2000년 8월 30일(최종완성본)
Creation of New Jikji Culture
Seung Hwan KIM(金昇煥, Professor of Chungbuk Univ.
e-mail : whan642@yahoo.co.kr
homepage http://trut.chungbuk.ac.kr/~whan86)
1.Prospect for the History of Human Civilization in the 21st Century: Bill Gates Paradigm and Project Gutenberg
Bill Gates, the messenger of human history, called the Internet Generation, Generation I.1) Defining today's world as a connected learning community, he didn't hesitate to unfold his confidence that a new world can be created by education through the Internet. His writing dazes my eyes and makes me heave a deep sigh. Indeed, he looks at the Internet with the concept of education, ironically selling products of Microsoft to people as if a teacher delivers the gospel to his students. While Gutenberg, an inventor of Mainz, had a checkered career although he was the "Man of the Millennium" who created a milestone of modern civilization.2) Bill Gates has built a huge cyber kingdom while alive and exists as a mentor of mankind. Apparently, he is a hero of mankind. He is an idol to hundreds of millions of young people, who are rushing to the techno-culture like moths. Generation I, who takes his words like the Bible, thinks in Internet space, vents their feelings through cyber media, and live on digital principles. They are entering the huge kingdom of Bill Gates, not knowing they have "lost their identity through the mimesis"3) of information, which might be called Bill Gates's paradigm. Along with this, marginalization of information is accelerated and the cyber power is consolidated. In the end, he dominates the world as a cyber dictator with powerful charisma beyond the relationship of teacher and student. Be aware at all that all this is happening not in institutional education but in the new education space called Internet!
I am telling this way, because Jikji, the subject of this paper, is a book of education printed with metal types. Its objective, "to make books",4) and its educational paradigm are the very essence of Jikji spirit. However, the fact that Bill Gates is looking for a new paradigm of education not from books but from Internet is a shock, more than just astonishment. A new paradigm changes culture and life. A new paradigm of education changes the future and the world. Such being the case, how shouldn't I heave a sigh upon this reality in which people are subjugated by the huge information imperialism symbolized by Bill Gates on the way toward information society! Now humankind has crossed the river of no return. Days of year 2000, which have crossed the river with silver and gold waves toward a vast expanse of water, flies like an arrow which has left the bowstring. They have crossed the river of history that they can never, ever return, and are now fearlessly navigating the furious night sea, the frightful digital sea. The hands of us humankind holding the helm in the steering house, with Bill Gates as our captain, are trembling in excitement, and our feeble hearts are seized with fear. Looking far and far ahead, we ceaselessly sail on the boundless ocean, but our bodies are motionless struck with amazement. This sea is what people call a cyber world, the unprecedented new world. Over scores of thousand years, the human race has passed the Prehistoric Age, Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age, and experienced the feudal age and modern times until at last to reach today, the year 2000, when they are navigating a new sea of history called cyber. Then we are at the very historic moment when our species is in transition from Homo sapiens, the thinking man, to the digital man Homo-cyber.
Another new cultural trend is Project Gutenberg. I have witnessed a remarkable phenomenon in the cyber space, thanks to the project. It was a fine day in last spring that I understood the project is a form of constructing a new frame of knowledge. The ultimate objective of this project is to freely classify, assemble, distribute and consume information within computers. In short, Project Gutenberg is an attempt to convert all character texts into digital ones.5) And Humi project, which has special aim storing and reproducing that image itself6), organized by Keio Univ. in Japan. It looks like too simple but amazing. Just the method processing and reproducing of information is the 21st paradigm. Digital principle that 'storage itself is reproduction'7) will open new stage of world. Data processing is going on in German under the title of Das Projekt Gutenberg-DE, and also in English. This grand project to convert major works in the world into digital texts is under way in Germany, the United States, and other places at the same time. Through such projects providing various services of knowledge and information, the world state system will reinforce the Occidentalism and accelerate the popularization of English as a world language. It looks simple but marvelous. This mode of processing and re-creating information is nothing less than the paradigm of survival in the 21st century. It is certain that the cyber environment will bring revolutionary change in acquiring knowledge and information for the Internet generation. Also, it will decisively contribute to establishing the status of English or other first world languages (German or French) as the world official language. We should grasp the correct meaning of this. A server having a sense of impending crisis, is constructing Jikji Project.8) The Headquarters for Discover Jikji Campaign led by Cheongju Citizens' Association is devoting itself to publicize Jikji.79) Other efforts continue to re-create Jikji in a modern sense and maximize its commercial value.10) Can't we take these as spontaneous, not artificial, modern re-creation of Jikji culture? I am sure such a new concept of information system reflects an aspect of spontaneous generation of new Jikji culture. The 21st century prefers diversity to unity, possibility to completion, flexibility to fixation, de-standardization to standardization, bi-direction to uni-direction, wholeness to partialness, and complex lineage to single lineage. I believe a new Jikji culture is to enable to re-create the key phrase, the recognition of knowledge information of Jikji, in such way. I mean, a forward objective should be set this way if it can be made possible by human work.
