Transcription of Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Garland Sutra), Zhenyuan Version, in Silver on Indigo Paper, Volume 34

Daebanggwangbul hwaeomgyeong, which is also called Hwaeomgyeong (Avatamsaka Sutra) for short, contains the central idea that Buddha and all creatures are one, rather than many. The Avatamsaka Sutra, as the basic sutra of the Hwaeom Order of Korean Buddhism, was one of the most influential sutras in the establishment of Korean Buddhism along with the Lotus Sutra. This book corresponds to volume 34 of the 40 volumes of the Zhenyuan version of the Avatamsaka Sutra translated by Samjangbanya of the Tang Dynasty. The sutra was transcribed and written in silver on indigo paper, which has been attached width-ways and kept as a scroll measuring measures 30.6 cm by 805.7 cm when unrolled. The stick-like axis attached at the end of the book is engraved with a flower pattern and plated in gold. The cover, which is decorated with gold and silver flower designs, has a gold-colored title written in double quadrangle lines, with the letter 'zhen' (貞), indicating that it is the Zhenyuan Version, engraved under the title. The illustration, which summarizes in pictorial form the contents of the sutra, is drawn on the cover in gold. Volumes 31 and 34 of the Zhenyuan Version of the Avatamsaka Sutra have survived to the present day. Based on the record at the end of volume 31, it demonstrates that Choe An-do and his wife Gu made the book in order to pray for the happy life of heaven in 1337 (the 6th year of the second reign of King Chungsuk of the Goryeo Dynasty).