Commentary on the Vajracchedika prajnaparamita Sutra (The Diamond Sutra), Volumes 4-5

The Vajracchedika prajnaparamita Sutra, often called in short the 'Diamond Sutra', is the fundamental scripture of the Jogye Order and, in Korea, the most widely read sutra after the Heart Sutra. This book is a commentary in which Gongcheol offered an accessible explanation of the Diamond Sutra, later supplemented by Jion; it survives as a single volume combining Volumes 4 through 6 of the seven-volume 'Gaehyeoncho'. It is a woodblock print on mulberry paper, measuring 36 cm in height and 35 cm in width. Drawing on the Buddhist canon that State Preceptor Daegak Uicheon of Goryeo had compiled from sutras obtained from China, Liao, and Japan, this edition was newly carved and published in the seventh year of King Sejo of Joseon (1461) at the Gangyeongdogam, an office set up that year to translate Buddhist scriptures into Hangeul and publish them. At the end of each volume the names of the scribes and proofreaders are listed, together with a record noting that it was republished by the Gangyeongdogam under King Sejo. This book therefore serves as important evidence that the various volumes of the Buddhist canon preserved at Songgwangsa Temple are not the original Goryeo-period editions, but later copies newly carved after the Gangyeongdogam consulted the original canon.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물