(Worldkings) - The Tripitaka Koreana at Haeinsa pagoda (South Korea) is also called "Eighty-Thousand Tripitaka" because the number of wooden printing blocks (on which the Tripitaka scriptures were carved) is more than 80,000 blocks. This is the largest collection of Tripitaka wooden printing blocks in the world and is perfectly conserved.
.jpg) |
| Haeinsa pagoda (tripadvisor.com) |
It is estimated that there are 81,340 wooden printing blocks, consisting 52,382,960 Chinese characters which are organized in over 1,496 titles and 6,568 volumes. If we pile these blocks into only 1 pile, we will have a 3,000-metre pile in height, or if we put them in line on the ground, the length of the line will be 60 kilometres.
.jpg) |
| Tripitaka wooden printing blocks from 11th century are perfectly stored and conserved (koreanturk.com) |
The first printing blocks were carved in 11th century, when Goryeo (a dynasty which ruled the land of Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries) was invaded by Khitan warriors. The act of carving the wooden blocks was considered to be a way of showing reverence to the Buddha and praying for Buddha's help. Another purpose was to popularize Buddha scriptures.
The Tripitaka Koreana was described by UNESCO committee as one of the "most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world." It was listed as the 32nd national treasure of Korea, and the Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the depository for Tripitaka Koreana, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
WORLD RECORDS UNION - WORLDKINGS
.png)
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
