Seonjongyeonggajip(eonhae)(2017)

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.774-3

Category

Books & Records

Era

조선시대(세조 10)

Designated year

2017

Location

여주시, 경기도— 경기도 여주시

Coordinates

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

Seonjong Yeonggajip (A Collection of Zen Buddhism) (Korean translation of Chinese classics) is a book composed of two parts in four volumes. It is the first printed copy made by the Gangyeongdogam, the government institution responsible for translating the Buddhist Scriptures into Korean, in 1464 (the 10th year of the reign of King Sejo). King Sejo provided the gugyeol, a method of writing in Korean according to the phonetic and semantic values of Chinese characters designed to facilitate understanding of texts written in classical Chinese, while the Buddhist monk Sinmi undertook the translation into Korean. The first volume contains the seal impression “Proofread.” The last four chapters of Part II are missing, but it is said to be the best preserved copy among all the various copies of the book. As it was printed just two decades after the creation of Hangeul (Korean alphabetic scrip) in 1443, scholars hold it in high esteem as a very precious material for their research on Hangeul, Buddhism, and the relevant bibliography. It is considered worthy of designation and preservation as a national cultural heritage (Treasure).