Lavender kimono with overall woven pattern of a Hannya shinkyo text

Description

This silk kimono is embroidered with kanji (meaning “Chinese characters”), organized into a grid-like pattern. The characters are taken from the Heart Sutra, an important Buddhist text encapsulating the wisdom of the Buddha Sakyamuni. In the Buddhist faith, wisdom was perceived as the ultimate weapon for warding off evil. By transcribing (or wearing) the sacred words of the Buddha, practitioners acquired not only positive karma but protection against ignorance. 

This garment was intended for special occasions and may have been worn to a funeral mass. By wearing the text of this important sutra in the form of a garment, its owner was shielded from evil in the form of ignorance. Moreover, in the context of a funeral ceremony, the text may have had auspicious connotations regarding the deceased’s transition to a more favorable stage in the Buddhist cycle of rebirth.