The fourth scroll of the Zhu Daban niepan jing 注大般涅槃経, stored at the Shitennō-ji 四天王寺, is a Gogatsu tsuitachi-kyō 五月一日経 scroll that contains Empress Kōmyō’s ganmon 光明皇后御願文. Among the nine surviving scrolls, the fourth is the only one for which some traces of its history have been recorded. Its Tōdai-ji 東大寺 seal implies that it was originally owned by the temple. Further records indicate that this scroll came into the possession of the Daigo-ji 醍醐寺 in 1896. In 1940, the scroll was in the possession of the Japanese-style painter Hida Shūzan 飛田周山. Subsequently, it was owned by Ueno Seiichi 上野精一 of the Asahi Shimbun 朝日新聞, Sorimachi Shigeo 反町茂雄 of Kōbunsō 弘文荘, Muraguchi Shirō 村口四郎 of Muraguchi Shobō 村口書房, and finally by the Shitennō-ji 四天王寺. It is worth noting that two parts of the scroll are missing, accounting for half of the original. This article provides bibliographic data and information about features of this scroll.
