Muryōju gisho 無量壽義疏 [無量寿義疏]

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 16006.c.9
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1701
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Generally good. Minor worm damage, some repaired unskilfully with paste. A few folios water-stained. Impression: An early impression, sharp and clear. Shozuri or near. llustrations: Single sumizuri woodcut on unnumbered first folio recto, depicting a writer (presumably the author of the present work) in his studio. On verso, four Chinese quatrains in a frame decorated with dragons, in the form of a memorial tablet. Seals of ownership: None.

Scope and Content

Variant title: Daikyō gisho 大經義疏 [大経義疏]. Variant title: Muryojukyō gisho 無量壽經義疏 [無量寿経義疏]. Author/compiler: Jizang 吉藏, scholar monk of Sanlun 三論 sect, 549-623. Imprint: [Edo] , Tamaki Jirōbē, Genroku 14, 1701. Kanki on fol. 41b reads: 峕元禄十四辛巳歳春末上旬 ／ 武城増上寺前玉置次郎兵衛久信. Description: 1 kan, 1 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. western style. ff. [1] (illustration), 41. 26.8 x 17.6 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 21.6 x 15.8 cm. (average). Double-line borders. Fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text with printed okurigana and kaeriten. 9 lines to page, 18 characters to line. Renewed yellow covers (late-Edo period) embossed with formal design of decorative circles. Renewed title slip with manuscript gedai: 無量壽義疏. Title at head of text on fol. 1a: Muryōju gisho 無量壽義疏. Hashiragaki: Daikyō gisho 大經義疏 + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Edition: Third pre-modern edition of this work, earlier editions having been published in Enpō 3 延宝三年 (1675) and Genroku 8 元禄八年 (1695). Contents: Commentary by Jizang 吉藏 of the Sui period on the Sukhāvatī-vyūha or Aparimitāyuḥ-sūtra, one of the three basic doctrinal texts of Pure Land teaching. Batsu by a Japanese monk, Chisoku 知足, dated Enpō 4 (延宝丙辰) precedes kanki on fol. 41b.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Alexander von Siebold, 22 July 1868.

Other Finding Aids

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993). B. Buddhist works 仏書 4. Jōdo, jōdo shinshū sects 浄土・浄土真宗

Bibliography

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 10, pp. 426, 432.