sutra style ink application

Evidence

"the scribe's handwriting begins in the headed style and then changes to the headless style."

Remarks

The manuscript features a mid-ninth century 'sutra style' of writing associated with the Tibetan imperium (p. 293). The repairing scribe utilized both 'headed' (dbu can) and 'headless' (dbu med) styles; the headed style involves short horizontal strokes capping the letters, a trait inherited from late Gupta scripts of India (p. 290). The handwriting of the repairer is characteristic of the latter half of the 10th century (p. 293).