Sutra scroll decoration - Kyokansoushoku

…There are various kinds of decorations, such as colored paper sutras made of colored paper joined together, gold (silver) letter sutras with sutra texts written in gold and silver paint, sutras with pictures of Buddha or the meaning of the sutra on the cover or inside of the sutra scroll, and those using cloth made of ramie or twill, or those using fragrant wood with mother-of-pearl work on the ends of the scrolls. In the strict sense, particularly luxurious sutras that combine these techniques are called decorated sutras. Such decoration of sutra scrolls has nothing to do with the original function of a sutra scroll to accurately convey the teachings of Buddha, but due to the belief that a sutra scroll is the same as Buddha, it was done for special wishes and memorial services, apart from ordinary copying or printing of sutras, to decorate the Buddha and his teachings in the same way as decorating Buddhist halls and Buddhist ceremonies. Its origins can probably be traced back to the decoration of Buddhist boxes, and the technique of decoration was established in China. …

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "sutra scroll decoration" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…さまざまな色に染めた色紙を継いで料紙とした色紙経，経文を金銀泥で書いた金(銀)字経，経巻の表紙や見返しなどに仏像や経意をあらわす経絵を描いたもの，さらに羅や綾の布を用いたり，軸の端に螺鈿（らでん）細工の香木を用いたものなど多様な装飾がなされるが，これらの手法を組み合わせた特に豪華なものを狭義の装飾経と呼ぶ。こうした経巻装飾は，仏説を正確に伝える経巻本来の機能とは無縁なものだが，経巻即仏の信仰などから，仏堂や法会儀式を飾るのと同様に仏とその教えを荘厳するため，通常の写経や版経とは別に，特殊な願いや供養に際してなされた。その起源はおそらく梵篋（ぼんきよう）の装飾などに求められ，中国で装飾の手法が確立した。…

※「経巻装飾」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報