廣州 佛國寺 釋迦塔 發見의 無垢淨光大陀羅尼經

Discovery of Buddhist Scripture(無垢淨光大陀羅尼經) In Sokka Tower in Pulkuk Ternple(佛國寺)

On Oct. 13, 1966, sarira was found in the second stone of Sokka Tower (釋迦塔) of the famous Pulguk Temple in Kyongju, North Kyongsang Province. Encased in the gold and bronze box, the sarira is a precious relic, attesting to the prime of the Silla Dynasty. What is more surprising is a small Buddhist scripture(無垢淨光大陀羅尼經) printed on wooden plate. The Sokka Tower was built in the 10th year of the rule of King Kyongdok(景德) and was never since repaired. Other relics found with sarira, thus, are the original ones placed in the second stone when the tower was built. The scripture, therefore, should be regarded as having been enshrined in the tower in A.D. 75l. It is also twenty years older than that of Japan found in Hya―kuman Tower(百萬塔) in A.D. 770, which is known to be the oldest of the scripture now in existence. The wooden plates, therefore, sh―ould have been carved far earlier. This thesis attempts to establish the date on the basis of exhaustive study and research of the buddhist scripture. The scripture is printed on a paper 6.5 centimeters wide and seven to eight characters are printed in a line and a character is four to five milimeters in diameter. The total volume is composed of 13 to 14 sheets which reaches seven meters in length. The scripture is rolled over a small stick and is wrapted with silk. The outside of the scripture is slightly damaged, but the inside is left intact. The scripture is not written,’ but is printed on a wooden plate and the style of the type not so refined. When compared with Koryo Taejanggyong(高麗大藏經) in Haein Temple(海印寺), the scripture has a considerable differencein the st―yle of letters and phrases. The scripture also has four letters〔(地), (證), (授) and (初) coined by Emperor Tsetien Wu-hou(則天 武後) of the Tang Dynasty in China. Those letters, were used only during, tire rule of the Chinese emperor (689~704). Among buddhist scriptures, there were only rare occasions’ that new characters were used in the scriptures up to the time .of the wooden plate scripture of the Koryo Dynasty. It should, therefore be considered as treading the practice of scripture writing in the Tang Dynasty of China. Thus, the small scripture should be one in the same period of the Tang Dynasty or the Unified Silla Dynasty. A Comparison of transcript letters of the small scripture with those of the Tang Dynasty and of Japan, makes it clear that the scripture was enshrined ’at the time of the construction of the Sokka Tower.