Worin seokbo (Episodes from the Life of Sakyamuni Buddha), Volume 25

Worin seokbo is a Buddhist canon compiled in 1459, the fifth year of King Sejo, by combining Worin cheongangjigok and Seokbo sangjeol. "Seokbo" means a chronicle of Sakyamuni Buddha, that is, an account of his life. When Queen Soheon, of the Sim clan, died in 1446, the twenty-eighth year of King Sejong, King Sejong ordered his son Prince Suyang (the future King Sejo) to draw on Buddhist scriptures and compile a translation into the Hangul script to pray for her repose; the result was Seokbo sangjeol. In 1447, the twenty-ninth year of King Sejong, King Sejong read Seokbo sangjeol and composed hymns of praise, two verses to each passage, and these became Worin cheongangjigok. Because no complete set of Worin seokbo survives today, the total number of volumes cannot be confirmed. In the compilation of Volume 25, the verses of Worin cheongangjigok are set out first, followed by the corresponding passages of Seokbo sangjeol presented in the form of commentary. However, in compiling Worin seokbo the existing text of Seokbo sangjeol was not simply reproduced but was revised and supplemented, with additions and omissions drawn from various sutras. This volume falls into a first and a second half, and two folios plus part of another are missing. The first half, corresponding to about two-fifths of the whole, is estimated to comprise verses 2 to 4, while the second half is built around the seven verses 577 to 583 of Worin cheongangjigok together with the content of Volume 24 of Seokbo sangjeol. The total number of volumes of Worin seokbo had previously been estimated at either twenty-four or twenty-five. The newly discovered Volume 25 not only establishes that the work originally comprised twenty-five volumes in all, but is also valued as an extremely precious source that opens a new chapter in the study of early Joseon Korean Buddhism and philology.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jangheung, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물