2008.241: One Page from the Ksitigarbha-Bodhisattva-Pranidhana-Sutra (Sutra of the Oath of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha)

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2008.241

People

Attributed to Prince Yi Yong (An-p'yŏng Tae-kun, Prince An-p'yŏng), Korean (1418 - 1453)

Title

One Page from the Ksitigarbha-Bodhisattva-Pranidhana-Sutra (Sutra of the Oath of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha)

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript

Date

probably second quarter 15th century

Places

Creation Place: East Asia, Korea

Period

Chosŏn dynasty, 1392-1910

Culture

Korean

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/329335

Physical Descriptions

Medium

One section from a handscroll (or possibly one page from an accordion-fold book); gold ink on indigo-blue paper

Dimensions

indigo paper: H. 38.2 x W. 19.3 cm (15 1/16 x 7 5/8 in.)
backing paper: H. 40.5 x W. 21.6 cm (15 15/16 x 8 1/2 in.)
silk mounting: H. 43 x W. 23.9 cm (16 15/16 x 9 7/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: Dealer's or connoisseur's inscription (ink on paper; across top and down both sides of mounting silk): Horizontal inscription at top attributes the piece to Grand Prince An-p'yong; inscriptions down the sides provide biographical information about Grand Prince An-p'yong.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Gregory (1922-1988) and Maria C. Henderson (1923-2007), Medford, MA (by 1969-1988), inherited; by Maria C. Henderson, Medford, MA (1988-2008), sold; to Harvard Art Museums, 2008.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gregory and Maria C. Henderson Fund

Accession Year

2008

Object Number

2008.241

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

Originally a section of a handscroll, or possibly a page from an accordion-fold album, this calligraphic work represents text from a Buddhist sutra, specifically, text from the Ksitigarbha-bodhisattva-pranidhana-sutra (Sutra of the Oath of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha). The vertically oriented, rectangular sheet of indigo-dyed paper boasts seven columns of text, each column with twenty characters written in gold ink. The text columns have been demarcated with faint lines in gold ink along their tops, bottoms, and sides. The characters are written in regular script (Chinese, kaishu), though they exhibit a slightly more cursive quality than do characters in Buddhist sutras from the fourteenth century and earlier. The text can be translated as follows:

At that time, Ksitigarbha, the Bodhisattva of Great Being [Bodhisattva Mahasattva], kneeling in the barbarian fashion and joining his palms, humbly addressed the Buddha, saying: "O World-Honored One: I do but beg the World-Honored One not to be concerned. For, if in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who shall, with respect to the Buddhadharma, for but a single moment of thought render humble respect, I will also, by a hundred thousands of means, rescue and deliver that person from the midst of birth and death, speedily enabling him to gain deliverance. How much the more shall this be true of one who, hearing of wholesome matters, shall cultivate (wholesome) conduct from moment to moment! For (such a person shall quite) naturally, on the unexceeded Path, forever be free of backsliding.

When he was pronouncing these words, in the assembly there was a bodhisattva named Akasagarbha, who humbly addressed the Buddha, saying: "O World Honored One! I myself, arriving in Trayastrimsa, heard the Thus Come One praising the incalculability of the magical powers of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman, or, for that matter, …

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