Troll_Bait
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Location: [T]eaching experience doesn't matter much. -Lee Young-chan (pictured)
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:50 pm Post subject: Museum Confirms Korean Print Is World's Oldest |
 |
|
Museum Confirms Korean Print Is World's Oldest
| Quote: |
The Korean National Museum has confirmed that an ancient print of a Buddhist text dates from the unified Shilla era in the early eighth century and is probably the world's oldest woodblock print. The Mugujonggwang Taedaranigyong (or Pure Light Dharani Sutra), according to records of the repair of the Seoka Pagoda in Bulguksa Temple, �was put in the pagoda when it was repaired", namely during the Koryo era in 1024. The repair record and the print were both found in the pagoda, but that sentence in the repair record was only recently translated, fuelling controversy about the print�s age.
Originally, it was believed that the Seoka Pagoda had not been repaired since it was built in the mid-8th century. Discovery of the record naturally leads to the conclusion that some relics inside the pagoda date from the Koryo era.
But the National Museum said the print was probably made in the Unified Shilla era, given that it contains Chinese characters used only between 690 and 704, when Empress Wu Zetian ruled China, and the shape of the characters is unique to Shilla calligraphy.
Microscope analysis showed that the print is on Dak paper -- a traditional Korean paper -- made by a method used in the Shilla era, and the density of the paper is sparser than that of documents from the Koryo era.
Based on these facts, the museum concluded that the evidence is against the print dating from the Koryo era. It is more likely that it was put in the pagoda in the United Shilla era and re-installed in the Koryo age after the pagoda was repaired.
([email protected] ) |
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
