hØtØ hokekyØ, and Ichiji rendai hokekyØ
all demonstrate an elaboration on conventional sËtra transcription
formats and represent the contemporary trend of seeking increasingly
inventive ways of copying the scriptures.
The Lotus SËtra fans (扇面法華経冊子 senmen hokekyô sasshi),41 theLotus SËtra booklets (法華経冊子 hokekyØ sasshi),42 and the MenashikyØ
目無経 (literally, the “eyeless sËtra”),43 all of the twelfth century, reveal
an increased interaction between scripture and picture, embodying the
fashion in sËtra art which sought new and elaborate designs. While theformats take the shape of fans, booklets, and scrolls, the layering of
sacred script atop images of the secular world is a feature consistentthroughout all the productions and one utterly novel to the world ofsËtra art at the time. Visible beneath the tidy characters are pictures of aworld far less orderly and in need of the redeeming power of sËtras. As
such, they stand as inventive elaborations upon the conventional designof the transcription of scriptures.

Extreme Practices in Sūtra TranscriptionSËtra transcription practices in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries
also demonstrate a heightened complexity reflecting the general trends
in copying at this time. Whether evinced in terms of sheer quantity,
pace, genuflection, interment, or alternative media, the religious practiceof copying became increasingly imaginative and complicated, much likethe above discussion of sËtra art. Although I cannot comprehensively
survey all forms of intensive copying here, I have chosen emblematic
manifestations of extreme exercises to reveal the parallel between
religious practice and the visual inventiveness seen in art of the time. By
doing this, I expose the context of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas’ creation
as one of novelty in artistic manipulations and religious practices oftranscription, which suggests the mandalas to be a unique manifestationof these phenomena.

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Quantity
While the practice of copying the entire Buddhist canon dates back tothe seventh century, the exercise increased in popularity and prevalence
during the eleventh through thirteenth centuries.44 Another notabledifference in Buddhist canon productions at this later time was that
more individual people and small groups of family and friends under­
took to copy by hand such enormous projects, likely upheld by the
belief that vast quantity and effort are rewarded by great merit,45
although, aristocrats and imperial family members also continued thecommission of the Buddhist canon, even producing several copies in the
expensive blue-gold technique.46
One of the earliest examples of lay individuals engaging in the Bud­dhist canon production at this time comes from an 1106 entry inChËyËki 中右記, the diary of Fujiwara Munetada 藤原宗忠 (1062–1141).
According to the record, an unnamed holy person from TØji walked
Kyoto encouraging residents to copy the entire Buddhist canon, event­ually copying a set and conducting the dedication service at a hall ofEmperor Shirakawa 白河天皇 (1053–1129).47 A similarly vague entry canbe found in HyakurenshØ 百錬抄, a thirteenth-century anthology ofvarious records and tales by an unknown compiler.48 On the first day ofthe sixth month in 1115, another unnamed holy person at Kitano 北野
copied and performed the dedication of a Buddhist canon. HonchØseki
本朝世紀, a mid-twelfth-century text compiled by Fujiwara Shinzei 藤原
信西 (1106–60), also records that in 1143 the monk, Kaku’a 覺阿, copied
the Buddhist canon.49 Many other such examples exist, but probably themost renowned instance of the transcription of the Buddhist canon by anindividual is that of Fujiwara Sadanobu.50 Vowing at the age of forty-two
to copy by hand the entire Buddhist canon, Sadanobu finally finished themassive project twenty-three years later at the age of sixty-four. Tsuji
Zennosuke 辻善之助 estimates that the endeavor thus required Sadanobu
to copy around two volumes every three days.51 So celebrated andastonishing was this undertaking that it is recorded with great amaze­
ment and praise in multiple medieval texts. For instance, the twelfthcentury text of disputable authorship, Imakagami 今鏡, extolled
Sadanobu’s dedication for copying the Buddhist canon with his own
brush, remarking that he does not seem to be an ordinary person andthat one never hears of another quite like him. Fujiwara Yorinaga 藤原頼長 (1120–56) commended Sadanobu in his diary, Taiki 台記, writing thatthe enormity of the project will ensure Sadanobu’s name in history.52 He
also effused that in the past, present, and even the future no one will be122continental origins and culture of copying

