Tripitaka Koreana

Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Tripiṭaka Koreana in storage at Haeinsa
LocationSouth Korea
CriteriaCultural: iv, vi
Reference737
Inscription1995 (19th Session)
Coordinates35°48′N 128°06′E / 35.800°N 128.100°E / 35.800; 128.100
Tripitaka Koreana is located in South Korea
Tripitaka Koreana
Location of Tripitaka Koreana in South Korea
Tripitaka Koreana
Hangul
팔만 대장경
or 고려 대장경
Hanja
Revised RomanizationPalman Daejanggyeong
or Goryeo Daejanggyeong
McCune–ReischauerP'alman Taejanggyŏng
or Koryŏ Taejanggyŏng

The Tripiṭaka Koreana (lit. Goryeo Tripiṭaka) or Palman Daejanggyeong ("Eighty-Thousand Tripiṭaka") is a Korean collection of the Tripiṭaka (Buddhist scriptures, and the Sanskrit word for "three baskets"), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century.[1]

It is the oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script. It contains 1,496 titles, divided into 6,568 books, spanning 81,258 pages, for a total 52,330,152 Hanja characters.[2]

Each wood block (page) measures 24 centimetres in height and 70 centimetres (9.4 in × 27.6 in) in length.[3] The thickness of the blocks ranges from 2.6 to 4 centimetres (1.0–1.6 in) and each weighs about three to four kilograms (6.61 - 8.81 lbs). The woodblocks would be almost as tall as Mount Baekdu at 2.74 km (1.70 mi) if stacked and would measure 60 km (37 mi) long if lined up, and weigh 280 tons in total.[4] The woodblocks are in pristine condition without warping or deformation despite being created more than 750 years ago.[5][6] The Tripiṭaka Koreana is stored in Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple in South Gyeongsang Province, in South Korea.

There is a movement by scholars to change the English name of the Tripiṭaka Koreana.[7] Professor Robert Buswell Jr., a leading scholar of Korean Buddhism, called for the renaming of the Tripiṭaka Koreana to the Korean Buddhist Canon, indicating that the current nomenclature is misleading because the Tripiṭaka Koreana is much greater in scale than the actual Tripiṭaka, and includes much additional content such as travelogues, Sanskrit and Chinese dictionaries, and biographies of monks and nuns.[8]

The Tripiṭaka was designated a National Treasure of South Korea in 1962, and inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2007.[9][1] Haeinsa has decided to open the Palman Daejanggyeong, which was limited to Buddhist events, to pre-booked members of the public every weekend, morning and afternoon from 19 June 2021.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Printing woodblocks of the Tripiṭaka Koreana and miscellaneous Buddhist scriptures". UNESCO Memory of the World. United Nations. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Wooden block printing perfection of Tripitaka Koreana". The Korea Herald. 13 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks" (PDF). UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  4. ^ Park, Sang-jin (18 September 2014). Under the Microscope: The Secrets of the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 9781443867320. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  5. ^ World Heritage in Korea. Cultural Heritage Administration (South Korea). 19 November 2011. p. 188. ISBN 9788981241773. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  6. ^ Park, Sang-jin (18 September 2014). Under the Microscope: The Secrets of the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 9781443867320. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  7. ^ Kim, Tong-hyung (4 November 2013). "'Tripitaka Koreana' may be renamed". The Korea Times. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. ^ Yun, Suh-young (3 September 2013). "Name of Tripitaka Koreana should be changed". The Korea Times. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Printing Woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana in Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon". Cultural Heritage Administration. Korea Tourism Organization. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  10. ^ Ki, Jung-hoon (12 June 2021). "World Heritage Tripitaka Koreana, also visible to the public". YTN (in Korean). Retrieved 12 June 2021.

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