Diamond Sutra of 868 AD - The Diamond Sutra (868), frontispiece and text

1907

Diamond Sutra of 868 AD The image depicts the frontispiece to the world's earliest dated printed book, the Chinese translation of the Buddhist text the 'Diamond Sutra'. This consists of a scroll, over 16 feet long, made up of a long series of printed pages. Printed in China in 868 AD, it was found in the Dunhuang Caves in 1907, in the North Western province of Gansu.