WORLD BUDDHIST STAMPS e.GALLERY
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| The Library of early Buddhist scriptures | |
Stamps featuring the Library of early Buddhist scriptures.
The story of printing in Korea is slightly different from in China, but Buddhism did play an important role in the development of printing. Just as in China and Japan, woodblock printing was the primary technique used for printing
Sometime in the 4th century the Chinese educational system was introduced to what was then the Koguryo state. A civil service examination system was established in Silla after the Korean states consolidated in the 7th century. As the power of the government grew, demand for books from China increased. Korea began to print its own texts and books from woodblocks in the 10th century. Prior to 1056 Korea was mainly a manuscript culture. Complaints from a provincial capital spurred the government to order copies from the royal collection to be printed. Newly carved woodblocks were sent from the provinces to the royal library, which spurred the production of more woodblocks.
Religion provided an additional stimulus for the printing of texts from woodblocks. A large scale carving of woodblocks for the purpose of printing the Tripitaka was undertaken starting sometime around 1014. During the last twenty odd years of the 11th century, more Tripitaka woodblocks were carved, in addition to woodblocks for other Chinese Buddhist works. The demand for Buddhist texts, as well as Confucian texts, grew in the following years. Most of these were subsequently destroyed during the Mongol invasions.
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| Issued Country | Korea |
| Issued Year | 1998 |
| Category | World Heritage Buddhist Arts |
| Type | Commemorative/Special Stamps |