Text, Folio 59 (verso), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra)

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Text, Folio 59 (verso), from a Manuscript of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita-sutra) is a 14 unspecified by Unknown, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 14
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This is a long, narrow wooden board with three rectangular sections of tiny, evenly spaced holes. Each section looks like a grid of black dots on a light background. The wood has some wear, and there are two small white circles near the center. These aren’t dots—they’re holes for an old writing tool called a *stencil brush*. Ink was pushed through them to copy Buddhist texts quickly. The precision suggests this was used for sacred writing. Look up The Cleveland Museum of Art to see where this tool is kept.