Ardhasatika prajnaparamita Sutra, the First Tripitaka Koreana Edition, Volume 6

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.269

Category

Books & Records

Era

고려시대(12세기)

Designated year

1991

Location

관악구, 서울특별시— 서울 관악구 남부순환로152길 53, 호림박물관 (신림동,호림박물관)

Coordinates

37.481072, 126.918352

This is Book No. 6 among the seven books translated by Fa Xian of the Song Dynasty of China. It is a part of the Tripitaka Original, which was made during the reign of King Hyeonjong (1011~1031) of the Goryeo Period in an attempt to counter an aggression by Kitan on the strength of Buddha. This book is produced by woodblock printing on mulberry papers and designed to be stored in the form of a scroll. It is made by joining in a row 24 pieces of papers, each of which is 47.1cm long and 29.8cm wide. There are several differences between the Tripitaka Original and the Tripitaka at Haeinsa Temple (also known as the Tripitaka Second or the Tripitaka Koreana), which were produced later. The former has more sophisticatedly carved wood blocks than the latter. It has a different number of characters, while not showing the year of production. Respect is expressed by omitting a stroke from the letter or replacing it with a synonymous word when a letter in the name of the preceding king appears, and abbreviated characters are found in several places. In addition, the Tripitaka Original often uses the words 'jang (丈)' and 'pok (幅)' to indicate the chapters in the books, whereas the Haeinsa Temple version uses a uniform expression of 'jang (張)' (using a different Chinese character). The chapters in this book are expressed in terms of 'jang (丈)'. The year of production is indicated nowhere. The words are written with fourteen characters in 23 lines. All these imply that this book is a woodblock print of the Tripitaka Original made in the 12th century.

Location