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Considered the holiest Korean shrine, this ninth century Buddhist temple
is set in the tranquil serenity of the Gayasan National Park at
the edge of Gyeongsang province. The temple houses a complete copy of
the Tripitaka Koreana, the collected writings of Mahayana
Buddhism printed on 81,000 wooden blocks which may be viewed through the
shrine’s slatted windows.
While most Buddhist countries in East Asia possess a copy of the
Tripitaka, the Korean edition at Haeinsa is considered the best and most
complete.
Carved in the 13th century, the Tripitaka consists of 52,382,960
characters carved on 81,258 double-sided woodblocks in 6,802 volumes.
The printing on the blocks was commissioned by the government-in-exile
on Ganghwa Island. At that time, the project was undertaken as an
act of faith. This was in the hope of gaining intervention from Buddha
in the middle of the war with the Mongols.
Traditionally the wood blocks are said to have been made using the wood
of white birch, which was first soaked and then boiled in seawater for
three years. After this, the blocks were then dried for three years in
the shade. Though some books claim the carving is the work of one man,
questions have been raised about the authenticity of this story.
The history of Haeinsa dates much farther back than the wooden blocks.
The shrine is believed to have been founded by the monks of Suneung and
Ijeong in China in 802, they named the place “Haein” which means
"reflection on a smooth sea."
Another story says that the temple, was built as an act of gratitude by
the King Aejang, after his wife who had a tumor, was cured by the
monks of Haeinsa. They say that the monks tied a piece of string to the
queen's tumor, and the other end to a tree. After they chanted special
verses, the tumor miraculously vanished as the tree to which it was tied
to withered and died. The grateful king founded Haeinsa in awe of the
Buddha's mercy.
 The main worship hall was rebuilt in 1818 during the late Joseon (Chosôn)
dynasty, on the foundations of the one built a thousand years
earlier by the two monks. The Vairocana Buddha statue inside was
carved in 1769. Behind the statue are somewhat unusual paintings of the
Buddha's life.
Though most of the buildings are reconstruction after the great fire of
1817, the Tripitaka repository in the rear escaped the flames and
remains an original structure as it was built in 1488.
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