Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Middle Age

Metal movable type — Choe Yun-ui

~1234 AD · Transmission: Parallel
InformationInventionKorean

Korea's Goryeo dynasty developed metal movable type more than two centuries before Gutenberg. Historical tradition attributes the first documented use to Choe Yun-ui around 1234, for printing the Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun. The most robust physical proof is the Jikji (1377), the oldest surviving book printed with metal movable type, inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2001 and held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Gutenberg independently reinvented the solution in Europe; his revolution had an incomparably greater cultural impact. But metal movable type, as a technical milestone, belongs to Korea.

InstitutionGoryeo court
Historical regionKorea (Goryeo)
Primary sourcePrinting of the Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun with metal movable type, Goryeo, c.1234. The Jikji (1377) is the oldest surviving book printed with this technique; listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register (2001).
Secondary sourceKim, S. — "The invention of metal moveable type printing in Goryeo Korea" (Journal of the Printing Historical Society, 2004)
Original languageKorean
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