2.Understanding the Metal Type of Goryeo Dynasty (918 ∼ 1392) from an Anti-Capitalist Perspective
Let's consider this subject bearing in mind the previously discussed point, which is the future historic outlook of two civilizations. The explicit question to the core of this subject is why Koreans invented the metal type. It's hard to answer in a simple mode. People say that the most notable invention within last millennium is the metal type. However, historians also criticize that Koreans could not develop what they invented. I agree both statements are true, yet now it's time to reconsider why the metal type from Korea did not fully contribute to the civilization of mankind. So far, Koreans have settled down proud of the mere fact that they first invented the metal type. From where and when did the problem start?
The real value of metal type is that it enabled replication. Replication usually aims for massive production, which pre-requires efficiency and professionally trained labor. Also, this massive production inevitably causes generalization of knowledge. The printing method of metal type is important from the viewpoint of reproductive technology like casting and carving and reproduction.11) However, regardless of geographical condition and times, the reproductive principle is united in the Gutenberg Project12), and this shows the importance of massive production as a surviving tool of humankind. In the western world, there are vocabularies such as printing, typography and presswork for 'printing'. Among those terms, the word 'press' is related with industrialization of massive production13), but this has different printing concept from that of the metal type of Korea. In other words, Jikji exists in the different dimension, which is apart from commercial capitalism. As it is known today, the metal type of Goryeo dynasty was not meant for sales. Here, we can bring a question why the people in the medieval Korean state made the metal type since xylograph is more efficient when managing labor and information spreading. The subject of this paper is 'Jikji', which is a textbook for Buddhist priests. It seems like this textbook is indifferent to the idea of spreading of information since the printed volume is not mountable. However, the people from ancient Korea made metal type, why? Let's travel into the history to solve this riddle.
1)Jikji seen from the perspective of comparative history of civilization
We first have to look at the society of late period of Goryeo dynasty. At that time, Korea's national culture was devastated due to the long colonial occupation of the Mongol Dynasty. Moreover, Buddhism lost its dominance among people due to the rise of Sung Confucianism. Unlike mediaeval century of Europe, there was no sign for capitalism or commercialism. Without any accessory explanation, inventing the metal type at this period was far from industrialization; while, the Gutenberg type was a turning point for the European civilization and sign for industrialization. We have to note for that fact the principle and form14), which are described as selective and massive production, of Gutenberg type were the driving force for modernization. The importance of Gutenberg Type is the nova forma scribendi and its delicacy. Furthermore, it reflects the undeniable social flow15), which is industrialization and scientific development with distinct features in the modern times. It may not be a great deal when exactly this type was invented. The significance of the Gutenberg type is not a numerical value as of 1450, but Koreans still and only emphasize the year 1377, when the Jikji was first printed, claiming that the Jikji is world-first and at the same time world-best. This is not a clever way to put it: we have to look at the substance of Jikji, and how we will reproduce its cultural and historic value for the future.
