Korean History › Goryeo
Goryeo metal movable type
recorded by 1234· Invention or discovery· Culture, religion & science
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
Printing type cast in metal, used in Goryeo by the 1230s, about two centuries before Gutenberg.
See it on the Korean History map →What happened
China's Bi Sheng made movable type of baked clay in the 1040s. Goryeo, already skilled at casting bronze coins and bells, cast type in metal (금속활자). Yi Gyu-bo recorded that 28 copies of a 50-volume ritual code, the Sangjeong gogeum yemun, were printed with cast type on Ganghwa Island, around 1234. A 1239 woodblock reprint of a Buddhist text says it copied a metal-type edition. Printers set type in a frame, inked it and pressed paper on by hand.
Why it matters
It is the earliest known use of metal movable type to print books, though, unlike Gutenberg's press, it stayed a state and temple tool for small print runs.
Think of it like
Like reusable letters on a sign board: set them, print, then rearrange them for the next page.
How we know
Written records from the 1230s, the 1377 Jikji as the oldest surviving book, and a few Goryeo type pieces held in Seoul's National Museum and in North Korea.
Still debated
Whether Goryeo used sand or lost-wax casting is debated; types claimed in 2010 as older than Jikji were rejected by heritage officials in 2017.
Inside this (1)
Connections (2)
▸Goryeo metal movable type produced JikjiWell documented
The connection
Metal type, used at the Goryeo court from at least the 1230s, spread to Buddhist temples. In 1377 monks at Heungdeoksa in Cheongju cast their own type and printed Jikji. Uneven lines, a few upside-down characters and blotchy ink show a local, less polished casting than the court's.
When and how
Seventh lunar month of 1377, at Heungdeoksa temple outside Cheongju; Baegun's disciples Seokchan and Daljam, funded by the nun Myodeok.
How we know
The colophon states it was 'printed with cast type' at Heungdeoksa in 1377; the type's features match metal casting, not woodblocks.
Debates and open questions
How Heungdeoksa cast its type, possibly by the lost-wax method, and how many other Goryeo temple printings have been lost.
▸Goryeo metal movable type was improved under King Sejong the GreatWell documented
The connection
Goryeo printers had cast metal type by the 1200s. Joseon made it a state project: Taejong opened a type foundry in 1403, and Sejong had new type cast several times. The 1420 Gyeongja type locked firmly in its frame without beeswax, and the 1434 Gabinja type, by a team including Jang Yeong-sil, roughly doubled daily output.
When and how
The royal type foundry in Hanyang (Seoul), 1420 and 1434, under Sejong, with officials Yi Cheon and Jang Yeong-sil.
How we know
The Sejong sillok describe each casting and its improvements; books printed in Gyeongja and Gabinja type survive in Korean collections.
Debates and open questions
Why Korean metal type never fed a mass book market as Gutenberg's did is debated: Chinese characters, state control and a small readership are candidates.