The style, with the sutra transcribed in the lower half of the Kansubon together with illustrations depicting the sutra painted in the upper half, originated in China, and this has been proved by the archaeological finds of Dun Huang which show their similarity.
巻子本の下段に経文を書写し、上段にそれを絵解きした絵画を描く形式は中国にその源流があり、敦煌出土品などに類似の例がある。