The metal type from the mediaeval state of Korea was being cast seeking the fulfillment in spiritual cultivation not the industrial value. This is why I cannot judge the value of metal type of ancient Korean state from the industrial aspect. In other words, I believe that the 'meaning' of Jikji is the originality and one and only living aura16). In the late 14th century, the aura of Buddhism was on the way of fading while Confucianism was on the way to rise as a new dominant ideology. Jikji was invented at this revolutionary stage. Jikji lies at the exact crossing point of Buddhist's aura and Confusion ideology, and this makes us more and more lost if we look at this fact from the capitalistic aspect. The spirit of metal type from Korea lies not at the commercial value of massive production but at the selective production and mental culture. I want to state the conclusion of this paper here as: Jikji should be scrutinized while considering the aspect of mental culture that refers to alms, piety, praying, mercy and spiritual enlightenment. We should also see the importance in general understanding17) toward massive production of paper, ink stick production, demand for books, Chinese ink, Buddhist statutes molding and metal type casting technology.18)
The meaning of the word 'Jikji' is direct teaching to reach the supreme wisdom19), and this also points out that Jikji should be understood with spiritual values. In other words, we should focus to the spiritual enlightenment, education and integrated culture not to the commercial aspect of capitalism and massive production of industrialization. I'm not hereby stating the dichotomy of western and eastern ways putting the former as materialistic and the latter as spiritual, not that I agree with previously stated assumption. I'm just pointing out the principle related with the birth of metal type. It's not an overdone if I say that the metal type is the product created from the crossing point between spiritual culture and materialistic culture. If I may go further, it is certain that Jikji was released under an integrating principle without undergoing division of labor and cooperation that are critical in industrialization. Within this mainstream, we can recognize Jikji just from the view of integrating principle where spiritual culture rules over materialistic culture. In other words, materialistic civilization meets the purpose of spiritual culture. On the contrary, Gutenberg type was an outcome gained when seeking massive replication that is necessary in industrializing process.20) In this case, the desire of sub-structure was carried forward in the form of type. The invention of the type led commercial printing divesting the vocation of calligrapher. However, the metal type invented in Korea was far from that kind of situation. The metal type invented in Korea did not bring industrialization. Two cases are different because two sectors aimed at different goals. Metal type from ancient Korean state was seeking selective production that rather goes for anti-industrialization. This is why spiritual value was more emphasized when composing types without considering the efficiency that is found in the wood printing type. In sum, metal type from ancient Korean state valued not the printed result itself but the spiritual aspect while proceeding type casting and printing themselves.
2)Jikji as a spiritual culture
Then, what should we do now after 700 years have past to recreate the positive value of Jikji? Here lies the theme of this paper as of new Jikji culture. The interpretation on this term, Jikji culture, varies. The first point comes from the teaching of Buddhism. The word 'Jikji' means meditating oneself to look into his mind clearly to go further into the Buddhist emancipation. This aspect values the substance that is related with Buddhist culture and spiritual realm. The next aspect is dealt within the history of civilization. In this case, the understanding toward the composing process of Jikji itself is emphasized apart from the content of Jikji. Both of these aspects should be reckoned at the same time; nonetheless, the latter aspect should be weighed more. This is because we do not want to be indulged to the religious teaching. If Jikji is understood from the solely religious perspective, Buddhist would not accept this. If we rather reach the universality that goes beyond all religious matters, this is a true practice what Buddha had taught about the truth of 'Gyun Sung Oh Do'(見性悟道 *signifying perceiving the true self to reach supreme wisdom). Moreover, we should look out not to fall into the concept of restoration that merely redraws the lifestyle of medieval Korean state. We will discuss further bearing above statements in mind to construct Jikji culture.
I said, previously, that creating new Jikji culture is not about mere reappearance of the past but bringing the future to the present. At this point, we cannot skip a precise studying over the future outlook of information revolution that happens nowadays. As all agreed, Jikji was a revolution for the method, which is used when expressing language. It was done in a gradual degree, but surely it was a revolution. However, this method is undergoing changes like the Bill Gates paradigm - the second information revolution- that I stated in the preface. The traditional publishing tool as of paper and printing is being modified in the space of virtual reality. Due to this, new e-language with new grammar is evolved. This e-language with new grammar leads a chaotic flow of the technological culture that accelerates running away from canon.21)
In the Jikji era, there was paper as a substance and printing as a process. However, human being now has much more diversified ways as in expressing oneself in the cyberspace that bestows free writing and discarding. The paper-printed books will not be vanished, but e-book and cyberspace would enjoy more and more ideas and outbursts of emotions eventually. The principle of digital totally changed the expression method itself at one click with providing indefinite volume to be used. For example, tens of books could chunk up only 1 Mega of cyberspace. Considerable part of a library of one scholar can be stored at one time unless the information to be stored is not paintings or sound files. Not to mention the speed got incredibly fast when restoring and restoring information or accessing and using the information. This is compression of time and at the same time space. No, it's beyond compression but modification and dissolving of time and space. Actually, this is a new creation that transcends the modification and dissolution. From this point of view, the new principle of digital stands out and is different from the analogue type thinking. Internet plays a role of spreading knowledge and providing information, replacing the previous role of metal type.22) It appears that the crazy scudding of this 21st century toward light speed would crush the whole information sharing system. The 21st century announces in brute tone that the grave and painful system previously in the form of paper printed goods will be substituted by images, cyberspace or other matters. Near the vicinity of the new information environment from new era, we can find vocabulary as of uncertainty, anonymity, light speed, fretfulness, sensuality, new liberalism, disposability, financial capital, bio-science, one globalized country system and so on. I will not drag this matter; instead, I will directly speak the thesis of this paper.
