Dunhuang sutras on view for the first time in Seoul, Oct. 23–Jan. 24
Four Dunhuang Buddhist sutra scrolls held by the National Museum of Korea go on public display for the first time on October 23. The scriptures were sealed for nearly a thousand years in a cave at Dunhuang, a Silk Road oasis city. The display is in the museum’s free permanent galleries.
The Library Cave
Dunhuang, an oasis city in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, China, was a gateway on the Silk Road. Cave 17 of its Mogao cave temples, known as the Library Cave, held tens of thousands of objects sealed for nearly a thousand years. Its chance discovery in 1900 gave rise to the field of Dunhuang studies.
In 2025 the National Museum of Korea published a report on four Dunhuang Buddhist sutra scrolls bought by the Yi Royal Household Museum during the Japanese colonial period. The display, “Unsealing a Thousand Years: Dunhuang Buddhist Sutras,” presents that research.
What is on view
The display runs from October 23, 2026, to January 24, 2027, in the Central Asia gallery of the World Culture galleries on the third floor of the permanent exhibition hall. It comprises three entries, eight pieces in all, including the Dazhidu lun, the Great Prajñāpāramitā Sutra, the Śūraṅgama Sutra, the Sutra of Buddha Names and “Meditating Monk.” The museum’s four Dunhuang sutras are shown publicly for the first time.
The small display presents Buddhist scriptures that traveled the Silk Road. Other World Culture galleries are on the same floor.
Hours and directions
Admission to the permanent galleries is free. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (last entry 5 p.m.) on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. (last entry 8:30 p.m.) on Wednesday and Saturday. The permanent galleries close on Monday, December 7, for a regular closure day, and the museum is closed January 1, 2027.
From Ichon Station (Line 4 and the Gyeongui–Jungang Line), the “Museum Nadeulgil” underpass toward Exit 2 leads to the museum’s west gate. The photo shows the Mogao Caves in China in 2013, not the objects on display.
EXHIBITION INFO
LOCATION
Source National Museum of Korea Checked 2026.10.14 22:10
Sources & context
2026-10-14T13:16:49.875Z
National Museum of Korea · Dunhuang Buddhist sutras display notice ↗National Museum of Korea · visitor information (admission, hours, closures) ↗National Museum of Korea · directions by subway ↗National Museum of Korea · 2027 closure dates in a special-exhibition notice ↗Zhangzhugang / Wikimedia Commons · Mogao Caves photo and licence ↗Photo credit
Zhangzhugang / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0The nine-storey pavilion and cliff of the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, China, photographed by Zhangzhugang on December 31, 2013. Archival context; not the sutras or objects shown in Seoul. Photo: Zhangzhugang / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized to 2000px wide, re-saved as JPEG.