able to accomplish an equivalent feat.53 As a gesture of his respect forsuch efforts, Yorinaga donned new robes and washed his mouth before
meeting with Sadanobu.54
Tales remain of others in less financially and well-connectedcircumstances vowing to copy the Buddhist canon. The mendicant monk
known commonly as ShikijØ 色定 enlisted the aid of his fellow monks,
Saikan 西観 and ShinshØ 心昭, in begging for paper, brush, and ink
during their travels in order to fulfill the ambitious vow.55 Having bathedhimself in incense, ShikijØ set himself to the task of copying the canon.
The project began in 1187 when he was twenty-nine years old and was
not completed until 1228 when ShikijØ was seventy years of age, taking
a total of forty-one years. Tsuji again provides calculations for the labor,
estimating that in the span of one month ShikijØ copied around ten
volumes and so averaged one volume every three days. Based on theinscriptions, it is possible to see the circumstances under which thediligent group toiled. ShikijØ records that in their journeys all over thecountry, even while standing, walking, or on a boat, he copied the sËtras.
Of the original 5048 volumes, over four thousand survive in thecollection of KØshØji 興聖寺 in Tajima, Fukuoka prefecture, despite 448
which were spoiled by insects and a severe flood in 1702 that damaged
1200 volumes, 230 of them fatally.

Pace
Another hallmark of the intensification of ritualistic copying was theextreme pace set by some performances. It was not uncommon for large
groups of people to assemble so that they might collectively copy
substantial quantities of scriptures all together in just one day. On thefifth day of the fifth month in 1135, Emperor Toba commissioned all
600 fascicles of the Perfection of Wisdom SËtras56 to be copied in justone day at HosshØji 法勝寺, Kyoto.57 Not content with this massive
effort, devotees attempted even more astonishing copying feats.
Probably one of the most daunting and logistically challenging typesof sËtra transcription is copying the entire Buddhist canon of over 5000
volumes in a single day, known as ichinichi issaikyØ 一日一切経. But justsuch an event occurred on the eighteenth day of the third month in 1096
when ten thousand people from all literate strata of society gathered in
Kyoto to copy the canon.58 In 1211, on the twenty-third day of the fourth
month, an ichinichi issaikyØ event was organized by Emperor Go-Toba
後鳥羽天皇 (1180–1239) at his recently constructed temple, SaishØ
ShitennØ’in 最勝四天王院.59 Monks from all around the country, totalingcontinental origins and culture of copying

123

13,215, congregated in Kyoto for the massive service, all under thesponsorship of the emperor. According to multiple sources, the result
was an unparalleled event.60 These performances of extreme sËtra
transcription practices once again reflect the drive to reach new heights
in copying typical of the eleventh through thirteenth centuries.

Genuflection
The laborious practice of ichiji sanrei 一字三礼 (one character, threebows), in which the copyist writes one character and then pays
obeisance three times, usually understood to be performed as bows,
before moving on to the next character,61 is another manifestation. Twonotable examples of this practice, including the related ichigyØ sanrei 一
行三礼 (one line, three bows) in which obeisance is paid to each line ofcharacters copied, were carried out by the Buddhist sculptor from theKei school 慶派, Unkei 運慶 (1151–1223), and the courtier, MadenokØji
Nobufusa 万里小路宣房 (1258–1326).61 In 1183, Unkei made a vow tocopy the Lotus SËtra according to very strict procedures.63 Fortunately,
the inscriptions on the scrolls illuminate much about the nature of themission. Elaborate efforts were made to guarantee the purity of theprocess. According to the inscription on the eighth volume, participants
ensured the cleanliness of their bodies and clothes; the paper was
specially made; the scroll rollers were crafted from the wood remaining
after Taira no Shigehira 平重衡 (1158–1185) razed TØdaiji 東大寺 in
Nara; and water for the ink was drawn from three different sacredplaces: Miidera 三井寺, Yokawa 横川 on Mt. Hiei 比叡, and Kiyomizu­
dera 清水寺. Fifty men and women, including another celebrated sculptor
from the Kei school, Kaikei 快慶 (late twelfth or early thirteenth
century), participated in the project. And on top of the extraordinarylengths Unkei took to guarantee the sacredness of the scrolls (also anindication of the overall trends in copying in that Unkei was thinking
not only of ways to intensify the practice of the copying and the exterior
appearance of the scrolls, but also of the interior composition), after
each line of text was copied, three bows were made to the recently
finished characters. Unkei tabulated the number of bows, nenbutsu 念仏
chants (calling on the name of Amida Buddha [阿弥陀 Ch. Amituo; Skt.
Amitåbha]), and chanting of the august title of the Lotus SËtra (daimoku
題目) that the project required: 50,000 bows, 100,000 nenbutsu chants,
and 100,000 chants of the title of the Lotus SËtra. And in order toprevent an invasion of demons, every day services were performed andten parts of the Lotus SËtra were read.

