The Biography of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng

One Scroll, National Treasure since 1953

The Biography of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng (六祖恵能伝, Rokuso Eno Den) is a Tang-period work of calligraphy and text owned by Enryakuji in Shiga Prefecture, designated a National Treasure on 31 March 1953. The quantity is one scroll and the designation number 00158.

The field for designation as an Important Cultural Property is blank in the Agency's database: it went to National Treasure without that earlier step, the twenty-sixth such case covered here.

31 March 1953 is the day of the Jodoji pagoda and main hall, the Onjoji golden hall, Sofukuji Daiyuhoden and the temple's first gate.

The Country Field Reads China

The field for country names somewhere other than Japan.

The country is China and the period the Tang. The fields for date and western year both read 803.

A National Treasure under the Japanese system, and the record states that it was made in China.

With the Soranjo, no original by Wang Xizhi survives and a Tang copy holds the designation. That property also comes from China, though its country field was not examined here.

Here the country field states China plainly. The period field gives a Chinese dynasty rather than a Japanese era.

The owner, Enryakuji, is in Japan. Where the scroll was made and where it now rests fall in different countries.

The One-Sentence Commentary Names the Tang

The commentary is a single sentence, and its wording differs from the others.

It reads: a work of the Tang period.

Twenty-three one-sentence commentaries have appeared here so far. The ceremonial sword on a pear-skin ground, the Saibara-fu, the Engishiki and the scroll at Zentsuji all read: a work of the Heian period.

This one names the Tang. The form is the same and the period within it is not.

It is the twenty-fourth one-sentence commentary, and the first in which a period other than the Heian appears.

The template stays fixed while the content changes to suit the property. How the records were compiled can be read from that.

A Chinese Era Name Dates the Colophon

The ground for the date lies in the notes field.

It records a colophon of the thirteenth day of the second month of the nineteenth year of Zhenyuan. Zhenyuan is a Tang era name, and that year corresponds to 803.

The date field and the western year field also read 803. Notes and date agree.

With the Engishiki at Amanosan Kongoji, the date field stood empty and the notes field carried a colophon under a Japanese era name.

With the scroll at Zentsuji, both the date field and the notes field were empty.

Here both are filled, and the day is given under a Chinese era name. Across three properties the fields fill in three different ways.

Seeing It

The scroll belongs to Enryakuji. The field for prefecture gives Shiga, and the address field is blank, the ninth such case.

It is a temple holding, not kept on permanent display; work on paper is vulnerable to light and shown only briefly.

Enryakuji also owns the Hosoge lacquer sutra box, a craft object whose address field is likewise blank. One owner, two fields.

The fields for dimensions, form, writer, inscriptions and provenance are all empty.

Access follows the temple's own arrangements. Check the temple's information before travelling.