Imperial manuscript in gold ink, dated 1430
The 120-volume Chinese translation of the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra consists of 49 parts, each being an independent sutra. This compilation was created during the Tang dynasty by integrating older and newer translations: the first 23 parts were translated by various scholars during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern dynasties, whereas the remaining 26 parts were translated by the South Indian monk Bodhiruci, who arrived in China during Empress Wu Zetian’s reign.
This imperial manuscript is written in gold ink and bound in accordion-folded format, with each volume forming a single book. The entire set consists of 12 cases, with each case holding 10 volumes, totaling 120 books. Each page follows a six-line, 17-character layout typical of sutras, written in taige style on fine yangnao paper. The first book in each case includes a title plaque and a depiction of the Buddha preaching. The final page of the last book features a guardian image of Skanda. The preface to Volume 1 contains the Imperial Preface to the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, dated February 3, 1430, followed by Emperor Ruizong of Tang’s Preface to the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra.
The Supplement to the Biographies of Eminent Monks, written by the Ming dynasty monk Minghe, contains a biography of the prominent Huayan School monk Huijin (posthumously recognized as the 33rd patriarch of the Huayan School) from the early Ming period. Most of the content is derived from the Inscription for the Pagoda of Master Qiyan Fazhu, authored by Minister of Rites Hu Ying (1375–1463) in 1457. Huijin was summoned by Emperor Yongle to interpret the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and was appointed abbot of the Tianjie Temple in Nanjing. He also contributed to the compilation of the Numerical Teachings of the Tripitaka of the Great Ming. Later, he moved to Beijing with the emperor and became the abbot of the Haiyin Temple, overseeing the carving and printing of the Yongle Northern Canon. The emperor composed 13 prefaces and 12 praises for Buddhist scriptures at Huijin’s request, Later, he decreed the gifting of a Shakyamuni Buddha statue, a silk-carved Guanyin, crystal prayer beads, and the verses of the Seven Buddhas to Huijin. Emperor Xuanzong later entrusted Huijin with supervising the transcription of major sutras; namely the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, and Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, in gold ink. Based on this historical account, the National Palace Museum’s collection of the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, a 40-volume gold-ink Mahāparinirvāṇ Ssūtra manuscript dated 1430, and two additional volumes of the Mahāparinirvāṇ Sūtra: Later Sections were likely transcribed under Huijin’s supervision.