Rules for Confession in the Place of the Merciful and Compassionate One, 10 juan, in Tangut Script

Yuan dynasty (1279�1368), Dade reign period (1297�1307), undated, ca. 1300

105 leaves folded accordion-style between top and bottom boards; each board: approx. 32.7 x 13.2 cm; each leaf: approx. 32.5 x 13.1 cm; block size of first illustrated frontispiece of 4 leaves: approx. 26.9 x 51.5 cm; block size of second illustrated section of 4 leaves: approx. 27.2 x 51.7 cm; height of block of main text of 97 leaves: approx. 26.9 cm

No inventory number

This late-fifth-century apocryphal text is thought to have been compiled by Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502-49) between 483 and 493. Because of the attribution, it is popularly called the Liang huang baochan (Precious Confessional of Emperor Wu of Liang).

The Tangut version was translated from the Chinese sometime between 1049 and 1139. Tangut is a logographic writing system of about 6,600 characters modeled upon Chinese and Khitan scripts. It was devised and promulgated in 1036 by the Xi Xia state and was used for the translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka from Sanskrit and other languages. This copy of the text, however, was printed only around 1300 by Yuan authorities, along with the rest of the Tangut Tripitaka, long after the destruction of the Xi Xia Empire by the troops of Genghis Khan in 1227. Tangut remained in use for some time after 1227 because of its important role in Mongol-Tibetan relations.