The fifth volume on the inscriptions carved in cave chapels at the Grove of the Reclining
Buddha (Wofoyuan) in Anyue County Sichuan presents sections E and F on the southern
escarpment of the Grove. In five of the sixteen caves a total of eight walls are engraved with
sutra texts. The Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra in cave 71 are followed by an undated but
probably eighth century colophon and a dharäi spell in large characters. Engraved in cave 73
are two colophons dated 727 and 733 and six chapters of the Synoptic Golden Light Sutra (Hebu
Jinguangming jing). Its text continues in cave 76. These are the only caves in China where this
sutra is found. In cave 83 an attempt was made to progress with the engraving of the Nirväa
Sutra. Cave 85 contains the entire Vimalakirti Sutra in an unusual layout. The central chapter
12 in which the Buddha adresses Vimalakirti is here seen on the rear wall where ordinarily a
statue of the Buddha would be placed. Three large line drawings in the caves can stylistically
be dated to the 9th 10th century. A long inscription of 1103 in cave 81 talks about the
disasters that had befallen the monastery including a contagious disease. All engravings are
fully reproduced in detailed photographs of the cave walls. They are juxtaposed with
photographs of ink rubbings or visualizations of 3D laser scans. The texts are transcribed with
a scholarly apparatus noting textual variants and variant characters in the calligraphy. An
essay by Lothar Ledderose presents the two sections and highlights their peculiarities and
their significance. In his magisterial study on The *Suvar¿abhasottama-sutra Michael Radich
presents a comprehensive analysis of the textual history of the Synoptic Golden Light Sutra
and elucidates the singularity of this particular version in the Grove. The texts are in
Chinese and English throughout.
