Skip to content

Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Conserving the Diamond Sutra

Posted on March 15, 2013January 26, 2019 by Dharma Documentaries
This 15-minute film is afascinating look at the decade-long conservation effort being made on the oldest, complete, dated printed book in history, a scroll of the Diamond Sutra, from 868 CE.

This 15-minute film is a fascinating look at the decade-long conservation effort being made on the oldest, complete, dated printed book in history, a scroll of the Diamond Sutra, from 868 CE.

In the late part of the 19th century this was amongst the thousands of manuscripts that were found behind a walled-in cave in the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang in West China.

It was subsequently taken to Britain by Auriel Stein, and kept in the British Library, along with most of his others finds.

It appears to have been patched at that time, and subsequently at least three times there were poorly thought-out attempts to preserve it.

The first thing to do in the modern conservation of the manuscript, was to find out how to remove the previous conservation attempts without significantly damaging the manuscript.

That in itself took years of research to understand the materials, and to find ways of working with it. Eventually when conservation was considered possible, the work began. It took around a decade.

I have included three more silent and very short looks at conservation of manuscripts in China today in this playlist. They are like short meditations on the delicate nature of these treasures.

 

if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page
(the comment is not published)

 

Diamond Sutra

 

Diamond Sutra

 

Diamond Sutra

 

TAGS:
Culture, Dharma, Britain, China, Conservation

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please Note: Comments are Moderated before Publication

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe to our Feed

Subscribe by Email

Email


Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/22F

Donations

This site has taken more than a dozen years and 1000s of hours to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to help, you can do so here. Even small amounts make a difference.

or Bank Transfer to:
Mr. Ng Choon Aun, Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), Acc. No. 6352323912, Swift: PBBEMYKL

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Popular Posts

  • The Freedom of being a Buddhist Nun
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 3-4 of 24
  • The Tibetan Oracles
  • The Mountain Yogi, Lama Govinda
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth
  • Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism
  • Avalokiteshvara (Chinese Movie)

Recent Posts

  • Zen Buddhism – In Search of Self
  • Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East?
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • From Myanmar to the World 2, Caves to Pagodas
  • From Myanmar to the World 1, Overland to India
  • The Rise of Dhamma
  • Lempad of Bali
  • Bagan, City of Temples (Fall of Civilizations)
  • Escape from Tibet
  • Escape from Tibet 2 (The Dalai Lama)

Random Posts

  • The Art of Life (Michael Behrens Story)
  • Fall and Winter (Deep Ecology)
  • Japan: The Meeting of the Gods and Buddha
  • Inside the Forbidden City 2, Survival
  • Himalaya, a Path to the Sky
  • His Holiness the 17th Karmapa’s Return to Tsurphu Monastery
  • Banteay Srei Temple, Cambodia (Expoza)
  • The Glory of Dunhuang 10, Dunhuang Majesty
  • Gyang Tse, Tibet (Expoza)
  • Bhutan 4, Thimphu Tsechu, the Kingdom’s Festival

Related Posts

  • Global Water Wars
  • The Glory of Dunhuang 2, A Thousand Years Creation
  • Regreening the Planet
  • Saving the Great Wild Goose Pagoda
  • Escape from Tibet
  • Escape from Tibet 2 (The Dalai Lama)
  • Escape from Tibet 1 (The Dalai Lama)
  • Lost Treasures of the Silk Road
  • Secrets of the Sacred Lake
  • Dorothy Wong, Buddhist Pilgrim-Monks, 2
© 2023 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme