Konkōmyōsaishōō-kyō (Suvarṇaprabhāsottama-rāja-sūtra), Vol.1-10 (Kokubunji-kyō)

The edict issued by Emperor Shōmu (701-756; r. 724-749) ordering the construction of Buddhist temples in each province of the nation in 741 (Tenpyō 13) also decreed that a copy of the Konkōmyō saishō ō kyō written in gold ink be deposited in each of their pagodas. This scroll remains from that time. It is considered a particularly elegant example of sutra copying from the Tenpyō era (729-749). {i=>[Golden Light Sutra, Suvarṇa-prabhāsôttama-sūtra, Jinguangming zuishengwang jing, Konkōmyō saishōō kyō], content=>[One of the most important sutras in East Asian Buddhism, reverence shown to the , (Skt. , ; Ch. , ; J. , ) offers protection of the state. The edict issued by Emperor Shōmu (701–756; r. 724–749) in 741 (Tenpyō 13) ordering the construction of a Buddhist temple in each province of the realm also decreed that a copy of this sutra in gold ink be deposited in their pagodas. This copy is thought to have been enshrined at the state-sponsored temple in Bingo Province (present-day Hiroshima prefecture), and it is a masterwork of Nara-period sutra transcription.]} {br=>[[], []], content=>[The Konkōmyō Saishō'ō-kyō (Suvarṇaprabhāsottama-rāja-sūtra), which consists of ten volumes, includes a text about the four guardian Buddhist deities and other deities who are supposed to protect the nation., On February 14, 741 the Emperor Shōmu announced an order to establish Kokubun-ji and Kokubuni-ji temples in each province.

At that time it was also decided that each Kokubun-ji temple should keep within its pagoda the Konkōmyō Saishō'ō-kyō sutra written in gold. According to old documents kept in the Shōsō-in treasure house, the governmental studio for sutra copying in gold letters was established for this project, and seventy-one copies of the sutra, which consisted of seven hundred and ten scrolls, were completed in October 746. They were written with gold dust on purple paper., The set of volumes which is introduced in this article was reportedly kept in Kokubun-ji temple in Bingo (today's Hiroshima prefecture). The ten scrolls are all extant. The gold letters, which were polished by a polisher using a tusk from a hog, are still shiny and standing out against the purple background. These scrolls have gracefulness and dignity, and they deserve to be called the gems of copied sutras of the Tempyō period.]}

— Museum description: Nara National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.