National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This commentary on the Kongô hannya kyô (E., The Diamond Sutra, Skt., Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra) was written by the priest Kûkai (also known as Kôbô Daishi, 774-835). This handwritten manuscript is considered a draft, because the text contains both running scripts (J., gyôshô) and cursive characters (J., sôshô) with occasional erasures and corrections. Though only a draft, it is an extremely valuable text for what it tells us about Kûkai's handwriting style. A companion piece to this segment is also housed at the Nara National Museum.