Ink on White Paper Bhaisajyaguru Yurigwang Buddha Bonwongongdeokgyeong

The Bhaisajyaguru Yurigwang Buddha Bonwongongdeokgyeong sets out the vows the Medicine Buddha Bhaisajyaguru made while cultivating the Buddhist path, and the merits gained by venerating him; for this reason it is also known in shortened form as the Yaksa-gyeong (Medicine Buddha Sutra). Having made twelve vows concerning the sick and thereby attained Buddhahood, Bhaisajyaguru Yurigwang is also called the Medicine Buddha (Yaksa-yeorae), the Lapis Lazuli Light King, or the Great Medicine King Buddha; he is the Buddha who heals all the sufferings and illnesses of sentient beings, removes every disaster, and extends life. The copy of this sutra held at Guinsa Temple is missing its cover but is otherwise generally well preserved. It measures 30 cm in height, with 23 lines of 14 characters per leaf. Its position in the Cheonjaham sequence — the method, used when a Tripitaka was printed or copied, of marking a scripture's volume order by writing beneath its title a character taken in order from the Thousand Character Classic, such as cheon, ji, hyeon and hwang — is 'gong'. In the Guinsa copy the leaf numbers are marked with the character '丈', and the woodblock carving is fine and precise; the presence here and there of pihwi (replacing or altering a character so as not to use a name that must be revered) and of abbreviated characters (yakja) suggests that this is one of the woodblocks of the Chojo Tripitaka, carved during the reign of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo (1011-1031) in the hope that the Buddha's power would help overcome the Khitan invasions. This item was among the personal effects of the monk Jeon Hyeong-seong, who passed away in May 1994, and it was identified during the first survey of the collection carried out in 2001 in preparation for the establishment of the Cheontae Museum.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Danyang, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산