124

continental origins and culture of copying

A later example is that of Nobufusa, who copied two-hundred
volumes of the five great Mahåyåna sËtras (五部大乘経 Jpn. gobu daijØ
kyØ, Ch. wubu dasheng jing) using the ‘one character, three bows’technique. 64 In several of the inscriptions, it becomes clear that
Nobufusa undertook this challenging mission not only to generate meritfor himself, but also for his parents. In the seventh volume of the LotusSËtra, he writes that this volume was dedicated as a memorial to a
deceased family member. Komatsu Shigemi 小松茂美 identifies thisperson to be Nobufusa’s father, who retired from public life to join the
Buddhist ranks in 1284 due to illness, but was fortunate enough to live
for an additional twenty years. The inscription coordinates with theseventh anniversary of his father’s death; and the third volume of theGreat Collection SËtra65 he dedicated to his deceased mother.66 Suchlaborious genuflection corresponds to the search for more inventive andchallenging ways of creating sËtra copies.

Alternative MediaThe move toward innovation was also reflected in the incorporation ofalternative media. Although there were many other types of media
employed, I want to highlight here the cases of stone sËtras, tile sËtras,
and blood copying. The practice of copying sËtra text onto stone is
known as sekkyØ 石経. This term refers to the broad practice of copying
scripture onto the durable surface of stone and is more commonly
ascribed to the longstanding tradition of copying sËtras onto stone
tablets.67 However, it also includes the more uncommon practice of
inscribing a single character onto each stone, known as isseki ichijikyØ
一石一字経, or of inscribing several characters per stone, referred to as
taji issekikyØ 多字一石経.68 The small stones often measure between three
to ten centimeters in diameter. The text of the sËtra is frequently written
in black or red ink.69 Because of the nature of the small stone transcrip­
tion, even though the stones might all be completed and stored together,which often meant burial, the sËtra could not be reconstructed without asuperhuman feat of will and copious amounts of time, thus reconstruc­tion was never the point.70 Tile sËtras, or kawaragyØ 瓦経, present asimilar situation.71 Typically measuring thirty centimeters, the ceramictiles are scored with a sharp implement to carve the lines for the sËtra
text—much like the lines of conventional sËtras—and then the scripturallines are copied, often on both surfaces of the tile, while the sËtra title
and volume number are inscribed on the sides. After their firing in akiln, the tile sËtras were often buried standing up in the ground with acontinental origins and culture of copying

125stËpa sometimes marking the site.72 Occasionally, rather than sËtra text
on both sides of the tile, one side might have rows of Buddha images,
resembling the Ichiji butsu kyØ.73 In 1142, the Shingon monk, Zen’ne 禅恵, began copying sËtras onto tile, producing five hundred by thefollowing year.74 Zen’ne began this project with a rather long list ofvows he hoped to fulfill with the merit generated from the tile sËtras andsculptures: grand prayers for the nation’s and emperor’s peace as well as
more intimate appeals for his own peace in this realm, a long andhealthy life of good quality, and to be reborn into paradise.75 Together
with the Amida and JizØ 地蔵 (Ch. Dizang; Skt. K∑itigarbha) sculptures
he made, the tiles were buried at his family’s mountain temple.76 TanakaKaidØ explains that the burial of sacred text purifies the land, and as theland is the source of all including the nation, the purified land and its
inhabitants are united.77
Copying scriptures in blood, while not that common, represents oneof the more intimate and extreme forms of sËtra transcription.78 Fujiwara
Yorinaga famously copied sËtras in blood, although not wanting to use
his own, he asked Fujiwara Atsuto to make a sanguinary donation forthe project.79 According to the Tale of the HØgen Disturbance (保元物語HØgen monogatari), the exiled Retired Emperor Sutoku’in 崇徳院(1119–1164) wrote scriptures in ink mixed with his own blood for three
years in hopes of securing a paradisiacal birth after death.80 Practitionersof scriptural blood writing seek to transform what is illusory into
something adamantine, hence blood into dharma.81 But blood was not
the only substance capable of establishing a karmic bond; Fujiwara
Munetada in 1136 enshrined votive copies of sËtras that he and hischildren transcribed on paper containing strands of his deceased wife’shair. There are even those tales of the Buddha’s former lives (闍多伽 Jpn.
jataka, Ch. sheduoqie; Skt. jåtaka) that describe the self-flaying of skinfor paper, liquefying of marrow and pulverizing of flesh for ink, and thebreaking of bones for brushes, all so that sacred word can be copied.
Not content with mere paper and ink, alternative media such as smallstone sËtras, tile sËtras, and blood copying represent the search for new
and inventive means to transcribe scripture. As with the other examples
provided in this section, while the trend encouraged copying in novel
and innovative ways, the drive was often to establish more personalconnections with the sËtra and its salvific and restorative power by
undergoing extreme measures and even by merging the materially inti­
mate with the numinous nature of scripture. Certainly, these are but a
few of the examples and possible categories of extreme copying. But inselecting these samplings of intensified scripture transcription practices,

