Jikji

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Korean spelling
Korean alphabet : 백운 화상 초록불 조 직지심체 요절
Hanja : 白雲 和 尙 抄錄 佛祖 直指 心 體 要 節
Revised Romanization : Baegun hwasang chorok buljo jikji simche yojeol
McCune-Reischauer : Paegun hwasang ch'orok pulcho chikchi simch'e yojŏl
Preserved copy in the French National Library

Jikji ( Korean 직지 , Chinese  直指 ) is the short form of a book commonly used in Western countries that deals with the teachings of the Zen of great Buddhist priests and of the Buddhist monk Baegun ( 백운 ) during the Goryeo period ( 고려 ) (918-1392 ) was written a few years before the book was published in 1377.

Names and meaning of the name

The book actually has the title Baegun hwasang chorok buljo jikji simche yojeol ( 백운 화상 초록불 조 직지심체 요절 ), which can be translated as "anthology of the teachings of Zen of the great Buddhist priests" . Other names used for the work are Jikji simche yojeol ( 직지심체 요절 ), Jikji simche ( 직지심체 ) or Jikji simgyeong ( 직지 심겅 ).

The work

The book is best known for being printed in 1377 with movable metal letters in the Temple Heungdeok-sa ( Chinese  興 德 寺 ) in Cheongju ( 청주 ), almost eight decades before the Gutenberg Bible was printed . From an original two-volume edition, 39 pages printed on both sides are still preserved today. These are kept in the oriental section of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France). The Jikji is thus the oldest surviving printed matter that was printed with interchangeable metallic letters.

The work was written in 1372 by the Buddhist clergyman Baegun ( 白雲 ), also found under the name Baegunhwasang ( 白雲 和 尙 ), but actually called Gyeong Han ( 景 閑 ) (1289 / 1299–1374).

exhibition

A Korean-German exhibition showed the Jikji 2003 in Göttingen together with the 42-line Gutenberg Bible from Göttingen , both of which were included in the 2001 “Memory of the World” document heritage . A replica was exhibited at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2005 .

See also

German translation

literature

  • Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Kore (ed.): Republic of Korea - Buljo jikji simche yo jeol (vol. II) . Seoul 2001 (English, online [PDF; 1.1 MB ; accessed on November 12, 2018] Application to UNESCO for recognition of the Buljo jikji simche yo jeol as World Document Heritage).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Republic of Korea - Buljo jikji simche yo jeol (vol. II) . 2001, p.  1 .
  2. ↑ Republic of Korea - Buljo jikji simche yo jeol (vol. II) . 2001, p.  4 .
  3. ↑ Republic of Korea - Buljo jikji simche yo jeol (vol. II) . 2001, p.  3 .
  4. ↑ Book printing in Korea and Germany - Jikji and the Gutenberg Bible . Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttigen , September 22, 2003, accessed on November 12, 2018 .