Volume from the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra

late 1100s

Volume from the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, late 1100s. Japan, Heian period (794–1185). Handscroll; ink and gold on dyed paper; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift 1969.130.2.j This scroll is part of the 600-volume Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. The sacred text addresses the perfection of wisdom and the nonsubstantiality of all phenomena, or the emptiness of all things. It takes the form of Shakyamuni Buddha’s preaching at four locations. This scroll is from the Perfection of Wisdom in 100,000 Lines, which occupies the first 400 volumes. At one time, religious clergy kept all the scrolls in a lacquered wood repository on view nearby. They are now too fragile to open and we will conserve them over time.