126

continental origins and culture of copyingstrong parallels can be seen with the art of sËtra copies, revealing theoverall trend toward the extreme that, importantly, also typifies the
production of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas.

Fundamental Functions of Sūtra Transcription
The examples of sËtra transcriptions examined above represent a type of
copying known as kechienkyØ 結縁経 or sËtras that establish kechien 結
縁, a connection between the copyists and patrons with the Buddha, thus
bequeathing great karmic merit for the hope of future salvation.82 The
earliest mention of the term kechienkyØ comes from the diary of the
Heian-period courtier, Fujiwara Sanesuke 藤原実資 (957–1046), known
as ShØyËki 小右記83 and occurred in the ninth month and tenth day of1021.84 The term occurs with frequency after this point, and anotherexample merging Buddhist canon copies and kechien ceremonies comesfrom HyakurenshØ. On the fourth day of the third month in 1142, a
ceremony utilizing a copy of the Buddhist canon was held at theByØdØin 平等院 in Uji in order to establish kechien for the benefit ofEmperor Toba.85 In transcription performances reminiscent of the HeikenØkyØ, the typical arrangement began with a rather large group of people
in which each person prepared a single scroll and concluded with the
dedicatory ritual of the sËtras as a completed set.86 However, if the
projects lacked participants, then a person was assigned more than one
scroll.87 The sËtra dedication ceremony imbued recently copied sËtras
with the essence of the Buddha, thereby in a sense activating them andsolidifying the connection between the participants and the Buddha.
Fabio Rambelli notes that “texts were endowed with all the characteris­tics of sacred objects and were not essentially different from relics,
icons, and talismans” 88 and that “[a]s soteriological tools….[t]hey
acquired a magical and mystical dimension as sorts of ‘relics’ of pastmasters (and ultimately, of the Buddha).”89 Much as icons and stËpas
doubled for the Buddha in the illusory realm, sËtras were not merely
symbols of the Buddha’s presence, but rather embodiments of the
Buddha.90 The same karmic connection is possible in the more intimate
and personal copying rituals described. The ornamentation of scriptures,the inclusion of bodily material, and the labors of the hand to copy
sacred word all establish personal and lasting connections with thenuminocity of the dharma through tactile transference.
As with the jeweled-stËpa mandalas, the primary function of thesesËtra transcriptions is fulfilled in the act of copying itself. The meritfrom the reverential treatment of the scriptures and the karmic

continental origins and culture of copying

127

connection established through the textual contact and labor exerted isearned in the moments of the practice of copying, in that directconnection with the scripture in the case of a personal, hand-copiedsËtra, and in the commission and facilitation of copying in the case of
patrons. This is the case even with projects that clearly exhibit a puzzlelike component to their transcription, such as the tenth-century Chinese
textual stËpa. This is not to negate or diminish the further lives of thesËtra copies, or even the merit they continued to generate, but toemphasize that the very act of transcription was the religious goal,
although a certain level of social prestige and love of beauty must havefactored into the creation of sËtra art as well. But as in cases such as thejeweled-stËpa mandalas where the scrolls were stored away and rarely
presented in any ritualistic context, the production of the sËtra transcrip­tion itself embodied the fundamental function of the project.

