Heike Nōkyō
Illustration — Heikenoukyou The Heike Nōkyō 平家納経, is a collection of Buddhist religious texts in Japan from the late Heian period. These texts include 33 scrolls of the Lotus Sutra, one Amitabha Sutra scroll, one Heart Sutra scroll and one prayer scroll dedicated to the Itsukushima Shrine. The Nōkyō is written in a form of Japanese known in English as Classical Japanese.
Also recorded as Sutras Dedicated by the Heike · Sutras Dedicated by the Taira Family · Heike Nōgyō · Heike Nokyo
Heike Nōkyō
平清盛 · 平家納経 厳島神社所蔵 · Public domain
- Date
- 1167
- Genre
- Buddhist art
- Held by
- Itsukushima Shrine
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q11482424 · wikipedia · Heike Nokyo
In this article
History and development
History and development
It has had a profound influence on Japanese culture and Japanese art and was created during a golden age of Japanese art history. It is one of the masterpieces of decorated sutras (sôshoku kyô) of the Heian period Emakimono texts and is considered a National Treasure of Japan.
The Nōkyō was commissioned by the Taira clan and dedicated by Taira no Kiyomori (1118-81CE) to Itsukushima Shrine in 1164CE in a prayer scroll (Heike Nogyo). It was made by aristocratic circles in the 12th century and depicts the tale of the Heike, numbering 33 to represent the 33 goddesses found at Itsukushima who were said to take the form of Kannon. The Nokyo was written in Classical Japanese, Classical Chinese and the Kana script formatted as Ashida-E (reed writing) representing a votive and religious work of Heian-specific Art. In 1602, the Rinpa painter Tawaraya Sotatsu was commissioned to restore the Nokyo which affected his painting.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Lotus Sutra Prologue • Illustration — Chapter 12 Lotus Sutra • Illustration — Woman from Chapter 12
Heike Nōkyō, 《平家納経 観普賢経》1164年、平安時代、厳島神社、広島
『日本美術全集 11巻』（小学館、2013）
Heike Nōkyō, 《平家納経 提婆達多品》1164年、平安時代、厳島神社、広島
『日本美術全集』11巻、小学館、2013
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Places
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- Japan
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Heike Nokyo, revision 1339764370 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Manuscripts
376 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- He-gassenManuscript
- Hebrew BibleManuscript
- Hedwig CodexManuscript
- Heiji Monogatari EmakiManuscript
- Hell ScrollManuscript
- Heures de Charles d'AngoulêmeManuscript
- Histoire Ancienne (Jean Fouquet)Manuscript
- Homilies of St. Gregory of NazianzusManuscript
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