Not elder law: Korean museum claims world’s oldest woodblock print
The Korean National Museum has confirmed that an ancient print of aBuddhist text dates from the unified Shilla era in the early eighthcentury and is probably the world’s oldest woodblock print. TheMugujonggwang Taedaranigyong (or Pure Light Dharani Sutra), accordingto records of the repair of the Seoka Pagoda in Bulguksa Temple, “wasput in the pagoda when it was repaired”, namely during the Koryo era in1024. The repair record and the print were both found in the pagoda,but that sentence in the repair record was only recently translated,fuelling controversy about the print’s age. Originally, it was believed that the Seoka Pagoda had not beenrepaired since it was built in the mid-8th century. Discovery of therecord naturally leads to the conclusion that some relics inside thepagoda date from the Koryo era. But the National Museum said the print was probably made inthe Unified Shilla era, given that it contains Chinese characters usedonly between 690 and 704, when Empress Wu Zetian ruled China, and theshape of the characters is unique to Shilla calligraphy.