Diamond Sutra
Topic: Print Culture and the Modern World · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 5 "Print Culture and the Modern World"
Meaning
The Diamond Sutra is a Buddhist text printed in China in AD 868. It has six sheets of text with woodcut pictures, all printed by hand from carved wooden blocks. It is the oldest printed book that carries a date. It shows that East Asia was printing books centuries before Europe.
Example
The Diamond Sutra of AD 868 was found in the Buddhist cave library at Dunhuang in north-west China. Its picture of the Buddha teaching was carved on a woodblock and printed along with the text.
Don't confuse with
- Jikji: a Korean book from the late 14th century, printed with movable metal type. The Diamond Sutra was printed from whole woodblocks.
- NCERT's placement: NCERT mentions the Diamond Sutra in its passage on Japan, but the book was printed in China.