 "Baegunhwasang Chorokbuljo Jikjisimcheyojeol" contains the essentials of Zen
Buddhism compiled by Priest Baegun in the 21st year of King Gongmin(1372) at the
age of 75. It is apparent the ideas inherited from his teacher Seogok
Cheonggong, a Zen(Buddhist Mediation) master to continue and transmit the ideas
of his teacher.It was printed into the metal type by his students Seokchan and
Daldam under the auspices of Myodeok, who was a Buddhist nun, in the seventh
lunar month of 1377 at Heungdeoksa Temple of Cheongju city.
Jikji
comprises historical biographies such as Gyeongdeok jeondeungnok and Seonmun
yeomsong, which were to be studied by the student monks after completing the
study of the teachings necessary to understand the essence of Zen, including the
Buddha's sayings from his last moments, letters of praise, letters and poems on
drawings, educational phrases and sentences, songs, writings, orthodox
teachings, and dialogues. It introduced all kinds of literature for providing an
understanding of Buddhism, and one hundred and forty-five Priest and Monks of
India, China, and Korea are related in the contents of the book.
The key
words of the title of the name of the book, "jikji simche" were derived from the
famous phrase about attaining enlightenment through the practice of Zen, "Jikji
insim gyeonseong seongbul" meaning the attainment of an enlightened state by
direct appeal to the mind. It also means that when we come to see through Zen
what the mind is, then we come to understand that mind to be that of the Buddha.
Because human nature is pure from the beginning, when the mind sees that it is
pure and practices asceticism, one becomes a part of Buddha and one's mind
becomes that of the Buddha. In other words, when one is enlightened through Zen,
one's mind becomes the Buddha. The old priest put together a book of high
standard by selecting only the essentials of Zen to teach and propagate to
pupils.
Priest Baegun who is author was born in the 24th year of King
Chungryeol(1282) in Gobu, Jeollabuk-do province and passed away in the 23rd year
of King Gongmin(1374) at the age of 77 at Chwiamsa Temple of Yeoju-gun. Priest
Baegun entered the priesthood when he was young and devoted to religious
ansterities. He was inherited the ideas from Seogok Cheonggong, a Zen(Buddhist
Mediation) master, and learned doctrines from Priest Jigonghwasang of India.
After returning home from abroad, he stood abreast with National Preceptor Taego
Bowoo and Priest Naonghwasang Hyegeun as Royal Mentor.
Priest Baegun
entered the priesthood when he was young and devoted to religious ansterities.
He was inherited the ideas from Seogok Cheonggong, a Zen(Buddhist Mediation)
master, and learned doctrines from Priest Jigonghwasang of India. After
returning home from abroad, he stood abreast with National Preceptor Taego Bowoo
and Priest Naonghwasang Hyegeun as Royal Mentor.
The circumstances under
which the book left Korea were as follows. It had been in the collection of
Collin de Plancy, a charg d'affaires with the French Embassy in Seoul in 1887
during the reign of King Gojong. The book then went into the hands of Henri
Vever, a collector of classics, and when he died in 1950, it was donated to the
National Library of France, where it has been ever since. Although Buljo jikji
simche yojeol consists of two books, the first volume has not been found yet and
only the second volume is currently kept at the National Library in France.
It originally consists of 39 chapters, of which the first chapter is
missing.Although we do not know the year Cheongju Heungdeoksa Temple was built
or its size, there is an inscription at the last page that the second volume of
Jikji were printed with movable metal type at Cheongju Heungdeoksa Temple at the
reign of King U in 1377. The time was about 70 years earlier than the Gutenberg
Bible printed in Germany. It was introduced in one of the articles of the UNESCO
Courier in 1972 that the work is the oldest extant example of printing with
movable metal type in the printing history of the world.
However, no one
knew the exact location of Heungdeoksa Temple until a drum and Buddhist bowls
made of bronze and inscribed with the word Heungdeoksa Temple were unearthed.
The location of Heungdeoksa Temple, where the book was printed, was confirmed
when the museum of Cheongju University excavated that sites in 1985.
This book was printed using metal type, which makes printing technology
more convenient, economic, easier of correcting, and makes production of book
more quickly. Also, it served as a momentum to invent an oiled ink which is
appropriate to print metal type. This practical printing method invented by
Korea influenced the history of Oriental printing, and it is thought that it was
spreaded to Europe. It is the world's oldest movable metal type printing
evidence available and shows us an important technical change in printing
history of humanity. According to these values, this book was registered as
Memory of the World in September 2001.
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