The Illustrated Heart Sutra is the first illustrated book on the Heart Sutra in the Buddhist sphere of Taiwan. This is also a collaborative illustrated book by Venerable Master Hsing Yun and Italian illustrator Giuliano Ferri. Venerable Master Hsing Yun is accomplished in using simple and understandable way to expound Buddhist teachings, as well as using allegories to interpret Buddhist scriptures so that readers could cultivate positive outlook on life by understanding the Heart Sutra. As for Italian illustrator Giuliano Ferri, he skillfully presented Eastern style of ink wash painting through Western painting techniques to interpret the content of the book. The second chapter of this research will dissect the interpretations of the Heart Sutra by looking at its original sources, and continues to examine modern picture books of the Heart Sutra to discover the specialty of reinterpret the sutra with a modern outlook by spreading the sutra through picture and words. The third chapter will analyze the interpretation of written content through the lens of narratology to discover the four main concepts of The Illustrated Heart Sutra, which are the humanism, world, life, and practice, so as to interpret the concepts and values of the Heart Sutra. As for the narrative structure, it uses the traditional three textual divisions of a sutra to investigate how the narrative structure lay down the foundation for the story’s content. As for the choice of allegories, this dissertation will research how Buddhist stories are adapted and represented. Moreover, the fourth chapter will focus on the analysis of images. The illustrator combines the structure of an illustrated book and narration to create a graphic and written interpretation. From the perspective of semiotics, the images of The Illustrated Heart Sutra have different allegorical representation. It uses images to interpret the meaning and value of the Heart Sutra, providing readers an explanation on images, symbols and their meanings. This book is both an inheritance of the traditional way of interpreting a scripture, as well as a modern innovative interpretation.
