The Diamond Sutra
《金刚经》
The oldest extant printed book with a specific date in our country as well as in the world is the Diamond Sutra. The block-printed Diamond Sutra , printed in the ninth year of Xiantong of the Tang Dynasty (868) , is a Buddhist scripture scroll which is some 16 meters long and made up of 6 bonded equal-sized pieces of paper with the Buddhist scripture on them. At the beginning of the scroll is a picture entitled the Garden of the Benefactor of the Orphans and Solitary, in which Gautama Buddha gives Dharma teachings in the Jetavana Vihara; on the rest of the scroll is written the text of the Diamond Sutra with an in scription which reads " On 15 , April in the ninth year of Xiantong, Wang Jie printed the book for the sake of beseeching blessings for his parents". The world-renowned Diamond Sutra , initially hidden in the Gtianfo Cave of Dunhuang Grottos in Gansu Province, was discovered in 1899 and then purchased illegally by an Englishman Stein in 1907. It is now collected in the British Museum in London.
我国及世界现存最早的有明确日期的印刷书是《金刚经》。《金刚经》是雕版印刷，印成于唐咸通九年(868)，它是一部长约16米的佛教经卷，由6张尺寸一致的印有经文的纸张粘接而成。卷首有一幅题为《祗树给孤独园》的同画，面着释迦牟尼佛在祗园精舍说法的故事，其余为《金刚经》全文，题有“咸通九年四月十五日王玢为二亲敬造普施”一行。这卷举世闻名的《金刚经》，原藏甘肃敦煌千佛洞，1899年发现，1907年被英人斯坦因盗去，现藏伦敦不列颠博物馆。