Seongridaejeonseojeoryo(2004)

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.1157-2

Category

Books & Records

Era

조선 중종 33년(1538)

Designated year

2004

Location

청주시, 충청북도— 충북 청주시 흥덕구 직지대로 713, 청주고인쇄박물관 (운천동,청주고인쇄박물관)

Coordinates

36.644045, 127.471437

Seongni daejeon seo jeoryo (Essentials of the Great Collection of Neo-Confucianism) was compiled by Kim Jeong-guk (1485-1541) in 1538 (33rd year of the reign of King Jungjong of the Joseon Dynasty). He summarized the necessary parts from Seongni daejeon (Great Collection of Neo-Confucianism) and edited them into four volumes. Known as Xingli daquan in Chinese, Seongni daejeon was published by 42 scholars including Hu Guang of the Ming Dynasty, containing the diverse theories of neo-Confucianism of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. This book was introduced to Joseon during the early days of King Sejong’s reign. When Kim Jeong-guk was appointed as governor of Jeolla-do Province in 1538 (32nd year King Jungjong’s reign), he discussed with inspector Kim Hoe-baek regarding the publication of Seongni daejeon seo jeoryo. For the publication, wooden types from Naju were used, with the needed or missing characters newly carved to complete the types. This book consists of four volumes; the preface is on the opening page of Volume 1, and the epilogue, at the end of Volume 4. In Volume 1, a page of seals and notes appears next to the epilogue, followed by text that begins with Taegeukdo chongnon (Introduction to the Diagram of Great Ultimate). The first page of each volume is bordered with black lines, single in some volumes but double in others. A page contains 10 columns of 19 characters. In old Korean books, a leaf is made of a long sheet of paper folded in half, so two pages are printed on the same side, not on the opposite sides, of the paper. In these books is a thick black vertical line along the upper and lower parts of the folded edge; the middle part is printed with the title of the book and the page numbers, over and below which black brackets (heugeomi in Korean, literally meaning “black fish tails”) decorate the title words. The seals shaped like a brass chafing dish and a bell stamped on the beginning page of each book suggest that the books must have been owned by a celebrity of that time. The epilogue at the end of Volume 4 ends with a note stating that the set of books was published in 1538. The books are in good condition with the original covers in place, and the inner pages have not been severely damaged by moths. Volume 1 is made up of 64 leaves (i.e., 128 pages), Volume 2, 56 leaves, Volume 3, 62 leaves, and Volume 4, 67 leaves.

Location