At the end of a roll of the Diamond Sutra, some lines provide exceptional information: its manufacture was completed on a date corresponding to May 11, 868. This Chinese Buddhist text is the oldest complete printed book with a date that has reached us, according to the British Library.
The printing was carried out with wooden blocks, on several sheets then joined in roll. An illustration opens the text. The final mention names Wang Jie, who financed this achievement for the benefit of his parents and for its dissemination. The object thus associates a technique of reproduction with a religious approach of merit.
The scroll was preserved among the documents of the Dunhuang cave-library. Its fame does not mean that no older impression exists: the decisive point is the combination of a complete text and an explicit date. A brief formula placed at the very end gave it a singular place in the history of the book.
What we know
Oldest known dated complete copy, not absolute first impression.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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