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> Additional information on the Tripitaka Koreana woodblock carvings
Issued by APEC Secretariat
Additional information on the Tripitaka Koreana woodblock carvings
The Tripitaka Koreana woodblock replica presented to the APEC Secretariat contains the Sutra of Wisdom, a 260-character summary of the contents of the Sutra of Great Wisdom that accounts for 600 volumes of the Tripitaka Koreana. The Sutra of Wisdom is the shortest scripture of Buddhism but believed to encompass all elements that Buddha preached.
The Tripitaka Koreana is comprised of 52,382,960 individual characters carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks. The printing blocks are 70cm wide 24cm long and 2.8cm thick on the average. Each block has 23 lines of text, each with 14 characters, on each side meaning each block has a total of 644 characters on both sides.
The first Tripitaka Koreana was first carved during the Goryeo Dynasty when the royal family took shelter on Ganghwa Island during the war with the Mongols during the 13th century. While the original woodblocks were destroyed by the Mongols following the surrender of the king, a century later a succeeding Korean king had a second set carved, again on Ganghwa Island, that were later moved to the Haeinsa Temple.
This highly revered work is still housed in the Haeinsa Temple that was listed under the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1995.
The name Tripitaka Koreana comes from:
"Tripitaka" meaning the three baskets or collections of Buddhist canon that relate to regulations of monastic life (Vinaya-pitaka), discourses with the Buddha (Sutta-pitaka) and commentaries on the sutras by renowned monks and scholars (Abhidhamma-pitaka).
"Goryeo," the name of the Korean state founded in the year 935 and lasting until 1392. The name "Goryeo" is also the basis of the English translation of "Korea."
The Tripitaka Koreana is National Treasure 32 of Korea.
For further information contact:
Michael Chapnick
on +65 9247 5751 or E-mail:
mc@apec.org
Carolyn Williams
on E-mail:
cdw@apec.org
