Borimsa Temple Four Guardian Kings Sang Votive Bulseolsasibijanggyeong

Borimsa Temple is a temple on Gajisan Mountain in Jangheung County, South Jeolla Province, founded in 860 by the Silla monk Chejing. This book was among the relics kept inside the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings at Borimsa Temple. It is an early scripture transmitted from India to China, jointly translated by Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna. It condenses the vast body of Buddhist teaching into forty-two concise sections, and together with two companion texts it is also known as the Three Sutras of the Buddha and Patriarchs. In Korea two editions survive: one printed at Wonamsa Temple in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, in the tenth year of King Gongmin of Goryeo (1361), and another printed in the tenth year of King U of Goryeo (1384). No record of printing survives with this copy, so its exact date cannot be confirmed, but it matches the same edition as the treasure-designated "Combined Sutra in Forty-Two Sections, with the Sutra of the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching and Guishan's Admonitions," and is presumed to have been produced at Wonamsa Temple in the tenth year of King Gongmin of Goryeo. This book is bound in the very unusual butterfly-binding (hojeopjang) style that was popular in Song-dynasty China. In butterfly binding, each printed sheet is folded in half so that the printed face lies inward, and the outer edges are then pasted to the neighbouring sheets; when the book is opened it resembles a butterfly, which gives the binding its name. Judging from the form of the book and the carving of its printing blocks, this volume too is considered to be of treasure-level value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jangheung, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산