Unveiling the Oldest Printed Book: The Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha

The oldest printed book in the collection of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens will be exhibited for the first time in “Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty,” an exhibition on view in the Library’s West Hall from April 29 through Dec. 4, 2023. The exhibition aims to explore the book’s creation and religious significance while providing historical context and broadening visitors’ understanding of Chinese textual tradition. 

The exhibition will also display additional materials related to the text. According to Li Wei Yang, curator of the Pacific Rim collections at The Huntington, a specially designed display case will offer visitors a unique viewing experience of the sacred text. The book, known as The Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha, is more than 900 years old and is part of the 5,850-volume Great Canon of the Eternal Longevity of the Chongning Reign Period. Produced during the Song dynasty between 1080 and 1112, the accordion-style book unfolds to a length of 31 feet, 21 feet of which will be on display. 

The book is one of the longest sutras in the Buddhist canon and presents a vision of the entire universe as consisting of interpenetrating elements within the body of the Cosmic Buddha. “Printed in 1085” will also show the connection between religion and China’s printmaking, which had been practiced centuries before the first use of movable metal type in Europe. The book was printed using more than 165,000 woodblocks, making it one of the most time- and resource-intensive printing projects ever undertaken in China’s imperial history. Today, incomplete collections of the Chongning canon volumes are scattered in libraries and private collections throughout Asia, Europe, and North America, which makes The Huntington’s volume of the Chongning canon an especially valuable historical artifact.