Tripitaka Koreana, preserving the wisdom of a millennium

By Tae Moon Young Jan 10, 2012, 3:06 GMT

Gaya Mountains, South Korea - Halfway up a South Korean mountain lies a temple nestled in a forest that is home to a national treasure.

The Tripitaka Koreana is the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, laws and treaties in South Korea and one of the largest in the world. It consists of more than 80,000 engraved wooden printing blocks produced in the 13th century.

It was made in a time of war, which Sung Ahn, the director of the preservation department at the Research Institute of the Tripitaka Koreana, said was meant to draw the people together, provide hope and achieve what before had seemed impossible.

That achievement was commemorated in the millennial celebrations of the first Tripitaka Koreana, which was engraved in 1011 but later destroyed in a fire during Mongol invasions.

The compilation of the Tripitaka was a huge national project during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). Processing the wood to prevent damage and carving letters without errors required time, labour and the highest technology of the age. It took six years to prepare the woodblocks for engraving by boiling them in salt water and drying them.

Sung Ahn described the procedure as 'spiritual evolution.' He said: 'The government needed a means to unite and comfort its people.'

The Tripitaka Koreana has been kept for centuries at Haein-sa, which means 'Temple of Reflection on a Smooth Sea.' It was founded in 802 in the Gaya Mountains west of the south-western city of Daegu. It is now one of the three major Buddhist temples in South Korea and is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions.

To reach the depositories of the Tripitaka located at the highest part of the temple grounds, 108 steps must be climbed from the gate. The number represents the Buddhist belief that human beings experience 108 kinds of suffering.

The scriptures are housed in four buildings. They consist of 52 million characters on 81,258 woodblocks. They weigh more than 285 tons and would measure 3,250 metres if piled on top of one another. It would take an estimated 30 years to read all the texts.

UNESCO has recognized the Tripitaka Koreana as an invaluable piece of cultural heritage, lauding its accuracy and the beauty of the characters, which appear as if they were carved by a single hand.

The first Tripitaka Koreana was produced during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War as a way to seek help from the Buddha and protect the country from foreign invasion. It took 77 years to complete. The second was begun in 1237, five years after the first was destroyed, to win divine help in combatting the Mongols. It was finished 12 years later.

The secret of 760 years of preservation lies in the scientific design of the depositories as well as in the woodblocks themselves.

The depositories were built in 1488 during the early years of the Yi Dynasty, also known as the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The buildings are the oldest structures at Haein-sa. They look simple, but the buildings feature sophisticated conservation techniques. They were built to control temperature and humidity, which is the key for woodwork protection.

The configuration of the windows provides natural ventilation. The size of the windows differs from the front wall to the back wall and from the upper walls to the lower walls to employ convection currents.

The structure of the shelves and the space between the stacked woodblocks also maximizes ventilation. Layers of charcoal, salt, powdered lime, mud and sand beneath the floor controls the humidity.

For these reasons, Sung Ahn said the depositories are the most suitable place for the Tripitaka Koreana to stay.

He did raise concerns about the blocks' preservation because of the temple's many visitors. 'Limiting the number of visitors is one option being considered,' he said. 'Global warming and its potential influence on woodblocks is also a worry.'