In a colophon the last page of Jikji is recorded details of its publication, indicating that it was published in the 3rd Year of King U (July 1377) by metal type at Heungdeok temple in Cheongju.pic.twitter.com/n90XLm1RZP
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
In a colophon the last page of Jikji is recorded details of its publication, indicating that it was published in the 3rd Year of King U (July 1377) by metal type at Heungdeok temple in Cheongju.pic.twitter.com/n90XLm1RZP
The cover on the surviving volume of this edition is a replacement of the original, and records in French "The oldest known Korean book printed with molded type, with 1377 as date". Jikji was donated to @laBnF by the heirs of the collector Henri Véver, when he died in 1950.pic.twitter.com/xJJGPRm8cV
UNESCO confirmed Jikji as the world's oldest book printed with metal type in September 2001, and includes it in the Memory of the World Programme.pic.twitter.com/V8LGNBYfdS
Jikji was purchased in Korea in the early 1900s by the French consul at the time, Victor Collin de Plancy. Most of the books Plancy collected in Korea were sold at auction in 1911, where Jikji was purchased for 180 fr. by Henri Véver. Vever later gave it to the BNF in his will.pic.twitter.com/5S9IbmDnG2
Source http://gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France.
So why no Mazarin Bible deluge of books?
What do you mean? In the pre-1500 period there was vastly more printing in Asia than in the West.
Is there any illustration or figure showing the machine or how it was done?
There is a museum for this in Cheongju! It's about 30-40m SE by high-speed rail from Seoul and the museum would be about 30m from the Osong stop. http://jikjiworld.cheongju.go.kr/app3/jikjiworld/content/eng_main/index.html …
Did they use chinese characters at the time?
Yeah before they used hangul Korea used the chinese alphabet and iirc they called it hanja
At the time, Japan, Korea, Vietnam all used Chinese characters and Classical Chinese in official documents
This is Zen Buddhist text in Chinese, readable by modern Chinese readers. “Jikji” means “direct pointing”.
Maybe give it back to Korea?
The first book ever printed ... was not the Bible. YMMD
Return it to the Koreans.
This is super interesting! But what about the printing method? Did Korea and surrounding areas start printing more books after discovering (or inventing?) movable type?
Movable type was invented in China during the Song dynasty, mid-11thC. They began as porcelain type. By the Yuan dynasty they were using limited metal movable type for printing paper money. Goryeo (Korea) became a vassal of the Yuan dynasty, so the tech spread there then.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.