Transcript Lesson 6 Papermaking and Printing

Lesson 6
Papermaking and Printing
1
Study Contents
Introduction
Movable Metal Type
Innovations Under King Sejong
Wood Block Printing
Papermaking
Conclusion
2
Introduction
Korea was the first country in the world to develop metal movable type (금속활자,
金屬活字). The exact date for the invention is unclear. There is one claim that some
time in the 12th century metallurgists forged type fonts as well as coins; but another
claim, reinforced by UNESCO, claimed that a book printed in 1377 was the first
printed with metal movable type. Gutenberg published his first work in the 1440s,
and his Bible in 1455. Whichever date is more convincing, Korea was well ahead of
Gutenberg.
There are some important qualifications to remember about this accomplishment.
The Chinese had already printed with movable type made of ceramics and wood,
but the Koreans were the first to use metal alloys for the type fonts. The invention
did not spawn a renaissance as did Gutenberg’s—it was not a use of technology that
brought literacy to the common man and thereby led to universal literacy—but it
was nonetheless a giant step forward in the civilization of mankind.
3
Movable Metal Type
That the Koreans were first to
develop metal movable type fits into a
larger context of inventions unique to
Korea. Koreans historically were
accomplished metallurgists. The
ancient crowns of the Three
Kingdoms period were made of gold,
the first iron-plated warships were
Korean, and the typical bowls and
chopsticks in Korea were made of
bronze (unlike the ceramic bowls and
wooden chopsticks of China or the
lacquer-on-wood bowls and
chopsticks of Japan.)
A Golden Crown of the Shilla Kingdom
4
Movable Metal Type cont’d
서울특별시의 전쟁기념관에 있는 거북선 [龜船]모형
A turtle ship replica at the War Memorial in Seoul
The government department that
was responsible for making the
movable type was the same that
made cannons. The secret formula
that determined the exact ratios of
metals in the alloy used to make
cannons was the same as that used
for the metal type fonts. Most
fonts were forged in government
foundries, although the 1377
edition was published with fonts
forged at a Buddhist monastery.
5
Movable Metal Type cont’d
The evidence for books printed before
1377 is based on various records in
the history, but the oldest book
printed with movable type in Korea
that still exists today is also the oldest
example of printing by movable metal
type in the world. It is a Buddhist text
that states that it was printed at a
temple called Hungdok in the seventh
month of 1377. The original of this,
kept at the National Library of France,
was featured at an international book
exhibit held in Paris in 1972, the year
of the book.
Hundok-sa (흥덕사: 興德寺)
6
Movable Metal Type cont’d
At the Hungdok-sa in Chongju, you
can visit The Chongju Early Printing
Museum. Therein, various exhibits
show how the earliest Korean printing
fonts were made, how Korean
printing progressed over the centuries,
and how Korean printing compares to
what was done in other countries.
직지심체요절(直指心體要節)
The World’s Oldest Book Printed with
Movable Metal Type
The Original of This Is Being Kept at
the French National Library in Paris.
7
Innovations Under King Sejong
We do not know much about how the fonts developed during the Koryo period
(918-1392), but by King Sejong’s reign (1418-1450) in the Chosun period (13921912), the record is detailed. Since hangul was not invented until King Sejong’s
time, earlier fonts were of Chinese characters. In Sejong’s time and after, there were
some hangul fonts created, but the use of printing fonts was Chinese characters.
Even though hangul was invented in 1446, printing in Korea was for government
officials and the scholarly elite until there was a revolution that led to wide-spread
use of hangul and universal literacy at the end of the traditional dynastic period at
the turn of the 20th century.
There were two sets of fonts created during the Sejong period, one in 1420 and
another in 1434. Both font sets preceded the invention of hangul, yet the fonts were
augmented by replacement fonts and also by hangul fonts. This pattern was true of
subsequent fonts that were forged every twenty to forty years. As augmentation to
the Chinese characters, many of the sets included a subset of hangul characters.
8
Wood Block Printing
(목판인쇄,木版印刷)
In some ways, the technology that preceded movable type printing (typography),
wooden block printing (xylography), was even more important and continued to be
used even after the development of movable type technology. They could carve a
text into a wooden block, on the front and the back, smear the block with ink, then
apply paper to obtain a printed copy.
