On This Day In History: ‘Diamond Sutra’ The Oldest Dated, Printed Book Is Published – On May 11, 868

MessageToEagle.com – On May 11, 868, the Diamond Sutra was published in northern China.

This priceless religious teaching survives as the oldest dated, printed book. The manuscript was one of many discovered in the Mogao Caves of Dunhaung, China.

A Daoist monk, Wang Yuanlu, discovered the so-called Dunhaung manuscripts in 1900.

Marc Aurel Stein, a Hungarian-born British archaeologist and explorer, arrived in  Dunhuang in 1907 and bought several cases loaded with paintings, embroideries and other artifacts.

See also:

Discovery Made In Ancient Tomb – Six Golden Pages Of The Oldest Book In The History Of Mankind

Sir Marc Aurel Stein: Famous Fascinating Expeditions To Ancient Places Of The Silk Road

Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China – Fascinating Statues, Manuscripts And Wall Paintings

He was also able to purchase seven thousand of complete manuscripts written in Chinese, Sanskrit, Sogdian, Tibetan, Runic Turki and Uighur. Among all these ancient documents, there was also Diamond Sutra.

“Sutra” is a Sanskrit word meaning a religious teaching or sermon. Sutras are very important to Buddhism, a religion that developed in what is now India and spread to China hundreds of years before the 868 Diamond Sutra was printed.

The Diamond Sutra is a teaching from the Buddha himself. The book earns its name from being as short (it can be chanted in about 40 minutes) and sharp as a diamond blade, cutting through worldly illusions.

The version of the book printed in 868  is a collection of seven rectangular woodblock prints pasted together to form a scroll.

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