Ancient Buddhist Scriptures Get 1st Airing in 123 Years

Monks at Haein Temple in South Gyeongsang Province on Thursday laid out 1,270 texts of the ancient Tripitaka Koreana in the sun to dry for the first time in over a century.

The procedure ensures that the books, which were printed on paper with the temple's unique collection of wooden printing blocks, do not become moldy or blighted after the summer monsoon. Historical records show that the books were dried out in sunlight every three years.

The temple dried some of the texts in 2017, but this is the first time in 123 years that all of them have been given an airing.

The collection includes the core Buddhist text of the Tripitaka as well as a wealth of commentary and other materials from the 10th to the 14th centuries.