by Dr. Lee Seung-cheol
Dr. Lee designed Jikji, Talks to help familiarize a broad audience with the significance of Jikji, the world’s oldest example of a book printed from metal types. Today, only the second of two volumes of Jikji survives in the collections of the BnF, as compared with 49 surviving copies of the 42-line Gutenberg Bible, the earliest example of a Western book printed from movable metal type. As a result of Jikji’s uniqueness and very restricted access, experts have not yet been able to conduct much research on the book. This situation is compounded by the difficulty of accurately interpreting Jikji’s material evidence. Jikji is a specialized Buddhist text written in medieval Chinese characters and printed from metal movable types that significantly predate Gutenberg’s first printing experiments in Germany. Jikji contains passages from many monks connecting Buddha to his dharma lineage and “Awakening the Enlightenment” through meditation. Jikji is a professional textbook used by Buddhist monks engaged in the practice of meditation, and as such is difficult for the uninitiated to understand.
Jikji, Talks explains Jikji’s journey from Heungdeoksa, a temple in Cheongju, where the book was first printed from metal types in 1377, to its current residency at the BnF. The work deciphers Jikji’s physical evidence recorded in stamps and by brushes, pencils, and pens, and addresses historical questions such as: 1) When and where was Jikji printed? 2) How was it printed? 3) Is there any evidence of metal type printing? 4) What is Jikji’s intellectual content? 5) Is there evidence of previous of repairs or indications the cover was replaced? 6) Can the book’s provenance to Collin de Plancy and Maurice Courant be confirmed? 7) Is there proof the book was sold by the large Parisian auction house, Hôtel Drouot? and, 8) Does Jikji contain traces of BnF ownership?
Jikji, Talks reveals insights about Jikji’s history to provide the reader with insights gleaned from physical evidence that may help one better appreciate the book’s universal significance.