The ''Seokbosangjeol'' (釋譜詳節) is a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

biography of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

, together with a selection of his sermons, collected and compiled by Prince Suyang (later

King Sejo Sejo of Joseon (2 November 1417 – 23 September 1468), personal name Yi Yu (Korean: 이유; Hanja: 李瑈), sometimes known as Grand Prince Suyang (Korean: 수양대군; Hanja: 首陽大君), was the seventh ruler of the Joseon dynasty of K ...

) of

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

. The book is translated from Chinese sources, including the

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

, the

Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra The ''Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra'' (Sanskrit, ''Sutra of the Fundamental Vows of the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha;'' ) or ''Kṣitigarbhasūtra'' is a Mahāyāna sūtras, Mahāyāna sūtra teaching about the bodhisattva Ksi ...

and the Amitabha Sutra. It is the first known instance of Buddhist sutras being translated from Chinese into Korean. Suyang commissioned the creation of the ''Seokbosangjeol'' after the death of his mother, Queen Soheon, intending it to ease her passage to the next life. It was, however, also made available to the general population of Korea, to encourage the propagation of the Buddhist faith. The text was first published in 24 volumes in 1447 C.E., although many of these volumes have since been lost. An original edition is held at the

National Library of Korea The National Library of Korea is located in Seoul, South Korea and was established in 1945. It houses over 10 million volumes, including over 1,134,000 foreign books and some of the National Treasures of South Korea. It was relocated within Se ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, where it is designated a Tangible Cultural Treasure. The text is notable for being one of the earliest printed examples of Korea's native ''

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

'' characters. It was printed using moveable copper type called ''gabinja'', the first form of printed type created after the invention of the ''hangul'', and as such represents the oldest form of indigenous Korean written text.

References

Korean writing system Depictions of Gautama Buddha in literature Korean Buddhist texts {{Buddhist-text-stub