Abstract

When the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty seized the power as the emperor of China, he issued a royal order to Hokwang and others, to publish a book entitled “Sambudaejeon,” in the name of following the death-bed instruction of Taizu. The book was completed no less then 10 months after the order was issued in September 1415(Yongle 13). With the first copy imported from the Ming Dynasty as the original script, Sambudaejeon was engraved on wood by going sharing with 3 provinces including Gyeongsang-do, Jeonlla-do, and Gangwon-do, during the period of 1427~1428(Sejong 9~10). The result of surveying and analysing the distribution of the Ming Dynasty was imported to Chosun, shows that the engraving copy of the original script from the Ming was published more then 18 times in Chosun, among which only 50 types are identified to exist currently. As a result of analyzing these 50 existing types, This status of publication suggests that the books were intensively published and distributed in Gyeonggi and Gyeongsang provinces where the demands for the books were urgent, to meet the needs when the books were rapidly lost during the period of Japanese invasion.