 |
| ▲ Monks dry all of the 1,270 Tripitaka Koreana books in the sun to prevent them from being corroded and blighted after the rainy season at Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon, 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 7, 2021. Listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, Tripitaka Koreana, or Palmandaejanggyeong in Korean, comprises 13th-century Buddhist scriptures carved on more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks. This is the first time in 123 years that the books were dried all at once. (Yonhap) |
HAPCHEON, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- At the entrance of the Janggyeong Panjeon, a building complex in the Haeinsa Temple that houses the Tripitaka Koreana, monks were seen drying all 1,270 volumes of books, which were previously published by printing the Tripitaka Koreana onto paper using 80,000 wood blocks.
It is necessary for the Tripitaka Koreana books to be dried under sunlight in order to remove moisture and prevent them from being blighted after a rainy season.
While some books have undergone the drying process, this is the first time in 123 years for the 1,270 books to be dried all at once.
This event was originally scheduled to happen on Aug. 14, however was postponed to this day due to the weather conditions.
Although it was mostly cloudy in Hapcheon, the area around the Haeinsa Temple was very hot and windy, making it the perfect environment to carry out the drying process.
The event was attended by around 100 people, including Haeinsa's chief monk Hyun Eung and other temple officials.
After the reading of the Heart Sutra, a religious text in Buddhism also known as the "Ban-ya-sim-gyeong" in Korean, the monks carefully took out one Tripitaka Koreana book at a time from the Janggyeong Panjeon, where the books are initially stored in.
The process of taking out the books alone took more than 30 minutes.
 |
| ▲ Monks dry all of the 1,270 Tripitaka Koreana books in the sun to prevent them from being corroded and blighted after the rainy season at Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon, 350 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Oct. 7, 2021. Listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, Tripitaka Koreana, or Palmandaejanggyeong in Korean, comprises 13th-century Buddhist scriptures carved on more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks. This is the first time in 123 years that the books were dried all at once. (Yonhap) |
All 1,270 Tripitaka Koreana books were placed under a sunny area and dried as the monks quickly flipped through the pages.
"It was my first time seeing such event, and it was amazing to see many people gathered together to deliver and dry books," a citizen said after witnessing the process.
Monk Jin-il, who also attended the event, said, "Today is a good day to dry the books due to the good sunlight and wind."
The books was originally printed by Choi, a high-ranking female official in the royal family of the Korean Empire in 1898.
At that time, four sets were made and distributed to the Haeinsa, Tongdosa, and Songgwangsa Temples, while the other set was distributed to major temples across the country.
In 2017, the Haeinsa showcased the drying process of the Tripitaka Koreana books as a performance, however this is the first time for all 1,270 books to be officially exposed to light and wind.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
