The copying of this popular Avalokiteśvarasūtra was paid for by a Chinese soldier who writes at the end: 'On the 1sixth day of the fourth month of the first year of Guangming (28 May 880), Liang Ju, Cavalry Officer of the Fifth Frontier Garrison at Liangzhou in the Tianping (Heavenly Peace) Army, caused this sutra to be copied in fulfilment of a vow made while on military service in the heart of Tibet.'
Avalokiteśvara was a saviour of those in trouble and so it is probable that the soldier promised to have the sutra copied if he was not killed in battle.
Ink on paper
The British Library,
Or.8210/S.4397