Prayer Sheet, China, Dunhuang, 15th day of 7th month / 4 August 947 CE, Woodblock print on paper, On loan from the Royal Ontario Museum, 927.24

Prayer Sheet, China, Dunhuang, 15th day of 7th month / 4 August 947 CE, Woodblock print on paper, On loan from the Royal Ontario Museum, 927.24

This Buddhist prayer sheet is one among dozens of identical copies featuring the bodhisattva Guanshiyin of Great Compassion, commissioned in the city of Dunhuang in northwestern China during the summer Ghost Festival in the year 947 CE. Early in the eleventh century this sheet was enclosed in a cave site, along with some 50,000 other books and documents, including some dating as far back as the 5th century. This so-called Dunhuang 'library cave' housed manuscripts and printed works in languages ranging from Judeo-Persian to Sanskrit to Tibetan until its rediscovery in 1900. This is the only document from the Dunhuang caves in a Canadian public institution, and this is its first display in many years. Despite the passage of time, the blessings of the festival that this woodblock print celebrates still resonate today: "Let diseases disappear… let the people be steeped in happiness and good fortune."

Cao Yuanzhong (commissioner); Lei Yanmei (carver)

Dimensions: 46.0 x 32.0 cm

Material: woodblock print, ink on paper

ROM 927.24

China, Dunhuang

Photographer credit: Courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum

The 15th day of the 7th moon of the dingwei era, the 4th year of Kaiyun in the Great Jin Dynasty / 4 August 947 CE

Chinese

Royal Ontario Museum

Royal Ontario Museum

Prayer Sheet