Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief, and Art in a Golden Age

Ming dynasty, the 9-10th years of the Yongle reign (1411-1412)
11×8.7 cm
Gufo 000704

Sutra Manuscript activities within the Ming inner court were carried out on a considerable scale. Manuscripts of this type, written in gold ink, display distinctive court characteristics in their materials, binding, and pictorial style.

The scrolls of the Mahāyāna Sūtras and Dhāraṇīs (Dasheng jingzhou) are written in fine gold script on indigo-dyed paper and originally employed the concertina format, although the Museum’s copy was remounted during the Qianlong period. Many volumes are preceded by an imperial preface composed by the Yongle Emperor. In most cases, the scripture or mantra is introduced by a gold-painted image of a Buddhist deity. These paintings exhibit a pronounced fusion of Chinese and Tibetan artistic traditions, and the principal deity depicted usually corresponds directly to the deity invoked in the accompanying mantra, creating a close relationship between image and text.

The outer robes of the Buddhist figures are decorated with dense floral patterns. This ornamental tradition first appeared in certain Tibetan murals of the eleventh century, became increasingly popular in Tibet during the first half of the fourteenth century, and began to influence imperial Buddhist manuscript illustrations in China during the Hongwu reign (the second half of the fourteenth century) of the Ming dynasty. As an iconographic feature, it reflects the degree to which Tibetan Buddhist art in Tibet and China had reached a comparable level of development by that time. In contrast, the extensive use of diamond-patterned ground designs in Ming imperial manuscript illustrations derives not from Tibetan Buddhist artistic conventions but from long-established Chinese visual representations of the Pure Land.

Volume Three of the Mahāyāna Sūtras and Dhāraṇīs (Dasheng jingzhou) contains the Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti, preceded by the Imperial Preface to the Scripture of the True Names, dated to the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the ninth year of the Yongle reign (1411). The text of this scripture is based on the translation attributed to Shi Zhi and corresponds to the version included in the Yongle Northern Canon (Yongle Beizang). Although the colophon of the canon identifies Shi Zhi as a translator of the Yuan dynasty, he was in fact a Tangut monk of the Western Xia. This Chinese translation was rendered from a Tibetan version.

Ming dynasty, the 5th year of the Xuande reign (1430)
Frame (per half-folio): 30.4 × 14.5 cm
Gufo 000343-000352

This Chinese translation of the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra (Da baoji jing) comprises 120 fascicles divided into forty-nine assemblies, each constituting an independent scripture. The compilation was assembled during the Tang dynasty from both earlier and newly translated texts. The first 23 assemblies derive from translations produced by various translators during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties periods, while the remaining 26 assemblies were translated by the South Indian monk Bodhiruci, who arrived in China during the reign of Empress Wu.

This imperial gold-ink manuscript is bound in concertina format, with one fascicle per volume. Ten volumes were housed in each case, making a total of twelve cases containing 120 volumes. Each folded page follows a layout similar to that of the Buddhist canon, with six columns of seventeen characters per column. The text is written in the ministerial style (taige ti) on goat brain stationery. The first volume in each case begins with a eulogy tablet and an illustration of the Buddha preaching the Dharma, while the final page of the last volume in each case bears an image of the Dharma Protector Skanda (Weituo). At the beginning of fascicle one appears the Imperially Composed Preface to the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, dated the third day of the second month of the fifth year of the Xuande reign (1430). Following the frontispiece painting is an earlier preface attributed to Emperor Ruizong of the Tang dynasty.

The biography of the eminent Huayen Buddhism monk Huijin is recorded in the Supplement to the Continued Biography of Eminent Monks, compiled by the Ming monk Minghe. Much of this account is based on the Stele Inscription for the Chan Master Qiyan, written in the first year of the Tianshun reign (1457) by the Minister of Rites Hu Ying (1375-1463). According to these sources, Huijin was summoned by the Yongle Emperor at an early age to explain the essential meaning of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. He was subsequently granted a purple robe, appointed abbot of Tianjie Monastery in Nanjing, and later participated at Linggu Monastery in the compilation of the Numerical Categories of the Great Ming Tripiṭaka. After the capital was moved to Beijing, he resided at Haiyin Monastery and was entrusted with overseeing the carving and printing of the Yongle Northern Canon.

The Yongle Emperor is said to have composed thirteen prefaces to Buddhist scriptures and twelve eulogies dedicated to Buddhas and bodhisattvas at Huijin’s request. He also bestowed upon the monk sacred objects including an image of Śākyamuni Buddha, a kesi-woven image of Guanyin, crystal prayer beads, and verses associated with the Seven Buddhas. During the reign of the Xuande Emperor, Huijin was treated as a revered elder of the state and was charged with supervising the transcription in gold ink of four major scriptural collections: the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, and Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. On the basis of these historical records, the Museum’s manuscript of the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, together with a matching forty-fascicle gold-ink manuscript of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (accompanied by two additional fascicles of the supplementary text), was most likely copied under the supervision of Huijin himself.

Ming dynasty, the 16th year of the Yongle reign (1418)
Frame (per half-folio): 20.5x13 cm
Gufo 000415

This imperial gold-ink manuscript, produced in the sixteenth year of the Yongle reign (1418), contains the four-fascicle version translated by Guṇabhadra (394-468) during the Liu Song dynasty. Each fascicle is copied as a separate volume, making a total of four volumes. The text is written on goat brain stationery, with the opening title reading “Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, fascicle one” (the remaining volumes being titled accordingly). Both the front and back covers are decorated with finely painted representations of the eight auspicious symbols, rendered in a distinctive court style.

The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, commonly known as the Laṅka Sūtra, is also referred to as the Entering Laṅka Sūtra or the Mahāyāna Entering Laṅka Sūtra. “Laṅka” refers to the name of a mountain, while “avatāra” is a Sanskrit term meaning “entry” or “descent.” The title thus signifies the Buddha’s entry into Mount Laṅka to preach the Dharma, from which this scripture derives its name. It is an important scripture within the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition.

Each fascicle opens with identical frontispiece illustrations depicting the “Buddha Preaching the Dharma” and a sutra tablet. The base of the tablet is decorated with lotus-petal and roundel motifs. The rectangular stele bears an eighty-two-character inscription in regular script:

“May the realm enjoy peace and harmony; may the seven celestial bodies move in proper order; may timely rain and sunshine nourish abundant harvests. May countless people live in health and concord; may even the nether realms be illuminated; may all beings attain longevity and sow the seeds of merit. May supreme virtue prevail and obstacles be dispelled; may families uphold loyalty and filial piety, and may people delight in compassion and goodness. May officials be upright and governance be just; may litigation be few and punishments unnecessary; may moral transformation flourish and the Great Way prosper universally. May all sentient beings attain Buddhahood. On the seventeenth day of the fourth month of the sixteenth year of the Yongle reign (1418).”

Above the stele rises a canopy formed by an auspicious cloud-and-dragon motif, while matching cloud-and-dragon designs appear on both sides, coiling upward toward the top.