Text from the Heart Sutra, from an album of twenty-four portraits of Guanyin

Artist Miss Qiu (Chinese, active ca. 1565–1585)

Artist Tu Long (Chinese, 1542–1605)

Datelate 16th century

MediumAlbum pages: gold ink on dyed paper

DimensionsImage (each): 11 9/16 × 8 11/16 inches (29.4 × 22.1 cm);
Sheet: 14 9/16 × 22 inches (37 × 55.9 cm);
Mat: 22 × 28 inches (55.9 × 71.1 cm)

CultureChina

PeriodMing dynasty

ClassificationsCalligraphy

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of Judith Stoikov, Class of 1963, supplemented by the George and Mary Rockwell Fund, and gift of Warner L. Overton, Class of 1922, by exchange

Terms

Calligraphy
Ink
Bodhisattvas
Writing
Calligraphy
Paper
Chinese

Object number2002.012.002

Label CopyThe Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra are texts extracted from the Mahaprajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom), the main teaching of Mahayana Buddhism. The most famous translation of the Heart Sutra into Chinese was made by the monk Xuanzang (602–664); on his long journeys to and from India he repeatedly recited the text for protection from danger. Sutra writing in gold ink on dyed paper reflects both the preciousness of the text and the piousness of the patron who has expended wealth in order to create a lavish copy of the sutra. Tu Long, a Ming dynasty official and essayist, calligraphed this text for the beginning of an album of paintings of twenty-four portraits of the bodhisattva Guanyin, by Miss Qiu (active ca. 1580), which were also painted in gold ink. The patron of the album was a devout Buddhist: the wife of the prominent Ming dynasty art collector, Xiang Yuanbian (1525–1590). ("Xu Bing: The Character of Characters," curated by Ellen Avril and presented at the Johnson Museum August 11-December 23, 2018)

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