Volta
CultureEarly 8th century (before c. 751)

Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light

Also called: Mugujeonggwang Daedaranigyeong

A sutra scroll found inside the Seokgatap pagoda of Bulguksa, counted among the oldest surviving woodblock prints in the world.

Great Dharani Sutra (replica) — the 8th-century woodblock-printed scroll found in Seokgatap
Great Dharani Sutra (replica) — the 8th-century woodblock-printed scroll found in Seokgatap

Daderot · CC0 · Source

It was found in 1966 among the reliquary objects inside the three-storey pagoda of Bulguksa (Seokgatap), during repairs after grave robbers had damaged it. The dharani (incantation) was printed from woodblocks onto a scroll of joined mulberry paper. The sutra was translated into Chinese in Tang in 704 and the pagoda was built around 751, so it is thought to have been printed in between. It is a National Treasure.

Placing this dharani in a pagoda when building or repairing it was believed to bring great merit. Because it uses characters invented under Empress Wu of Tang, some argue it was printed in China, but the prevailing view is that it was printed in Silla. It shows the advanced woodblock printing and papermaking of Unified Silla.

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The map in AD 751

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States and rulers at the time
Silla — King Gyeongdeok
Places
Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju

Before and after

Earlier
AD 751 Building of Bulguksa and Seokguram
Later
AD 755 Silla Village Registers

Themes that include this event

  • Printing and Documentary HeritageAD 751 – 2011

    From the Dharani Sutra to the May 18 archives — woodblock and metal-type printing, and the records inscribed on the Memory of the World

  • Gyeongju57 BC – 1860

    Silla’s capital for a thousand years — tombs, pagodas, temples and bells from every age of Silla, and the birthplace of Donghak