Illustrated manuscript of the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing), Volume 2

In the pictureDeep indigo paper is unfolded like a folding screen, and on the right is a cover with the sutra's title written inside a gold pattern. The two panels on the left show the Buddha preaching, drawn densely in gold line, and beside them rows of sutra text written in gold and silver continue. It is a small book, 23cm high.

BackgroundSagyeong, the hand-copying of sutras, was a way of earning merit, and in Goryeo the paper was dyed indigo and the text written in gold and silver powder. The opening picture is a frontispiece summarizing the content of the sutra, and Volume 2 of the Lotus Sutra is the part that explains the teaching through a number of parables. Such transcriptions were commissioned by the royal family and aristocrats, and they represent the Buddhist art of Goryeo during the period of Mongol domination.

Puzzle tipWith only gold lines on an indigo ground, sorting by color is easy, but the details are dense. Fit the gold pattern pieces of the cover on the right and the figure pieces of the picture on the left first, and place the text pieces by the spacing of the lines and the difference between gold and silver. Since the photograph is wide, 48 pieces is about right.