Rediscovery
The metal-printed Jikji became known to the world in 1901 through its inclusion in the appendix of the Hanguk Seoji, compiled by the French Sinologist and scholar of Korea, Maurice Courant (1865–1935). In 1972 the Jikji was displayed in Paris during the "International Book Year" hosted by the National Library of France, gaining it worldwide attention for the first time. The book was rediscovered by Dr. Park Byung Sun who was working as a librarian in the National Library of France. Dr. Park died in 2011.
The Jikji was printed using metal print in Heungdeok Temple outside Cheongjumok in July 1377, a fact recorded in its postscript. The fact that it was printed in Heungdeok Temple in Uncheondong, Cheongju, was confirmed when Cheongju University excavated the Heungdeok Temple site in 1985.
Heungdeok Temple was rebuilt in March 1992. In 1992, the Early Printing Museum of Cheongju was opened, and it took the Jikji as its central theme from 2000.
Only the final volume of the Jikji is preserved by the Manuscrits Orientaux department of the National Library of France.
On September 4, 2001 the Jikji was formally added to UNESCO's Memory of the World. The Jikji Memory of the World Prize was created in 2004 to commemorate the creation of the Jikji.
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