Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law (Saddharmapundarika-sutra), 7 juan, Manuscript from Dunhuang

Tang dynasty (618�907), Zhengsheng period (695), dated 695

Translated from the Sanskrit by Kumarajiva (344�413)

From the Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu Province

Handscroll containing juan 5 (pin 14�17), ink on 23 joined sheets of yellow paper with ruled columns in ink; 24.6 x 986.6 cm; height of first sheet: 19.6 cm

Inventory number: Xin 029

This scroll is one of more than 20,000 religious and secular manuscripts on paper dated between 406 and 996 c.e. that were recovered in 1900 from a sealed library among the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang.

The Saddharmapundarika-sutra, commonly known as the Lotus Sutra, is a profound Buddhist scripture comprising 28 chapters (pin) in seven volumes (juan) with more than 60,000 characters.� The 23 joined sheets of Tang-dynasty yellow paper on which this fifth juan of the Lotus Sutra is inscribed have a closely woven fiber texture that has stood the test of time remarkably well.� Featured in this copy of the sutra are certain distinctive characters that had been created during the reign of Empress Wu (624�705; r. 690�705). This scroll contains chapter 14, "Peaceful Practices"; chapter 15, "Emerging from the Earth"; chapter 16, "The Life Span of the Thus Come One"; and chapter 17, "Distinctions in Benefits."