Woodblock Edition Ryu Buddhist Scripture Books and Documents held at Namgukseonwon

The Buddhist scripture holdings at Namgukseonwon comprise four books in woodblock-printed editions: a single volume of the Beopjip byeolhaengnok jeoryo byeongip sagi, a single volume of the Mongsanhwasang yukdoboseol, a single volume of the Yukgyeong hapbu, and Volume 7 of the Lotus Sutra, printed at Gongsanbonsa Temple in 1531. The single-volume Beopjip byeolhaengnok jeoryo byeongip sagi held at Namgukseonwon is an edition carved at Gyubongam Hermitage in 1486, the 22nd year of King Seongjong of Joseon. An identical edition held at the Myongji University Museum has been designated a treasure; this copy, however, additionally contains a colophon by Daegeol and a list of donors (sijujil) not found in the treasure-designated copy, giving it considerable bibliographical and heritage value. As to its physical form: it is a single volume with a four-sided single-line border around the title page, the inner frame measuring 13.4 cm across and 19.5 cm high; there are no ruled column lines, and each half-leaf has ten lines of twenty-one characters. The text is a manual of practice written for practitioners by State Preceptor Bojo Jinul of Goryeo (1158–1210) and is one of the essential works of Buddhist study. It condenses the Beopjip byeolhaengnok written by Zongmi of Tang China and, drawing on various sources, sets out the path of true practice grounded in Jinul's thought on Seon meditation. As the crystallisation of State Preceptor Jinul's Seon thought, it is regarded as Korea's oldest surviving philosophical text and a highly valued distillation of Buddhist theory and practice. The single-volume Mongsanhwasang yukdoboseol held at Namgukseonwon belongs to a lineage of fifteen editions produced in Korea between the first, carved in 1432, and 1584; this particular woodblock edition was carved at Sangam Hermitage in 1521, the 16th year of King Jungjong of Joseon. As to its physical form: a single volume with a four-sided single-line border around the title page, the inner frame measuring 14.3 cm across and 20.9 cm high; there are no ruled column lines, and each half-leaf has six lines of fifteen characters. The Yukdoboseol compiles the teachings on the six destinies given by Mongsan Hwasang, an eminent monk of the late Yuan dynasty in China. Taking the position that all things are created by mind alone, it expounds ten realms — the six realms of hell-beings, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, humans and heavenly beings, together with the four sagely realms of hearers, solitary buddhas, bodhisattvas and buddhas — urging practitioners to leave the state of the ordinary and enter that of the sage. The single-volume Yukgyeong hapbu held at Namgukseonwon belongs to a lineage of ten editions produced in Korea between the first, carved at Ansimsa Temple in 1424, and 1797; this particular edition was carved at Geumsasa Temple in 1449, the 31st year of King Sejong of Joseon, while a 1440 edition of the Yukgyeong hapbu has separately been designated a treasure. As to its physical form: a single volume with a four-sided single-line border around the title page; the size of the inner frame varies slightly between the six sutras but is generally around 13.7 cm across and 19.7 cm high. There are no ruled column lines; each half-leaf has eight lines of seventeen characters, except for the Gwanseeum bosal yemun, a liturgical text in honour of Avalokitesvara, which has fifteen characters per line. The Yukgyeong hapbu brings together, in a single volume, six sutras widely recited in the early Joseon period: the Diamond Sutra, the Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra from the Daebanggwangbul hwaeomgyeong (Avatamsaka Sutra), the Śūraṅgama dhāraṇī, the Amitabha Sutra, the Gwanseeum bosal yemun, and the Universal Gate Chapter of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva from the Lotus Sutra. Volume 7 of the Lotus Sutra held at Namgukseonwon belongs to the most widely printed body of Buddhist scripture in Korea, with more than 130 woodblock editions produced between the first, in 1236, and the early 1700s. This particular edition was printed at Gongsanbonsa Temple in 1531, the 26th year of King Jungjong of Joseon. The complete sutra comprises seven volumes in seven books, of which Volumes 1 to 6 are missing here. As to its physical form: a four-sided single-line border around the title page, the inner frame measuring 20 cm across and 26 cm high; ruled column lines are present, and each half-leaf has nine lines, with sixteen large characters and twenty small characters per line. The Lotus Sutra, together with the Avatamsaka Sutra, is regarded as foremost among the Mahayana sutras taught by Śākyamuni, and is often referred to by its shortened title, Beophwagyeong. It was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in 406 CE and comprises seven volumes in twenty-eight chapters. It is thought to have reached Korea during the North–South States period, and many gold- and silver-lettered manuscript and woodblock editions survive from the Goryeo period. In the Joseon period it was the sutra most frequently printed by the royal court and by temples throughout the country, and some 160 editions survive today. These four books came to be held at Namgukseonwon after being received and preserved by its presiding elder monk (hoeju), the Venerable Hyeguk, who inherited them from his teacher, the Great Seon Master Ilta.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seogwipo, Jeju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산