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A Preliminary Study of a Tang Dynasty Diamond Sutra Manuscript in the Bliss M. and Mildred A. Wiant Collection

Fang, Yufan
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471861112

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, East Asian Studies.
Among the extensive collection of Chinese art objects assembled between 1923 and 1951 and donated to The Ohio State University by the Wiant family in the late 1970s, there is one handwritten Diamond Sutra scroll on the exterior of which pasted a title slip dating it to the Tang dynasty (618–907) by the early twentieth century collector Jin Cheng (1878–1926). If this is accurate, it will make this sutra the earliest piece in the Bliss M. and Mildred A. Wiant Collection of Chinese Art. Transcribed with the Kumarajiva translation of the Diamond Sutra, its brownish-yellow paper, neat copying format, and high-quality calligraphic style lead one to speculate that it could be a Dunhuang manuscript. If so, it will make The Ohio State University one of the relatively few institutions in the United States that are known to own Dunhuang manuscripts. This study will examine the Wiant sutra manuscript’s textual content, medium, ground, format, calligraphic style, and the collector’s seals, with the aim of settling questions of dating, authenticity, and possible provenance. Chapter One introduces the background of the sutra scroll and the research questions. Chapter Two discusses the discovery of the Library Cave in Dunhuang and traces the Dunhuang manuscripts. Chapter Three outlines preliminary findings on the Wiant sutra scroll in terms of its textual content, medium, ground, format, calligraphic style, and the collector’s seals. The conclusion chapter outlines the study’s results. By comparing the Wiant sutra in calligraphic style and textual content with eleven authenticated and dated manuscripts of various periods ranging between the sixth and the eleventh century, including a group in the Stein collection that share with the Wiant Diamond Sutra an identical textual variation, a conclusion is reached that the Wiant scroll may be one of the sutras that were transcribed officially in the Tang capital during the late seventh century. It may well have later been taken to Dunhuang, where it was preserved in the Library Cave until rediscovered in the twentieth century.
Julia Andrews (Advisor)
Ying Zhang (Committee Member)
Naomi Fukumori (Committee Member)
109 p.
Art History; Asian Studies
Dunhuang manuscript; calligraphy; Tang dynasty; Diamond Sutra; Jin Cheng;

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Citations

  • Fang, Y. (2016). A Preliminary Study of a Tang Dynasty Diamond Sutra Manuscript in the Bliss M. and Mildred A. Wiant Collection [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471861112

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fang, Yufan. A Preliminary Study of a Tang Dynasty Diamond Sutra Manuscript in the Bliss M. and Mildred A. Wiant Collection. 2016. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471861112.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fang, Yufan. "A Preliminary Study of a Tang Dynasty Diamond Sutra Manuscript in the Bliss M. and Mildred A. Wiant Collection." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1471861112

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1471861112
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.