Not currently on display at the V&A

A Mind-Visualisation of the Ten Realms

Print
1821 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This woodblock print was issued by the Hoi Tong Monastery in Guangzhou in 1821,the first year of the Daoguang reign, to celebrate Buddha's birth. Such a picure aimed to help local Buddhists to visualise during meditation the ten realms of reality (ten DHARMADHĀTUs, or shi fajie in Chinese) according to Buddhist cosmology. Clockwise from the top are the realms of buddhas, bodhisattvas, solitary buddhas (S. pratyeka buddha), disciples (S. śrāvaka), divinities (S. deva), demigods (S. asura), humans (S. manuṣya;), animals (S. tiryak), ghosts (S. preta) and hell denizens (S. nāraka). The first four groups are enlightened beings (sisheng in Chinese), and those in the remaining six categories are destined to be reborn endlessly. An early example of the composition is recorded to be by Tiantai-school monk Zunshi (964-1032).

Object details

Object type
Titles
  • A Mind-Visualisation of the Ten Realms (generic title)
  • 清 佚名 十法界循業發現圖 (published title)
Materials and techniques
Print from woodblock
Brief description
Pap, China, prints
Dimensions
  • Height: 109cm
  • Width: 43cm
Subjects depicted
Summary
This woodblock print was issued by the Hoi Tong Monastery in Guangzhou in 1821,the first year of the Daoguang reign, to celebrate Buddha's birth. Such a picure aimed to help local Buddhists to visualise during meditation the ten realms of reality (ten DHARMADHĀTUs, or shi fajie in Chinese) according to Buddhist cosmology. Clockwise from the top are the realms of buddhas, bodhisattvas, solitary buddhas (S. pratyeka buddha), disciples (S. śrāvaka), divinities (S. deva), demigods (S. asura), humans (S. manuṣya;), animals (S. tiryak), ghosts (S. preta) and hell denizens (S. nāraka). The first four groups are enlightened beings (sisheng in Chinese), and those in the remaining six categories are destined to be reborn endlessly. An early example of the composition is recorded to be by Tiantai-school monk Zunshi (964-1032).
Collection
Accession number
E.2738-1921

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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