Heart Sutra

Huang Chang-min

born 1954

Heart Sutra, 1995

Where object was made: Taiwan

Material/technique: ink; paper

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 68.5 x 183.4 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 26 15/16 x 72 3/16 in
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 91.2 x 236.3 cm
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 35 7/8 x 93 1/16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Fund

Accession number: 2007.0018

Not on display

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Exhibition Label: “From the Way of Writing to the Weight of Writing," June-2007, Ai-lian Liu The Chinese translation of the Heart Sutra contains merely 260 characters, yet this short scripture has been a primary representative of the Mahayana Buddhist literature. The artist divided the entire text of the Heart Sutra into 54 phrases, and designed and carved them in a wide variety of script styles, from the ancient pictorial scripts to the clerical scripts that are still commonly used today. As a calligrapher and seal carver, Huang Chang-min first carved Buddhist scriptures in 1985. He regards the lengthy process as a spiritual journey. The journey begins with the selection and arrangement of the text, followed by the selection of stones, the designing of the text and, at last, the final execution of the text and side inscriptions. By immersing himself in studying and carving of Buddhist scriptures, Huang Chang-min finds not only the pleasure of artistic creation but also a sense of spiritual fulfillment.