Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon

 

<Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Korean Woodblocks >

 

Do you know Janggyeong Panjeon(장경판전) at Haeinsa Temple? Janggyeong Panjeon is the depository for Tripitaka Koreana(대장경판) or Palman Daejanggyeong(팔만 대장경) at Haeinsa Temple in Korea. Haeinsa Temple is located in Mt. Gaya. This archive is the oldest place in Haeinsa Temple. Throughout the years, Janggyeong Panjeon has been reconstructed and repaired by some kings.

<Haeinsa Temple

 

("Goryeo" is the name of Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries when the Tripitaka Koreana was made.) The Tripitaka Koreana was first carved in 1087 during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. The act of carving the woodblocks was considered to be a way of bringing about a change in fortune by invoking the Buddha's help. The carving took 16 years, from 1236 to 1251, with support from the Choe House and involving monks from both the Seon and Gyo schools. In 1398(Joseon dynasty), it was moved to Haeinsa, where they have remained housed in four buildings.

<Janggyeong Panjeon's inside

The Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon has been recorded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And the Tripitaka Koreana has been registered as national treasure of Korea. The UNESCO committee evaluated the Triptaka Koreana as one of the "most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world."  Its religious and aesthetic value was understood in throughout the world.

Also Janggyeong Panjeon is known for its scientific structure. There are no ornaments, in order to focus on the depository's function. For ventilation it has windows by each part of bookshelves whose Northern and Southern dimensions are different. By putting charcoal, powdered lime, salt and sand in Janggyeong Panjeon’s ground, it controls its humidity naturally.

Scientists said that Janggyeong Panjeon used the nature and science remarkably which allowed it to be preserved well until now.

You'll experience ancient Korea's soul and strong will when you visit Haeinsa Temple's Janggyeong Panjeon and, at the same time, you will find a lot of scientific principles applied there.

Source: Wikipedia (only for the part explaining the site's history)