Mongsanhwasangyukdoboseol

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.1737

Category

Arms & Armor

Designated year

2011

Location

창원시, 경상남도— 경상남도 창원시

Coordinates

No precise coordinates are available, so this item is not shown as a map marker. To be added later.

Mongsanhwasang yukdoboseol (Preachings on Six Realms by Buddhist Monk Mongsan) is a book in which the Mongol monk Mengshan Deyi explains the six realms in which a sentient being may be reborn according to the karma he/she has collected – namely, the Hell Realm, Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Animal Realm, Realm of Asura, Human Realm and the Realm of Devas – and the ten realms which add the Sravaka (Sound-hearer Arhat), Praetyka-Buddha (those enlightened to conditions), Bodhisattva and Buddha realms to the six realms, encouraging those on the quest for enlightenment to reach Buddhahood. This copy of MongsanhHwasang yukdoboseol was printed in 1497 (the third year of King Yeonsangun’s reign), in Hyeonam Hermitage in Yongchulsan Mountain in Jinan, Jeollanam-do. The carving of the woodblocks took place with funding from donors including Kim Ik-hui, Kim Bok-san, and their spouses. The woodblocks were softened before carving by Gyeongji, and Uigyeong was in charge of carving. Twelve persons including Hail and Uigyu are also mentioned as donors toward the printing of this book. The characters, carved with precision, are easy to make out, and the quality of printing is very crisp, as the book was printed with newly-carved blocks. This woodblock-printed copy is the first volume of this book. The leaf has single-line borders on all four sides, and the half leaf measures 20.1cm by 13.5cm. The leaves are unlined, and each of them contains six lines of thirteen characters on either side. A thick black line is drawn in the fold of each sheet with two black fish tail designs at the top and bottom of the fold. There are hand-written gugyeol markings in the text, along with notes, some of which are present also outside the text area. The cover page is thread-sewn, and the book is in decent condition except for the spine. This copy is of fine quality, especially compared to other such copies as the early Joseon copy from King Sejong’s reign (1432, the 14th year of King Sejong’s reign), the Jabiryeongsa (Seojinji, Hwanghae-do) edition of 1490 (the 21st year of King Seongjong’s reign) and the Daegwangsa edition of 1509 (the fourth year of King Jungjong’s reign) – all of which are based on the manuscript written in the hand of the monk Suam. The very clearly-printed text suggests than this copy was the first print of newly-carved woodblocks. The complete publishing information provided at the end of the book, including the names of donors and artisans, makes this book extremely valuable for the understanding of early Joseon Buddhism and bibliographic research into this period.