Sutra of the Great Demise (Mahaparinirvana Sutra) in standard script

Sutras are sacred texts believed to preserve the actual words of the historical Buddha, the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 563-483 B.C.). The text on this scroll is the thirty-third chapter of the Mahaparinirvana sutra (Sutra of the Great Demise), which contains the teachings given by the Buddha to his disciples just before his death. It was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese between A.D. 414 and 421 and quickly gained wide popularity.

Sutras were transcribed by professional calligraphers, either monks or laymen, for donation to Buddhist shrines and temples. Believers often commissoned transcriptions of a selected chapter or group of chapters to acquire spiritual merit.  Using a sharp, resilient brush, the calligrapher of this scroll applied great energy and concentration, varying the pressure of his brush, the speed with which he wrote, and the size and form of the characters. All the stokes are vividly written, the square corners are sharp and sturdy, the round turns are smooth and springy, and each character has its own rhythm, composition, and center of gravity. For protection against insects, the paper was dyed with a yellowish liquid prepared from the seeds and bark of the Amur cork tree (Phellodendron amurense).