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

The Sutra of Cause and Effect in the Past and Present (Ch. Guoqu xianzai yinguo jing) is a four-volume sutra that was translated into Chinese around the mid-5th century (Liu Song dynasty, Yuanjia era) by the Indian monk Guṇabhadra (394–468). The Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect has paintings added to the upper section that expand the original four volumes into eight. The earliest mention of the text in Japan is in the Shōsō-in Documents, in a record called “Catalogue of Hīnayāna Sutras Stored in a Chest on the 7th day of the 5th month of Tenpyō Shōhō 5” (June 12, 753 [Julian calendar]), which lists The Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect, 2 copies, 16 handscrolls.” Another copy of the sutra is listed in “Catalogue of Sutras Held by the Bureau of Manuscripts and Books on the 2nd day of the 7th month of Tenpyō Shōhō 8” (August 2, 756). At the time, scriptoriums frequently added illustrations to the frontispieces of handscrolls, leading to closer cooperation between artists and the scribes working in scriptoriums. The advent of The Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect marks a significant moment in history, as it shows when illustrations for Buddhist scriptures came to be understood as corresponding to the text itself.

There are five other extant partial copies of The Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect from the Nara period (710–794). They are: the Jōbon Rendaiji Temple scroll (the f irst part of the second fascicle), the Daigoji Temple scroll (the first part of the third fascicle, entirely intact), a scroll formerly owned by the Masuda family (the first part of the fourth fascicle), the Tokyo University of the Arts scroll (the second part of the fourth fascicle), and the Idemitsu Museum of Arts scroll (the first part of the third fascicle).

The Nara National Museum’s scroll originally belonged to the same set as the Jōbon Rendaiji Temple scroll. It presents the closing scenes of “Venturing Outside the Four Palace Gates.” These relate the four episodes “Siddhartha’s Competition,” “The Prince’s Anointment,” “Meditating under the Jambu Tree” and “Marriage.” It begins with Prince Siddhartha (the historical buddha Śākyamuni) venturing out the north palace gate and having a dialogue with an ascetic (Skt. bhikkhu) who ascends into the sky. The prince then returns to the castle on a horse, Udāyin informs the king that the prince met an ascetic, the prince and his wife watch female attendants singing and dancing to music, and finally the prince asks the king’s permission to become an ascetic. The partial extant versions of The Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect each have their own unique expressions, making it unlikely that they were created at the same time by the same artists. This itself, however, offers important insights into the operations of the Bureau of Painting at the time. Further, few paintings from the Nara period have survived to present day, making the scrolls even more valuable.