Two Chinese renderings of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment anchor its place in East Asian Zen. The first was carried out in 693 CE by the Indian monk Bodhiruci (Chinese: Putiliuzhi), at Empress Wu Zetian’s behest. A few decades later, in 754 CE, another Indian scholar, Prajñā (Fojiao), produced a second full translation—each version still side by side in modern Tripitaka editions.

Korean Seon masters never felt the need to re-translate a text they already cherished in its Chinese form, so no classical Hangul edition emerged in Silla, Goryeo or early Joseon times. Instead, Korean monks simply studied the Bodhiruci text in its original Chinese characters, much as Japanese Zen did. When King Sejong’s court finally commissioned Buddhist works into Hangul in the 15th century, priority went to narrative sutras and monastic codes rather than this deep, poetic scripture.

Fast-forward to today: digital platforms like the Kwan Um School’s online library and smartphone apps often offer modern Korean-language versions prepared by contemporary scholars—making the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment available “in the vernacular” for lay readers. Even so, heritage-minded temples on Mount Jogye or in South Korea’s major Seon lineages will still chant it in classical Chinese, proving that sometimes the shortest path to understanding is the oldest one.