Lotus Sutra of Beomeosa Temple

The Lotus Sutra is a shortened name for the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, whose central teaching is that the path to becoming a Buddha is open to everyone. It is the root scripture of the Cheontae Order and, together with the Hwaeom Order, was a Buddhist scripture that had great influence on the establishment of Buddhist thought in Korea. It is the most frequently printed of all Buddhist scriptures ever circulated in Korea; exactly when it first began to circulate is not known, but since commentaries by eminent Silla monks survive, it is presumed to have been in circulation since the Three Kingdoms period. During the Goryeo period it was printed on numerous occasions, centred on the royal family, in order to accumulate merit, and printing continued through the Joseon period. The edition printed by Jeong Cheon-ik in the 2nd year of King Jeongjong (1399) is the oldest Joseon-period edition to survive to the present day, and from then on, editions with clearly recorded printing dates alone amount to a vast total of around 120 kinds. Beomeosa Temple preserves around 160 editions of the Lotus Sutra, most of them printed after the Japanese invasions of Korea, with editions from the mid-Joseon period accounting for a large share. Of those whose printing records are known, the temple holds 77 volumes printed between the 22nd year of King Jungjong (1527) and the 27th year of King Sukjong (1711). In particular, the editions of 1647, 1688, 1708 and 1711 are missing from all other Lotus Sutra materials known until now, and are considered valuable material for bibliographical research.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산