Persimmon Sutra - Kokeragyo

Japanese: 柿経 - こけらぎょう

A piece of cypress wood (persimmon) about 30cm long that has been shaved and has sutras written on it in ink. There are stone tablet-like ones with a peaked top and a notch at the neck, and ones shaped like a five-ringed tower, and in old records they are called "stupa sutras." They were mainly used in conjunction with copying sutras onto paper at sutra-copying ceremonies such as the Niyohogiyoe. In the Middle Ages, they were popular for doing good deeds for oneself and others, as they combined the merits of building a tower and copying sutras, and many kinds of sutras were copied on them, from the three Lotus Sutras and the three Pure Land Sutras to the name of the Buddha and mantras.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

ヒノキ材を削った30cm内外の細片(柿)に経文を墨書したもの。頭部を圭頭(山型)にして頸部に切込みを入れた板碑状のものと，五輪塔状のものがあり，古記録では〈率塔婆経（そとばぎよう）〉と称している。主として如法経会（によほうぎようえ）などの写経会に紙に写す場合と並んで行われた。中世には造塔の功徳と写経の功徳をあわせもつものとして自他の作善･追善に好んで用いられ，法華三部経，浄土三部経や名号（みようごう），真言（しんごん）に至るまで多種の経文が書写されている。

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

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