The Tripitaka Koreana to the modern scholarly world, is a Korean Collection of the Buddhist Scriptures Carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century, under commission by the Goryeo dynasty of Korea (918-1392 CE), it is currently stored at Haeinsa Monastery in the Southwest of the Korean Peninsula.
The Tripitaka in Sanskrit, meaning "Three
Baskets” refers to the collection of Buddhist scriptures, or Buddhist Canon,
that relate to discourses with the Buddha "Sutta-Pitaka" regulations of monastic
life "Vinaya-Pitaka" and commentaries on the sutras by renowned monks and
scholars "Abhidhamma-Pitaka". When Buddhism was transmitted to East Asia through
China, and the Buddhist scriptures translated from various Indian and Central
Asian languages to classical Chinese there were several attempts by several
countries to inscribe them in wooden printing blocks for distribution. However,
the Tripitaka Koreana is the only complete canon still extant on the mainland
of Asia.
