Printing of the Diamond Sutra
May 11, 868 CE · Late Antiquity
On May 11, 868 CE, a woodblock-printed copy of the Diamond Sutra was produced in Tang Dynasty China, commissioned by Wang Jie on behalf of his parents. The scroll consists of seven panels of text preceded by a woodcut frontispiece depicting the Buddha teaching, printed on paper sheets glued into a scroll roughly five meters long. Found in Cave 17 at the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang by Wang Yuanlu around 1900, it was acquired by Aurel Stein in 1907 and is held by the British Library.
Key Figures
Wang JieAurel Stein
Locations
Mogao Caves, Dunhuang
Topics
Buddhismwoodblock printingTang DynastyDunhuangDiamond Sutrabook history
Connected Events — 4 Connections
Woodblock printing of the Diamond Sutra preceded Gutenberg's movable type press by nearly six centuries Gutenberg Printing Press
Chinese printing advances made standardized currency production feasible Paper Money Introduced in Song Dynasty China
Cai Lun's paper-making method in 105 CE provided the medium on which the Diamond Sutra was printed 763 years later Cai Lun's Invention of Paper
Xuanzang's translations of Buddhist texts contributed to the scriptural tradition that produced the Diamond Sutra printing Xuanzang Departs China on Pilgrimage to India
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