Iconic books are texts revered as objects of power rather than just as words of instruction, information, or insight. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. This blog chronicles such events and activities. (For more about iconic books, see the links to the Iconic Books Project at left.)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Heart Sutra on Pillars

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A new installation of monumental scriptural texts has appeared in the last few years in Hong Kong. David Killick reports in the New Zealand Press that at the monastery in Ngong Ping Village is "the Wisdom Path, which opened in 2005. A winding trail leads past the monastery to 38 timber columns, built on the side of the mountain, their tops disappearing eerily into the mist.

"All but one of them are inscribed with sections of the 260-word Heart Sutra prayer. The highest column is blank, symbolising "emptiness" (Sunyata).

"Artist and scholar Professor Jao Tsung-I completed his calligraphy of the Heart Sutra in 2002, and dedicated it to the people of Hong Kong."
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