Lotus Sutra vol. 1~3

The Lotus Sutra is the fundamental scripture of the Cheontae order, its core teaching being that the path to becoming a Buddha is open to everyone. Together with the Avatamsaka Sutra, it greatly influenced the establishment of Buddhist thought in Korea, and it is the most frequently printed Buddhist scripture to have circulated in the country. This copy of the Lotus Sutra is presumed to be a woodblock print produced around 1382, the 8th year of King U of Goryeo, and is a small-character edition based on the commentary written by the Chinese monk Gyehwan of the Song dynasty in 1127 (the 5th year of King Injong of Goryeo). Though it survives only as an incomplete set of three rolls bound in one volume (volumes 1-3), it is the same edition as the treasure-designated Lotus Sutra of 1988. According to a colophon by Yi Saek at the end of that 1988 treasure-designated copy, the characters in Gyehwan's Lotus Sutra were too large, so in 1382, with the patronage of Prince Suyeon, Wang Gyu, and others, the Goryeo monk Jiseon rewrote it in smaller characters. The printing is clear, suggesting an early impression, and the paper is a plain, rustic mulberry paper. It is a valuable resource for research not only into the Buddhist studies of the late Goryeo period but also into Korean woodblock printing and Korean bibliography.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산