Excavated Relics from the Clay Four Guardian Kings of Songgwangsa Temple, Suncheon

During the full dismantling and repair of the Clay Four Guardian Kings of Songgwangsa Temple, Suncheon, votive objects placed inside the statues were recovered, including fourteen volumes in twelve titles of bokjang texts (documents deposited inside a Buddhist statue), 428 sheets of printed dharani, a huryeongtong (a ritual container placed inside such a statue), and other items. Among these votive relics, the bokjang texts excavated from the Four Guardian Kings are especially valued as new material clarifying the nature of the Goryeo-period Gyojang, a supplementary Buddhist canon. Most of the texts are re-edited editions of the Gyojang, some of them combining printings from the Second Goryeo Tripitaka with temple editions. Of the more than 1,000 titles of the Gyojang published under the supervision of State Preceptor Daegak Uicheon at the Gyojangdogam, the office responsible for its publication, only three titles are known to survive worldwide; and of the volumes later re-edited by King Sejo of Joseon at the Ganggyeongdogam, the Sutra Publication Office, only about ten titles have been known until now, including those held at Songgwangsa Temple and in private collections. The re-edited Gyojang volumes found in the Four Guardian Kings number as many as ten titles, equal to the entire number previously known. The newly discovered editions are of varied character, allowing the publishing practices of the Gyojangdogam to be inferred: first, that editions already existed at the Gwanggyowon of Geumsansa Temple before the Gyojangdogam was established at Heungwangsa Temple; second, that the Gyojangdogam reproduced woodblock editions obtained from the Khitan Liao exactly as they were; and third, that texts previously transmitted only as manuscripts were separately prepared as fair copies and published at the Ganggyeongdogam of Joseon. The bokjang texts thus corroborate matters that had only been discussed intermittently in academic circles, giving them significance for the history of Buddhist culture, bibliography and printing. The printed dharani sutras and the huryeongtong excavated together with them are likewise valued as important material showing the contents and nature of such votive deposits.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물