Conclusion
This paper excavated some practical aspects of the jeweled-stËpa
mandalas concerning their origins, both in terms of stylistic precedence
as well as the culture of copying in the eleventh through thirteenth
centuries out of which the mandalas emerged. By locating thefoundations of the paintings in early Chinese transcriptions and bysituating the mandalas amongst other inventive and novel sËtra art andcopying practices at the time of the mandalas’ first production in Japan,
the paintings become intelligible less as having materialized mysterious­
ly and without precedence for a brief time and more as a particular
aspect of a system of sËtra transcription that trended toward the innova­
tive and extreme. This examination is not to diminish the mandalas’
inventiveness but to reveal the context of their creation—they represent
an apotheosis of general efforts to creatively and laboriously transcribesËtras, especially given their high levels of artistic achievement. How­ever, within the culture of copying at the close of the Heian period, thejeweled-stËpa mandalas were indeed highly original in one particular
aspect: their utter imbrication of text with image was unprecedented inprevious sËtra transcription projects.
NOTES
1
Jpn. MyØhØ renge kyØ; Ch. Miaofa lianhua jing; Skt. Saddharmapuˆ∂ar¥ka sËtra; 妙法蓮華経; TaishØ daizØkyØ 大正大藏経, ed. Takakusu JunjirØ 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe
Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭 (Tokyo: TaishØ IssaikyØ KankØkai, 1924–32) no. 262, 9: 1c15–62b1.

Hereafter abbreviated as T. Texts are indicated by the text number followed by the128continental origins and culture of copying

volume, page, register, and line numbers, where appropriate.
2
Jpn. KonkØmyØ saishØØ kyØ; Ch. Jinguangming zuisheng wang jing; Skt.
Suvarˆaprabhåsottama råja sËtra; 金光明最勝王経; T. no. 665, 16: 403a04–456c25.
3
Jpn. MuryØgi kyØ; Ch. Wuliangyi jing; Skt. Amitartha sËtra; 無量義経; T. no. 276, 9:383b15–389b22.
4
Jpn. Kan fugen bosatsu gyØhØ kyØ; Ch. Guan puxian pusa xingfa jing; 觀普賢菩薩行法経; T. no. 277, 9: 389b26–394b11.
5
For a more thorough analysis of the jeweled-stËpa mandalas, please see my doctoral
dissertation, Halle O’Neal, “Written StËpa, Painted SËtra: Relationships of Text andImage in the Construction of Meaning in the Japanese Jeweled-StËpa Mandalas” (Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Kansas, 2011).
6
Jpn. Hannya haramita shingyØ; Ch. Bore boluomiduo xinjing; Skt. Prajñåpåramitå
h®daya sËtra; 般若波羅蜜多心経; T. no. 251, 8: 848c5–23.
7
For an image of the oldest example, see Miya Tsugio 宮次男, Kinji hØtØ mandara 金
字宝塔曼荼羅 (Tokyo: Yoshikawa KØbunkan, 1976), 4. The description of the image
from Lionel Giles reads, “­—佛説 [sermon of the Buddha; Ch. foshuo] prefixed to title.
Written in a fanciful shape, and with dotted red lines joining the characters so as topresent the outline of a pagoda. Mounted as a kakemono scroll. 22 cm×1½ ft. S.5410.”
See Lionel Giles, Descriptive Catalogue of the Chinese Manuscripts from Tunhuang in
the British Museum (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1957), 35 entry 1470.
8
Unfortunately, I have not viewed the other early examples and so am unable tocompare the patterns made by the accurate connection of the characters. It would be apoint of interest to know whether a similar arrangement of text was used or if newpatterns were affected and thus creating new visual games. Giles includes a descriptionof another example in the British Museum: “Pan jo po lo mi to hsin ching. Written withdotted lines connecting the characters so as to form an image of Avalokiteßvara. Verso:
Begin. of the same as r° [recto]. Fairly good MS [manuscript]. Mounted on a scroll. 47
cm×22 cm. S.4289.” See Giles, Descriptive Catalogue, 35.
9Guoli gugong bowuyuan 國立故宮博物院, ed. Midian Zhulin 秘殿珠林 (Taibei: Guoli
gugong bowuyuan, 1971).
10
For a list of the fifty-one images complied from the multiple volumes, see Miya,
Kinji hØtØ mandara, 8–9, n 16.
11
Jpn. KongØ hannya haramitsu kyØ; Ch. Jingang bore boluomi jing; Skt. Vajrac­chedikå prajñåpåramitå sËtra; 金剛般若波羅蜜経; T. no. 235, 8: 748c18–752c7.
12Jpn. AmidakyØ; Ch. Amituo jing; Skt. Amitåbha sËtra; 阿弥陀経; T. no. 366, 12:346b26–348b18.
13
Jpn. Yakushi rurikØ nyorai hongan kØtoku kyØ; Ch. Yaoshi liuliguang rulai benyuan
gongde jing; Skt. Bhagavato bhai∑ajyaguruvai∂Ëryaprabhasya pËrvapraˆidhånaviße∑aviståra; 藥師琉璃光如來本願功德経; T. no. 450, 14: 404c13–408b28.
14
For a compiled list of the textual stËpas in the collection of the museum, see Miya,
Kinji hØtØ mandara, 9 n 17. Also, National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院, Gugong
shuhuaji 故宮書画録, vol. 8 (Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1965).
15
For an image with accompanying detail, see TØji 東寺, ed., TØji no bijutsu: kaiga tokØgei 東寺の美術: 絵画と工芸 (Kyoto: TØji, 1976), fig. 34.
16
Miya, Kinji hØtØ mandara, 7. Although in a later publication, Miya suggests anearlier date of 1249. See Miya, “Kenrantaru kyØten 絢爛たる経典,” in Kenrantaru
kyØten 絢爛たる経典, ed. Sato Shinji (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1983), 96–7.
17
Fujita Tsuneyo 藤田経世, ed., “TØbØki 東宝記,” KØkan bijutsu shiryØ 校刊美術史料,

