Secrets of Vatican and Goryeo: The World's First Metal Type.

In 1333, a diplomatic document sent by Pope John XXII to King Chungsuk of Goryeo was confirmed. A copy of this diplomatic document was being held in a secret Vatican vault. The letter was written in Latin and begins with the sentence "To the King of the Goryeo people who I respect." It is filled with requests for favors for Christians, along with the words, "I was very happy to hear that the king accepted the old and new Christians in your kingdom with humane kindness and cared for them with compassionate grace."

More than 700 years ago, official documents confirmed that diplomatic documents were exchanged between Goryeo and the Vatican, priests traveled to and from the Korean Peninsula, and spread the Christian faith.  The letter was identified in the Vatican's secret archives while the production team of the documentary "The Secrets of Metal Types" was searching for traces of Oriental metal types flowing into Europe. There was a good reason for the documentary team to pay attention to this diplomatic document.

Mongolia invaded Goryeo nine times in 28 years from 1231. More than 200,000 Goryeo people were taken into slavery by Mongolia. The whole country was a sea of fire. Many wooden buildings were burned. The Goryeo people hoped to defeat the Mongol invasion with Buddha's power. The Goryeo people carved Buddha's words on woodblocks. And with the woodblock, the word of Buddha can be printed on paper at any time. The total number of woodblocks made was 8,1258 pieces. This woodblock contains 84,000 Buddhist words that can escape 84,000 pain. This woodblock is still intact. As such, Korea has long been a country with advanced printing technology.

Then what is the oldest woodblock print in the world? It is the Mugu jeonggwang dae daranigyeong made during the Unified Silla Period. It was discovered inside the Seokgatap Pagoda of Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju on October 14, 1996. The production date is said to be 704. This was a Buddhist prayer. Like this, Korea has long tried to find an efficient way to record.

Now that we've seen woodblock prints, let's find out the oldest metal prints in the world. Metal type is needed to print metal. Metal type refers to the engraving of the alphabet on each piece of metal. Each metal type can be arranged according to the contents of the book, fixed in a mold, and printed out to produce several books in an instant. Because metal types can be reused, other parts of the book could be printed by simply changing the arrangement of metal types. Sophisticated alloying techniques are needed to make metal types.

Prior to Gutenberg's creation of metal types in 1454, books were the preserve of the minority ruling class. At that time, in Europe, it took three years for one person to make a book by writing it on leather such as parchment. In Europe as a whole, 10,000 Bibles could be produced in two months, and 5 million Bibles could be produced in a week after Gutenberg's invention. This led to the explosion of information proliferation, and his invention is credited with contributing greatly to the birth of modern society. 

The oldest metal type book alive is Jikji Simcheyojeol. It was made in Goryeo in 1377, and is printed with the contents necessary to realize Buddhist teachings. So far, there has been a hypothesis that Gutenberg's metal type was influenced by Jikji Simchejo, but it has not been specifically determined through which route it was done. However, the discovery of diplomatic documents sent to Goryeo by the Vatican revealed that Goryeo had direct exchanges with the Vatican, further proving the hypothesis. The book was taken out by the French during the Joseon Dynasty and is now in the French National Library. The book was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2001.

There was another case that proved this hypothesis. A document was discovered directly referring to Gutenberg's invention of metal type. It was a keynote speech by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore at the 2005 Digital Forum in Seoul. "When Gutenberg invented the metal type, he received help from a papal mission, which had a friend of Gutenberg's, who visited Korea and brought records on printing technology." This was a statement based on a letter he confirmed. The letter was one of the documents kept at the printing museum in Basil, Switzerland. The letter contained direct information related to Gutenberg's invention of metal type, which is believed to have been written by Cardinal Nicholas Kuzanus, a friend of Gutenberg. In fact, there is a record in the Roman Vatican that Nicolaus Cuzanus helped print the 42-line Bible.

Now it is becoming more and more known through which channels metal types invented in Korea spread to the West.

Next, we will find out why the mission was sent from the Vatican to Goryeo.