Haeinsa Tripitaka Koreana

Do you know a famous monument in your country? Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is one of the most famous monuments in South Korea. It has a historical story and is important in its value.

           The temple is in Gaya Mountain, Hapcheongun, Gyeongsangnamdo, and was established as a national-level treasure in 1995, December. There is a historical story about the temple. The First Tripitaka Koreana, carved during the reign of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, was burned during the Mongol invasion and was recarved, getting the name Jaejo Tripitaka Koreana. The Korean government created Goryeo’s Tripitaka Koreana in the mid-13th century. Many people came to the temple to pray for the defeat of the Mongolian invasion. When the First Tripitaka Koreana burned down, in the 19th year of King Gojong’s reign in Goryeo, the capital city moved to Gangwha Island to prevent the Second Tripitaka Koreana from burning down again.

Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon is important in many ways. The edition contains eighty-one thousand two hundred fifty-eight Tripitaka Koreana tablets. It is estimated that the number of letters written had a whopping fifty-two million characters. The temple has great preservation in that they are all even and precise without typos or omissions. It is a world-renowned cultural asset for its exquisite letters among the existing Tripitaka Koreana. The monument is special compared to others. Haeinsa Triptaka Koreana is inscribed in Chinese characters because Master Sugi, in charge of producing the Tripitaka Koreana, corrected errors and filled in missing Chinese characters. He thoroughly compared all Buddhist scriptures available at the time, including the Northern Song Guanpan, Khitan version, and Chojo Tripitaka Koreans.

There are views and written blogs from two Korean residents who saw the monument. According to the blog, it was written, “I think that we can see and protect our heritage vividly until now thanks to the efforts of many people who have protected our heritage for a long time.” The other wrote, “I am amazed at the wisdom of our ancestors who kept the wooden blocks of the Janggyeong Panjeon building from rotting for hundreds of years.” I was surprised that there were almost no errors in the letters. I was proud that our ancestors’ effort was not wasted and that the Tripitaka Koreana was kept safe in the temple. I hope they are preserved well so our history is not forgotten by our modern society.