continental origins and culture of copying

129

vol. 2 (Tokyo: ChËØ KØron Bijutsu Shuppan, 1975), 447. I warmly thank Michael
Jamentz for bringing this source to my attention.
18
Miya, Kinji hØtØ mandara, 6.
19
Ibid., 7.
20
For more on the topic of the meritorious practice of combining sËtra and stËpa,please see chapter four of my dissertation.
21
Ibid.
22
Komatsu Shigemi 小松茂美, Heike nØkyØ no kenkyË 平家納経の研究, vol. 2 (Tokyo:KØdansha, 1976), 810.
23
Egami Yasushi 江上綏, “SØshokukyØ 装飾経,” Nihon no bijutsu 日本の美術 278(1989): 28–29.
24
Ibid.
25
For example, see the scrolls at HØgonji 宝厳寺 on Chikubushima (eleventh century),
Taisanji 太山寺 in HyØgØ prefecture (twelfth century), JikØji 慈光寺 in Saitama
prefecture (thirteenth century), and Hasedera 長谷寺 in Nara (thirteenth century) to notea few celebrated sets.
26
For other notable examples see the decorative scrolls at HonkØji 本興寺 in Shizuoka
prefecture (eleventh- and twelfth-centuries sets), KongØbuji 金剛峯寺 in Wakayama
prefecture (several sets), RinnØji 輪王寺 in Tochigi (dated 1129), Itsukushima Shrine 厳
島神社 on Miyajima (multiple sets), and Hyakusaiji 百済寺 in Shiga, to name just a few.
For images of these scrolls and many more, see Nara National Museum, ed., HokekyØ:shakyØ to sØgon 法華経: 写経と荘厳 (Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu, 1988), 42–45 plates 47–93.
27
See Kyoto National Museum 京都国立博物館, ed., Kana no bi かなの美 (Tokyo:Ōtsuka KØgeisha, 1996).
28
For an image, see Nara National Museum, HokekyØ, 283 plate 118.
29
Egami, “SØshokukyØ,” 37.
30
Others of this type include the scroll at RinnØji (twelfth century). For images ofthese scrolls, see Nara National Museum, HokekyØ, 280 plates 114 and 115.
31
Nara National Museum, ed., Seichi NinpØ (NinpØ): Nihon bukkyØ 1300-nen no
genryË 聖地寧波 (ニンポー): 日本仏教一三〇〇年の源流 (Nara: Nara Kokuritsu Haku­
butsukan, 2009), 299.
32
Egami, “SØshokukyØ,” 40. For an image, see Nara National Museum, HokekyØ, 281
plate 116.
33
Jpn. Ken hØtØ bon; Ch. Jian baota pin; 見宝塔品.
34
For an image, see Egami, “SØshokukyØ,” 40 fig. 48.
35	
For images of the scrolls in the collection of Kyoto National Museum, see “Ichiji
rendai hokekyØ,” Kyoto National Museum, accessed August 7, 2011, http://www.
kyohaku.go.jp/jp/syuzou/index.html.
36
For an image of the RyËkØji scrolls, see Nara National Museum, HokekyØ, 282
plate 117.
37
And as a twist, each line of silver is alternating white; see Kyoto National Museum,
KoshakyØ: seinaru moji no sekai 古写経: 聖なる文字の世界 (Kyoto: Kyoto National
Museum, 2004), 313–14.
38
Ibid.
30
For an image, see Nara National Museum, HokekyØ, 47 plate 102.
40
Kyoto National Museum, KoshakyØ, 315.
41
Lotus SËtra fans are held in the collections of Tokyo National Museum; Idemitsu
Museum of Arts 出光美術館 in Tokyo; SaikyØji 西教寺 in Shiga prefecture; Fujita Muse­130

