history
Goryeo carved a first set in the 11th century, which the Mongols burned in 1232. The set that survives was carved between 1236 and 1251 as a prayer for protection against them: about 52 million characters with hardly an error, the most complete Chinese Buddhist canon preserved on woodblocks.
culture
The blocks are still stored at 海印寺 in South Gyeongsang province, in 15th-century halls built to keep them dry and aired. The halls are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the blocks are on the Memory of the World register, and in Korea the set is often called the Eighty Thousand Tripitaka.
