On the Recarved Edition of priest Nanmingchuan's Chengtao-ko, printed with Metal Type in the Koryo Dynasty

고려주자판 "남명천화상송증도가"의 중조본에 대하여

After the Koryo government moved to Kanghwado Island to escape the invading Mongols, Ch'oe I who was the government irstman ordered in 1239 the recarving of Nanmingchuan Huoshangsung Chengtao-ko (남명천화상송증도가) widely used by an adherent of Son Buddhism to gain a greater understanding of Son principles. Ch'oe I's postscript indicate that the original edition printed with metal type was no longer available and woodblocks were carved to produce facsimiles of that edition. It is assumed that the copies of the original edition were limited in number due to the primitiveness of printing skills and had either not been taken to Kanghwado Island in the flurry of evacuation or were almost all used up. Demand for the book seemed to have surged sharply due to need for spiritual solace during the period of invasion. It is believed that the original edition of Chengtao-ko was published with metal type in Kaegyong(개경), the capitial, before the government took refuge on Kanghwado Island. Two copies of the recarved woodblocks were recently found in the collectiion of Kim Chong-gyu(김종규). and Park Tong-sop (박동섭). It is presumed that one of the copies was recarved again the other one some time, But the carving of the woodblocks were very sophisticated and faithfully reproduced the characteristics of the original metal type edition; first, there were many slanted characters; second, the lines of the main text were not straight but wavy; third, no bottom stroke of any character overlaps the upper stroke of the following character; and fourth, the characters are relatively uniform in size and shape. The printing techniques reflected in the woodblock reproduction were much better than that at the end of the Koryo dynasty and the beginning of the Yi dynasty. It can be assumed that printing with official type had reached a high level of skill before the transfer to Kanghwado Island.