Jikji: metal movable type

Jikji, an anthology of Zen Buddhist teachings printed in Korea in 1377, is the oldest surviving book printed with movable metal type, 78 years before the Gutenberg Bible; UNESCO placed it on the Memory of the World register in 2001. Only its second volume survives, bought in Seoul by the French diplomat Victor Collin de Plancy and now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.

The mechanism

A TECHNOLOGY THAT TURNS THE BOARD

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
• Letter eraTHE CAPTURE 313 to 1302
• SourcesRECORD — Britannica, 'Jikji'; Wikipedia, 'Jikji' (UNESCO 2001; custody in Paris); Columbia University, Asia for Educators, 'Printing' (Bi Sheng's clay type, 11th century) · checked 19 September: UNESCO Memory of the World, 'Baegun hwasang chorok buljo jikji simche yojeol (vol. II)'; Wikipedia, 'Movable type' (Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun, 1234)