Metal movable types from Joseon unveiled

A visitor takes a photograph of "Neungeomgyeongeonhae," a Korean annotation of Buddhist scriptures printed in 1461, and the metal movable type used for printing, on display at the National Museum of Korea's
"Joseon: the Movable Type Dynasty" exhibition. / Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) was a nation of documentation. Many documents and books from Joseon such as "Joseon Wangjo Sillok" ("The Annals of the Joseon Kingdom") and "Seungjeongwon Ilgi" ("The Journal of the Royal Secretariat") convey how the country was operated and how the people of Joseon lived.

Some of the documents are handwritten, but some were printed using movable type, promulgating the principles of Confucian politics and the authority of the king. To publish such books, Joseon produced numerous movable types throughout its reign.

"Joseon: the Movable Type Dynasty" is the National Museum of Korea's (NMK) first-ever exhibit shedding light on movable type and printing from Joseon Kingdom.

Korea's main museum has over 820,000 movable types in its collection, from the hangeul metal types cast in the 15th century to some 500,000 metal types, 320,000 wooden types and 200 ceramic types, produced and actually used for printing from the 17th to 20th centuries.

A drawer for type chest / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

In 1403, King Taejong produced "Gyemija type," the first metal type of Joseon. Since then, millions of metal and wooden movable types were produced during the Joseon era.

The highlight of the exhibit is some 50,000 metal movable types displayed in the middle of the gallery. The tiny metal pieces are arranged in a row of drawers that reaches up to eight meters.

"This is a rare collection of movable types created, used and managed by a dynasty with consistency," NMK curator Lee Jae-jeong said. Lee added that there are no pre-modern metal types preserved in China, and Japan has some 30,000 metal types produced during the time of Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616).

Many of the existing metal movable types are related to Joseon's 22nd King Jeongjo, who wrote and published books himself and became interested in movable type. He produced Imjinja type when he was the eldest son of the Crown Prince. After taking the throne he again produced Jeongnija type to print "Uigwe," or the royal protocol. The "Uigwe" described a procession to his father's tomb in Hwaseong, now in Gyeonggi Province, and the first of its kind to be printed using movable type, showcasing the royal authority.

Hangeul metal types from the 15th century / Courtesy of National Museum of Korea

The exhibit also features chests used for storing movable type. In Joseon, the types were produced by the government representing the royal authority and thus managed in a meticulous way. A movable type set was stored in a collection of seven chests and the contents of each was recorded in a ledger.

The museum restored three of the chests for the exhibit since last year and discovered how the types were classified for efficient repository.

"Inside the chest, the name of the cabinetmaker and the year produced were inscribed," curator Lee said. "The types were not stored in the dictionary order but sorted based on frequency of use. It is a unique way of type storage used in Joseon."

The movable type is on display until Sept. 11. For more information, visit museum.go.kr or call 02-2077-9000.

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