직지심체요절 - Jikji

  https://youtu.be/P3HTDrM-Z4g  https://youtu.be/u9Dnqid6b2c

An American man!
His discovery rewrote the history of the Old Stone Age.

In the spring of 1977, Greg Bowen, then a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force sergeant, was stationed in Korea.

Bowen was walking around the Hantan River Resort in Gyeonggido Province in Korea.

He happened to find an interesting stone.

He noticed distinctive traces of human work on the stone.

‘This stone could be a hand-axe from the Old Stone Age!’

Hand-axes are important relics that prove the intelligence of ancient humans.

Hand-axes were multi-purpose knives to chop wood and meat and skin animals.

A hand-axe was first found at St. Acheul in France. 

Archaeology Professor Hallam Movius at Harvard University used hand axes to draw a line between the east and the west in human evolution.

He even argued that the racial superiority of Westerners was determined in the Old Stone Age. 

Bowen’s discovery of the hand axe in Korea created a milestone for the Old Stone Age.

A Canadian Documentary Director!
His documentary promoted Goryeo’s metal type printing to the world.

Life Magazine’s Millennium Special Issue in 1997!
It published a list of the top 100 events of the last millennium. 

5. Galileo Galilei’s Telescope 4. The Industrial Revolution
3. The Protestant Reformation 2. The Discovery of America by Columbus

1. The Invention of the Printing Press 

Despite worldwide recognition of the importance of the printing press, Jikji, the world’s oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, is lesser known to the world.

There is a Canadian director named David Redman.

Redman happened to learn about Jikji.

He was surprised to learn that Jikji was printed 78 years prior to the Gutenberg 42-line Bible.

‘Why isn’t Jikji as widely known to the world as the Gutenberg Bible?’    
‘Is it because of an academic bias that sees European printing as superior to Eastern printing?’

‘Is there a possibility that Gutenberg was influenced by Goryeo’s printing technology?’

Goryeo had the most advanced movable metal type printing technology at the time.

He thought of the possibility that Goryeo’s printing technology was transferred to western Europe through the Vatican, which was in active communication with the Yuan Dynasty.

Gutenberg could have been influenced by Goryeo’s printing technology through the Vatican.

Goryeo had a strong relationship with the Yuan Dynasty through royal marriages. 

There is ample possibility that Goryeo’s movable metal type printing technology was transferred through the Yuan Dynasty to Europe. 

Former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore’s Speech at the 2005 Seoul Digital Forum

“It is known in the West that Gutenberg invented the printing technology for the first time.”

“However, the printing technology using metal movable type was learned from Joseon through a papal delegation visiting the Korean kingdom.”

“I learned this at the Swiss Museum for Paper, Writing and Printing.”

“The pope’s delegation included a friend of Gutenberg, and he brought back some records related to printing technology from his visit to Joseon.”

This argument needs a further substantiation of Goryeo’s movable metal type printing technology transferred to the west.

Cultural exchange between the east and the west also needs to be substantiated.

David Redman joined hands with Korean filmmaker Woo Kwang-hoon to prove his theory.

They decided to produce the documentary “Dancing with Jikji” to inform the world of the secrets about Korea’s movable metal type printing technology.  

The documentary examines the development of European printing.

It demonstrates how Goryeo’s movable metal type could have influenced Gutenberg.

Redman focused on the period between the printing of Jikji in 1377 and the printing of Gutenberg Bible in 1455.

He searched for evidence of cultural exchange between Rome and Goryeo in that period.

After hard work, Redman finally made a great discovery at the Vatican’s Secret Archives.

He found Pope John XXII’s letter to King Chungsuk of Goryeo in 1333.

In the letter, the pope expressed his appreciation of Gorye’s hospitality to his delegation.

His discovery of this letter rewrote the history that had recorded Jesuit priest Gregorious de Cespedes, who came to Joseon in 1593, as the first European to set foot in Korea.

The letter revealed the evidence of cultural exchange between Goryeo and Europe.

The documentary “Dancing with Jikji” tells the world that Goryeo invented the world’s first movable metal type printing and that Jikji was the first book printed with movable metal type.

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