ABSTRACT
The full Chinese name of the sutra that we shall be looking at in this unit is 妙法蓮華經 (miàofǎ liánhuā jīng) ‘the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Marvelous Dharma’ (Skt. Saddharmapuṇḍárīka Sūtra). It is often referred to in Chinese by the shorter name of 法華經, ‘Dharma Flower Sutra’. Lotus Sutra is the title that it was given in an early translation into English and this title has stuck until today. The Lotus Sutra has been and still is enormously important and influential in East Asian Buddhism, particularly in China and Japan. References and allusions to it are also frequently encountered in Chinese and Japanese literature and scenes from the sutra are commonly depicted in paintings and temple carvings.
