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JikjiJikji is the abbreviated title of a Korean Buddhist document, whose full title can be translated "The Monk Baegun's Anthology of the Great Priests' Teachings on Identification of the Buddha’s Spirit by the Practice of Seon." Printed during the Goryeo Dynasty in 1377, it is the world's oldest extant movable metal print book. UNESCO confirmed Jikji as the world oldest metalloid type in September 2001 and includes it in the Memory of the World program. [1] Jikji was published in Heungdeok Temple in 1377, 78 years prior to Johannes Gutenberg's "42-Line Bible" printed during the years 1452-1455. The greater part of the Jikji is now lost, and today only the last volume survives, kept at the Manuscrits Orientaux division of the National Library of France. AuthorshipThe Jikji was written by the Buddhist monk Baegun (1298-1374, Buddhist name Gyeonghan), who served as the chief priest of Anguk and Shingwang temples in Haeju, and was published in two volumes in Seongbulsan in 1372. Baegun died in Chwiam Temple in Yeoju in 1374. ContentsThe Jikji comprises a collection of excerpts from the analects of the most revered Buddhist monks throughout successive generations. It was created as a guide for students of Buddhism, then Korea's national religion under the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). The Jikji propounds on the essentials of Seon, the predecessor to Japan's Zen Buddhism. Jikji consists of two volumes. The metal-print Jikji that was published in Heungdeok Temple is kept in the Manuscrits Orientaux division of the National Library of France, with the first page of the last volume (Book 1 in Chapter 38) torn off. A wood carving print of Jikji published in Chwiamsa Temple contains the complete two volumes. This is kept in the National Library of Korea and Jangsagak and Bulgap temples as well as in the Academy of Korean Studies. (Read more) |
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