Lotus Sutra vol. 6~7

The Lotus Sutra, sometimes abbreviated as the Lotus Sutra, is the fundamental scripture of the Cheontae (Tiantai) school, its basic tenet being that the path to buddhahood lies open to everyone. Together with the Avatamsaka Sutra, it had the greatest influence on the establishment of Buddhist thought in Korea, and has been the most widely circulated Buddhist scripture since the Three Kingdoms period. This edition is a woodblock print produced in 1561, the sixteenth year of King Myeongjong. According to its colophon, Seong Dalsaeng (1376–1444) had been asked by the monk Haeun to copy out the Surangama Sutra, and had then begun to copy the Lotus Sutra as well, but was unable to finish it because he had been appointed commissioner of Hamgil Province and was occupied with affairs on the northern frontier; after Im Hyoin and Jo Jeol completed the copying, the monk Hyesin and others requested a colophon to record the whole course of events from beginning to end. The colophon itself is dated 1477, the eighth year of King Seongjong, but by that date Seong Dalsaeng had already died, and a very similar colophon appears in the edition of 1443, the twenty-fifth year of King Sejong, printed at Hwaamsa Temple on Bulmyeongsan Mountain; this indicates that the earlier colophon was simply copied over unchanged. It therefore appears that this edition was recarved in 1561 at Jijilbangsa on Sobaeksan Mountain, Punggi, Gyeongsang Province, using as its base text an edition believed to have been printed in 1477. Colophon: "Respectfully written by Seong Dalsaeng of Changnyeong, holder of the senior first-rank Sungnok-daebu title and Overseer of the Central Military Command, on an auspicious day in the second month of the Jeongyu year, the thirteenth year of the Chenghua era [1477]." Printing record: "Carved at Jijilbangsa, Sobaeksan Mountain, Punggi, Gyeongsang Province, in the first month of the Xinyou year, the fortieth year of the Jiajing era [1561]." The Lotus Sutra is the fundamental scripture of the Cheontae school and, together with the Avatamsaka Sutra, is the scripture that most greatly influenced the establishment of Buddhist thought in Korea.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Danyang, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산