Worin seokbo (Episodes from the Life of Sakyamuni Buddha), Volume 21

Worin seokbo is a Buddhist scripture compiled in 1459, the fifth year of King Sejo, by combining Worin cheongangjigok and Seokbo sangjeol. "Seokbo" means a chronicle of the Buddha Sakyamuni, that is, his biography. When Queen Soheon, of the Sim clan, died in 1446, the twenty-eighth year of King Sejong, Sejong ordered his son Prince Suyang (later King Sejo) to compile a Hangeul biography of the Buddha, drawing on Buddhist texts, in order to pray for her repose; this became Seokbo sangjeol. In 1447, the twenty-ninth year of his reign, Sejong read Seokbo sangjeol and composed hymns of praise corresponding to each two verses of it; this became Worin cheongangjigok. As no complete set of Worin seokbo survives today, the total number of volumes cannot be confirmed. Worin seokbo, Volume 21, is a later edition, bound as one volume in two books, re-carved in 1562, the seventeenth year of King Myeongjong, at Muryanggul in Sunchang, Jeolla-do, on the basis of the edition first published in the reign of King Sejo. Although not the original edition, being a faithful re-carving it remains close to the original form, and this Volume 21 is a unique copy with no other example known elsewhere. Its content corresponds to cantos 413 to 445 of Worin cheongangjigok. At the front of the book are illustrated frontispieces depicting the Buddha's descent from Tusita Heaven and his nirvana beneath the twin sala trees.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물