continental origins and culture of copying

um of Art 藤田美術館 in Osaka; HØryËji 法隆寺; two private collections; and the largest
amassment in the collection of ShitennØji 四天王寺 in Osaka. For images of these fans,see Nara National Museum, HokekyØ, 261–74 plates 112イ, 112ロ, 112ハ, 112ニ, 112ホ,
112ヘ, and 112ト.
42
Examples of this type can be found in the GotØ Museum of Art and in the private
collection of Ueno Jun’ichi 上野淳一. For images of these booklets, see Ibid., 257–60
plates 110 and 111.
43	The remains of the Golden Light SËtra are in the collections of the Tokyo National
Museum which owns a fragment and the Kyoto National Museum which owns volumes
two, three, and four. For the scrolls in Tokyo, see “KonkØmyØkyØ Volume Four
MenashikyØ’,” Tokyo National Museum, accessed August 7, 2011, http://www.tnm.jp/
modules/r_collection/index.php?controller=dtl&colid=B2400&t=type_s&id=24&lang=ja. For the scrolls in Kyoto, see “KonkØmyØkyØ,” Kyoto National Museum, accessed
August 7, 2011, http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/jp/syuzou/index.html. The Scripture that
Transcends the Principle version is in the Dai TØkyË Memorial Library 大東急記念文庫
in Tokyo. For images of this version, see Marsha Weidner, ed., Flowering in the
Shadows: Women in the History of Chinese and Japanese Painting (Honolulu: Univer­sity of Hawai’i Press, 1990), 168–69 figs. 1–3.
44
Tsuji Zennosuke 辻善之助, Nihon bukkyØ shi 日本佛敎史, vol. 1 (Tokyo: Iwanami
Shoten, 1960), 659. Because Tsuji analyzed and amassed a tremendous quantity of
information about Japanese Buddhist religious practices from a host of primary
documents, this publication is of great value for researchers, despite the absence ofbroader analysis, occasional errors in primary source citations, and miscalculations in
the translation of Japanese reign dates to the Gregorian calendrical system.
45	
Tsuji, Nihon bukkyØ shi, 659.
46	For instance, Fujiwara Kiyohira 藤原清衡 (1056–1128) commissioned a blue paper,
gold and silver script copy of the Buddhist canon in ca. 1117 known as the KiyohirakyØ
清衡経; Emperor Toba commissioned in the mid-twelfth century a blue-gold copy of the
Buddhist canon now known as the JingojikyØ 神護寺経 for Go-Shirakawa; Bifukumon’incommissioned the set known as the ArakawakyØ 荒川経 in 1150 for the repose ofEmperor Toba’s soul; and Fujiwara Hidehira completed in ca. 1176 a blue-gold copy of
the Buddhist canon.
47
Tsuji, Nihon bukkyØ shi, 659.
48
Kuroita Katsumi, ed., “HyakurenshØ 百錬抄,” in Shintei zØho, Kokushi taikei, vol.
11 (Tokyo: Kokushi Taikei KankØkai, 1929), 50. Tsuji makes the mistake of saying theevent occurred in 1117. See Tsuji, Nihon bukkyØ shi, 659.
49
Ibid., 659.
50
The following information about Sadanobu’s project is based on Tsuji’s research
unless otherwise noted. See Ibid., 660–61.
51
Ibid., 660.
52
Komatsu Shigemi, “Ichiji sanrei no shakyØ 一字三礼の写経,” Museum 186 (1966):
3.
53	
Tanaka KaidØ 田中塊堂, Nihon shakyØ sokan 日本寫經綜鑒 (Kyoto: Shibunkaku,1974), 24.
54
Komatsu, “Ichiji sanrei no shakyØ,” 3.
55	
The following information about ShikijØ’s project is based on Tsuji’s research.
Tsuji, Nihon bukkyØ shi, 661–62.
56	
