Section of the Sutra of Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (Kanmuryojukyo)

Pieces cut from this sutra, commonly known as the Rengeoingire (“fragment from the Rengeoin Temple"), were among the most sought after by collectors in the Momoyama and Edo periods. This fragment was likely mounted in a tekagami album in the seventeenth century. Another fragment, with five lines of calligraphy, is in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, a gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto in 2014. The fragments are admired for the delicate painting of birds and butterflies in the margins and the text is valued because of its attribution to the Cloistered Emperor Shirakawa (r. 1027–86). This fragment, with six lines of text written in malachite, may be the longest known example. Marks in black ink were added later to assist with Japanese reading of the Chinese. The Kanmuryojukyo is considered one of the most significant sutras of the Pure Land Buddhist sect.