Monk checking on the condition of the woodblocks for the Tripitaka Koreana in Haeinsa
It is...
1. National Treasure No. 32
2. one of the most comprehensive and oldest examples of Buddhist scripture; "Because of the accuracy of the Tripitaka Koreana, the Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese versions of the Tripitaka are based on this Korean version." ( from wikipedia)
3. listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register
4. an artefact from Goryeo Dynasty and has survived Mongol attacks and remained well-preserved over 1000 years
5. "...not only (historically) invaluable, it is also aesthetically valuable and shows a high quality of workmanship.( from wikipedia)
An excerpt from the Chosun Ilbo shows how important the TK is:
"To make its second public debut the scriptural work was transported from Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple in South Gyeongsang Province. Monks carefully moved the treasure onto a palanquin and held a special ceremony with over 400 followers. The blocks were delicately wrapped in Korean mulberry paper and placed in a special box before starting the four-hour journey to Seoul."
In addition, you can also see some uigwe featured at this exhibition.So, hurry! IACE 2010 will be held for less than a week between the 1st and 6th of June at COEX A hall, National Archives (Nara repository). Hope some blogger in Seoul will be interested enough to cover this event. It would help if that person can read Hanja and translate! Ok -I'm half-kidding about the translating but please take lots of pics and check out the hands-on activities.
Sources:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/02/2010060200791.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripitaka_Koreana
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/737
http://www.iace.or.kr/eng/exhibition/writing_invitation.html?Fnum=70&Fnum2=71
