Airing of ancient scriptures in South Korea

Monks drying all of the 1,270 Tripitaka Koreana books in the sun to prevent them from being corroded and blighted after the rainy season at Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon, South Korea, on Thursday.

Listed on the Unesco Memory of the World Register, the Tripitaka Koreana, or Palmandaejanggyeong in Korean, comprises 13th-century Buddhist scriptures carved on more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks. This is the first time in 123 years that the books were dried all at once.

In June, the Buddhist scriptures, considered the most comprehensive set found to date, were made accessible to the public for the first time since their production in the 13th century, the temple said.

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