Jpn. Dai hannya haramitta kyØ; Ch. Da bore boluomiduo jing; Skt. Mahaprajñå­continental origins and culture of copying131påramitå sËtras; 大般若波羅蜜多経; T. no. 220, 5: 1a4–7: 1110b3.
57
Tsuji, Nihon bukkyØ shi, 663.
58
Ibid.
59
Ibid., 664.
60
Ibid.
61
Nakamura Hajime 中村元, Iwanami bukkyØ jiten 岩波仏教辞典 (Tokyo: Iwanami
Shoten, 1989), 30.
62
Tanabe offers a parallel example: Emperor Reizei 冷泉 (950–1011), while copying
several sËtras, prayed after writing each character as recorded in the HonchØ bunshË 本
朝文集. Willa J. Tanabe, Paintings of the Lotus Sutra (New York, Tokyo: Weatherhill,1988), 46. See Kuroita Katsumi 黑板勝美, ed., “HonchØ bunshË 本朝文集,” in ShinteizØho, Kokushi taikei 新訂増補, 國史大系, vol. 30 (Tokyo: Kokushi Taikei KankØkai,1929), 205.
63	The following information concerning Unkei’s project comes from Tsuji, Nihon
bukkyØ shi, 672–73. See also Komatsu, “Ichiji sanrei no shakyØ,” 4–8.
64
The following information concerning Nobufusa’s efforts comes from Ibid., 3–8.
65	
Jpn. DaijikkyØ; Ch. Dajijing; Skt. Mahåsaµnipata sËtra; 大集経; T. no. 397, 13:
1a4–407a17.
66
For more examples of this phenomenon, see Komatsu, “Ichiji sanrei no shakyØ,” 4.
67
For more on this topic, see Kuno Takeshi 久野健 and Nakamura Hajime, eds.,
BukkyØ bijutsu jiten 仏教美術事典 (Tokyo: Tokyo Shoseki, 2002), 499–500.
68
These terms come from Ikemi Sumitaka 池見澄隆, “Tsumi to sono kaiketsu 罪とその解決,” in HokekyØ no shinri: sukui o motomete 法華経の真理: 救いをもとめて, ed.
Miya Tsugio (Tokyo: ShËeisha, 1989), 129. An image of the small stone sËtras can also
be found on this same page.
69
Ibid.
70
For more on this topic, see Seki Hideo 関秀夫, “KyØzuka to sonno ibutsu 経塚とその遺物,” Nihon no bijutsu 日本の美術 292 (1990), 70–79.
71
For an image of a title sËtra, see Ibid., 128.
72
Tanaka, Nihon shakyØ sokan, 27.
73
Ikemi, “Tsumi to sono kaiketsu,” 128.
74
Ibid., 129.
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid.
77
Tanaka, Nihon shakyØ sokan, 27.
78
For more on this practice, see John Kieschnick, “Blood Writing in Chinese
Buddhism,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 23 (2000):
177–94.
79
Tanabe, Paintings of the Lotus Sutra, 56.
80
Nagazumi Yasuaki 永積安明 and Shimada Isao 島田勇雄, eds., HØgen monogatari;
Heiji monogatari 保元物語; 平治物語, in Nihon koten bungaku taikei 日本古典文學大系,
vol. 31 (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1961), 179.
81
Fabio Rambelli, Buddhist Materiality: A Cultural History of Objects in Japanese
Buddhism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007), 119.
82
Nakamura, Iwanami bukkyØ jiten, 226.
83
Fujiwara Sanesuke 藤原実資, ShØyËki 小右記, in Dai nihon kokiroku 大日本古記錄,
vol. 6 (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1971).
84
Egami, “SØshokukyØ,” 19. This occurs in reference to the transcription and dedica­

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continental origins and culture of copyingtion service of the Lotus SËtra at MuryØju’in 無量壽院 sponsored by the Empress
Fujiwara Kenshi 藤原妍子 (994–1027). See Fujiwara, ShØyËki, 46.
85	
Kuroita, “HyakurenshØ,” 65.
86
Egami, “SØshokukyØ,” 19.
87
Ibid.
88
Rambelli, Buddhist Materiality, 90.
89
Ibid., 96.
90
For a discussion of embodied Buddhist visual and material culture, see Robert H.
Sharf, “On the Allure of Buddhist Relics,” Representations 66 (1999): 75–99.