Buddhist Manuscript Cultures: Knowledge, Ritual, and Art

The introduction rethinks Buddhist manuscript cultures by emphasizing that Buddhist manuscripts functioned both as sources of religious knowledge and as sacred material objects. It explains the transition from oral transmission to written forms, the diversity of manuscript media such as palm leaf, birch bark, paper, silk, cloth, and metal plates, and the role of manuscripts in devotion, merit-making, education, ritual consecration, artistic production, and the preservation of the Buddha’s word. The chapters are organized into four parts: Ideologies, Production, Curating, and Art and Architecture. Together, they show how Buddhist manuscripts shaped religious life across Asia through their production, circulation, preservation, visual design, ritual power, and institutional use. The volume therefore presents manuscripts as living cultural artifacts situated at the intersection of knowledge, ritual, aesthetics, technology, and Buddhist community life.