The secret that Buddhist monks encrypted in ancient texts (4 photos)

Buddhism is one of the most ancient religions. There are many artifacts through which we can reconstruct the history of this religion, its values and characteristics. One of these artifacts is considered to be the collection of Tripitaka Koreana texts. It contains all the knowledge about Buddhism that has been accumulated over decades. These are not copies of existing texts, they are originals that give a complete picture of knowledge about Buddhism.





Sacred texts

On the Korean peninsula there is a monastery called Haeinsa, which is very important for the entire Asian culture. This place is notable not only for its beauty and the tranquility that people find here, but also for the fact that completely unique texts are stored here. This collection has been accumulated for several centuries. All the canons of Buddhism are described here, and there is simply no other such complete collection. All these texts are stored on clay tablets. There are more than 80 thousand of them! Sometimes because of this the collection of texts is called the Eighty Thousand Tripitaka. All these texts are divided into volumes, which number more than 6 thousand. The height of each such tablet is 25 centimeters, and the width is about 70. We can say that these texts contain all the wisdom of ancient people, and it took a lot of time to study this heritage. Now the tablets are carefully guarded, but tourists have the opportunity to see these texts in person - the temple in which the texts are kept is open to travelers.



Lost knowledge

Unfortunately, the collection of texts was almost completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion. All the tablets were badly damaged, but they were such an important part of the culture that the ruling dynasty commissioned the restoration of all records. Such painstaking and careful work took more than ten years! Ultimately, all the texts were restored. They tried to make the tablets as similar as possible to those that were lost. For example, the first signs were made from white birch and cherry trees, and these same types of wood were used in the restoration. In addition, for the sake of preserving the texts, the tablets were framed, and it worked - almost a thousand years after these tablets were made, they are in excellent condition, and the text on them can be read without problems. The signs were coated with poisonous varnish to prevent insects from damaging them.





Special monastery

Such a collection requires special storage conditions, and in order to convey to descendants the wisdom recorded on these tablets, a special building was built at the monastery where the tablets are now located. This building consists of 4 halls, which in turn are divided into several offices. The halls are built so that direct sunlight does not fall on the tablets, and the walls and roof themselves are made of clay so that moisture does not damage the texts. Both the mountains that surround the monastery and the dense walls protect from the wind.



Compliance with all these rules allows you to refer to the signs at any necessary time. You can now easily take them off the shelf and study them, since the craftsmen who were engaged in restoration almost a thousand years ago were able to make the tablets in such a way that they retained knowledge even after many centuries.