Buddhist Influences On Print Technology - Buddhism and Printing in Korea

Buddhism and Printing in Korea

The story of printing in Korea is slightly different than in China, but Buddhism did play an important role in the development of printing. Just as in China and Japan, woodblock printing was the primary technique used for printing, but a scarcity of resources needed for the production of woodblocks in Korea created a need for the invention of an alternative, which was moveable type. Korea was in the unique position among Asian countries of having an alphabet that facilitated the use of moveable type. This is not to say that woodblocks were not used. Once moveable type came into use, Korea was no longer quite as dependent on China for texts.

Sometime in the 4th century the Chinese educational system was introduced to what was then the Koguryo state. A civil service examination system was established in Silla after the Korean states consolidated in the 7th century. As the power of the government grew, demand for books from China increased. Korea began to print its own texts and books from woodblocks in the 10th century. Prior to 1056 Korea was mainly a manuscript culture. Complaints from a provincial capital spurred the government to order copies from the royal collection to be printed. Newly carved woodblocks were sent from the provinces to the royal library, which spurred the production of more woodblocks.(97)

Other than the perceived (and possibly true) unreliability of manuscript copies, religion provided an additional stimulus for the printing of texts from woodblocks, just as in the other countries of East Asia. A large scale carving of woodblocks for the purpose of printing the Tripitaka was undertaken starting sometime around 1014. During the last twenty odd years of the 11th century, more Tripitaka woodblocks were carved, in addition to woodblocks for other Chinese Buddhist works. The demand for Buddhist texts, as well as Confucian texts, grew in the following years. Most of these were subsequently destroyed during the Mongol invasions.

At the time, Korea was rather zealous in its attempts to acquire Buddhist (and other) texts and utilized whatever means it could to acquire texts. In addition to trade with Sung China, Korea bought books from private markets (once again, commerce and Buddhism will be discussed later). The zealousness Korea had to acquire Buddhist texts also provided an impetus for the printing of texts. By the end of the 11th century Korea had better copies of common texts as well as rare copies of certain editions. Previously the flow of books was mainly from China to Korea, but in 1091 China asked Korea for 117 books that no longer existed in China’s libraries, a situation similar to that in Europe a few centuries earlier where Ireland had preserved Christian texts no longer in existence on the continent. This illustrates the strong role that Buddhism played in printing. Buddhism provided the stimulus to keep as many texts in print as possible. When these texts were lost in China, Korea proved to be an important repository of Buddhist literature due to its commitment to the printing of Buddhist texts.

Buddhism also played a role in the development of moveable type. Religion was not the only contributing factor in Korea’s development of moveable type. First, the Sung dynasty (which was apparently the only source outside of Korea for books) fled south after the Chin invasion in 1127. Second, many of Korea’s libraries were destroyed resulting in the loss of many texts and woodblocks during a power struggle in the royal court. Thirdly, the scarcity of hardwoods used in the production of woodblocks in Korea contributed to the need for a more readily made printing source. Pine was the most common wood available in Korea at the time, but is not a good source for woodblocks. There was birch, but these trees were not common and were to be found mostly on mountainous terrain making it difficult to get to and expensive to transport. (98)

The Koreans at that time were most likely already aware of moveable type as it had already been invented in China. In China, moveable type was made from baked clay, but the Koreans improved upon this by making cast-type. Metal casting existed in Korea, but with the introduction of a new method of coin casting from China in 1102, Korea finally had the technology to create an effective method of printing using moveable type. This method of casting came in the form of carving two molds that were joined together with the liquid metal presumably being poured into the hollow thus created. (98-100) So with the zealous desire for Buddhist texts, the scarcity of resources for woodblock production, the introduction of new technology, and the cessation of trade with China, Korea was able to continue to print Buddhist texts.

There are other examples of how Buddhism stimulated printing in Korea. Despite the difficulties the Mongol invasion presented, printing of texts continued. While in exile on Kangwha Island, the Koryo government re-carved a woodblock edition of a Buddhist text crucial to the Son sect that had become scarce. Sohn also suggests that the invention of moveable type was due to the general scarcity of books after 1127 but before the Mongol invasion. Sohn mentions that there was an urgent need for these texts. (98) What he does not mention, and I would suggest, is that moveable type was used because it would have taken too long to re-carve the woodblocks. Thus moveable type was utilized to meet the urgent demand for the texts.

There is more evidence for the influence that Buddhism had on the printing of texts. In 1446, King Sejong introduced the Hunmin chong um, a text that introduced the new system for writing vernacular Korean. In the preface to this text, there is a line (“Even the sound of the winds, the cry of the crane, the cackle of fowl and the barking of dogs – all may be written” ) that is derived from a Sung scholar (Cheng Ch’iao) that “praises the phonological sophistication of the Buddhist monks.” The fact that Sejong was a devout Buddhist could possibly also be seen as evidence of the Buddhist influence on printing. All but two of the earliest texts using Sejong’s Hunmin chong um were Buddhist texts. Also, Hunmin chong um is based partly on Phags-pa that can be traced back to Srong-brtsan-sgam-po, the king who introduced Buddhism to Tibet. “The Buddhist impetus, in turn, carried through to King Sejong’s Hunmin chong um.” (731, 734) This illustrates that not only did Buddhism wield an influence on printing, but also on language reform, which in turn further influenced printing. With the introduction of Hunmin chong um, printing using moveable type in Korea became much more practical.

There are a number of differences between China and Korea which rendered moveable type easier for Korea than China. First, China did not have a script reform that made the use of moveable type more practical as in Korea. The large number of characters used in written Chinese posed a great challenge to the use of moveable type. Instead of making type for every character all at once, why not make new type as it was needed? In this way a gradual shift to moveable type printing could have been accomplished. Second, the historical record shows that in China there was a preference for that which was already established and familiar (e.g. the preference of bamboo/wood books over the usage of paper books). Chinese moveable type was made from baked clay, rendering it breakable.