Jikji, the oldest extant book printed with movable metal type
Jikji, el libro más antiguo impreso con tipos móviles metálicos
- Date
- 1377 · confidence high
- Place
- Cheongju, North Chungcheong, South Korea
- Credited to
- Monk Baegun and Heungdeok Temple
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
An anthology of Seon Buddhist teachings printed in 1377 with metal type. It is the oldest surviving evidence of the method, 78 years before the Gutenberg Bible.
Only the second volume survives, at the National Library of France; the 1234 book (Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun) is lost.
What it led to
- material proof of Korean metal printing
- UNESCO Memory of the World register (2001)
- book printing with bronze type at the Joseon court