The most famous of the collections of wooden printing blocks is that at Haein
Temple (해인사, 海印寺), where can be found the 80,000 wood blocks (팔만대장
경판, 八萬大藏經版) that contain the text of the Buddhist scripture. It is the most
complete text of Buddhist scripture extant today, and is known as the Koreana
Tripitaka. The blocks were carved on Kanghwa Island at a temple called Chondung
during the devastating Mongol invasion in the 13th century. Today they are held in
Haein Temple near Taegu where they are preserved in the same buildings that have
protected them for centuries.
9
Wood Block Printing cont’d
Haein Temple (해인사, 海印寺)
10
Wood Block Printing cont’d
the 80,000 wood blocks (팔만대장경판, 八萬大藏經版)
11
Wood Block Printing cont’d
12
Wood Block Printing cont’d
13
Wood Block Printing cont’d
14
Wood Block Printing cont’d
15
Wood Block Printing cont’d
16
Wood Block Printing cont’d
The great advantage of the wooden blocks is that they can be reused time and time
again. Even today, if a serious student of Buddhism desires a copy of various pages
of the Buddhist canon, with permission, a copy can be made by applying ink and
paper just as was done centuries ago. It is a kind of original photocopy machine.
17
Papermaking
No less important than printing technology was that of making paper. Korean paper
was highly prized both inside and outside of Korea. It was especially treasured in
China. The paper was made from the finest material, the root of the paper mulberry
tree—a variety of mulberry unique to Korea.
The history of papermaking is long. The oldest document written on paper found in
Korea was discovered in the 1960s when the government was remodeling the
Pulguk temple complex in Kyongju. They took apart a pagoda in the courtyard and
found inside a kind of time capsule that had been inside the pagoda at its dedication.
The date converts to the western calendar date of 751. The document outlines the
facts of the dedication of the temple and also of its subordinate shrine known as the
Sokkuram, the famous granite Buddha in a cave high on the hill above Kyongju that
overlooks the East Sea.
18
Papermaking cont’d
Korean paper, from earliest times, was made to last one thousand years. Claims like
that are often exaggerations, but in this case it is not. There are historical references
to the quality of Korean paper that compare it to cloth, and in some ways, although
it is not woven, it is as pliable and supple as cloth.
Three of the most important uses for Korean paper are found in the finishing of the
rooms of a house. In the typical traditional house, the paper is used to cover not
only the walls, but the floors, and even the doors and windows. Covering walls with
paper is done in the West and does not seem unique, but covering the floors is done
in a beautiful and unique Korean way. The floors of the house, as contrasted with
the verandas and “living room” (maru) which are wooden planks and the kitchen
which is clay, are the sources of heat for the house. The rooms are called ondol
rooms, meaning “hot rocks,” describing the under-the-floor heating system used in
Korea. Under the paper is clay, and under the clay is a layer of flat rocks which are
heated by a fire. Of course, one must remove shoes to enter such rooms, but to
strengthen the surface of the paper a kind of shellac is applied that also gives a
shiny golden hue to the resulting floor covering.
19
Papermaking cont’d
The windows and doors are also
covered with paper. The paper is not
treated in any way, but it is glued to a
lattice work or thin strips of wood
arranged in uniquely and beautifully
Korean designs. Covered with the
white paper, both windows and doors
easily slide to the sides to provide
openings for passage or ventilation.
Often the doorways are insulated with
a double set of doors, one set that
swings outward on hinges and one set
that slides.
20
Conclusion
In papermaking and in printing technology, Korea was like no other country.
Although the technology did not lead to universal literary, as did Gutenberg’s
invention, still it led to a scholarly tradition appropriate for traditional times. With
the dawning of the modern age, however, with the widespread use of hangul, Korea
quickly became universally literate. Today, with a literacy rate close to 100%,
Korea has one of the best-educated people in the world. It is often noted that the
education miracle preceded the economic miracle that has made Korea an important
player in the community of nations today. In large measure, the roots of that miracle
can be found in traditional Korea as is evidenced by its ancient development of
paper and printing.
21
End of Lesson 6
22