3)Cyber era and new-regionalism
Then, will the information transmitting method that existed in the analogue era be forever vanished? The traditional printing method will be doomed in the near future? Will there be any substitutes for the publishing media? Would it be? The answer is no. If we think of it, the cyber system cannot be fully separated from its substance, say, knowledge and information. Why? It's because the letter, which is the form of language, would be immortal since language is an expression of human's thinking and emotion. Moreover, the substance would be always the same despite modification in the expression method. Thus the written art still exists even after new language is created such as polygram, and this art should exist as long as the civilization goes on.
Let's go further than this. Is the printing industry in danger in this cyber era? The answer is no. It's not in any grave danger, but rather, it encountered a great opportunity. This is an opportunity as long as we do not restrict the realm of printing within conventional innocence but extend to go further while adapting to changes. The world has changed; so the printing method, namely, the information transmission system, should also change. Therefore, printing industry should adapt to the new printing environment with flexibility by the spirit of interactiveness and fusion. This is e-book23), the new printing form. This new e-book will soon be treated as an obsolete residue of the past. It is sure that mankind will create another, but it shall be a totally different information transmission system in the near future. I believe it's not going to end there but will go further while dealing whole kinds of activities related with information and knowledge such as producing, modifying, transmitting, distributing and consuming in the cyberspace. What Bill Gates expected will not go wrong. The new term, Homo-cyber, may be made to describe human being replacing the term, Homo sapiens. The previous stage before the would-be Homo-cyber civilization should be the Internet Generation (Generation I), as Bill Gates stated. The world is changing. Digital civilization can arrange information and knowledge in a totally different mode from type printing, even if it distorts them for sure. However, this distortion can be interpreted as a lineup in the future world because it is a new lifestyle.
There is a flow in the history of Korean civilization that lies at somewhat different dimension from the general flow of world civilization history. This new term, Jikji culture, is to make the national culture as a world culture and vice versa. Today, Koreans are dreaming of this information empire, hoping that the future Korea will be a developed country that has the most excellent information transmission system in the world. The problem lies here when Koreans accept the Bill Gates paradigm without any reconsideration.24) This is not at all to share the spirit of Jikji as far as we dream of such an idea of information imperialism. I'd rather say that it's a pity that Korea becomes a middleman in constructing an information empire of the 1st world that symbolizes Bill Gates. The idea of building an unseen information empire by virtue of information monopoly and its fruit contradicts that of Jikji, which seeks spiritual world. The desirable path is to look for the world where everybody is equal, dissolving information imperialism of the 1st world because the core concept of Jikji culture is controlling the desire over information.
In this way, principle of digital compresses spaces. Compressed information is stored in the cyberspace, then distributed and consumed anonymously. In this new paradigm, the gap of information exists just as the gap of capital and power stood in previous days. In addition to the centralization of information, information industry shows serious centralization. If we look at the surface, it seems like the production and distribution of information gets free; yet the pattern that monopolizes and consumes critical information gets worse. Therefore, the spirit of Jikji is dissolving this pattern, that is a feudal order in industrialized society. The place where the Jikji was printed was not the capital but CheongJu, far away from the outskirt of the capital area. It would not be a mishap if I put this as a symbol of regional culture. Today, the form of centralism constructed at this modern capitalistic and industrialized society is being replaced by a new structure, resulting from the reorganization of time and space. At this point, the problem of deconstructing monopoly and anti-centralization rises giving birth to the issue of regionalism. Therefore, I firmly believe that the most important part of modernizing the Jikji spirit is dissolving the dual concept of central and marginal. To do this, we have to first break up the term of centralism. Moreover, we have to also dismantle the previous world dominant paradigm such as Western centralism, Christian absolutism, and white superior complex. Along with all these, we need to be free from the dual concept of Gyeong (京 capital) and Hyang (鄕 region), central and local respectively, which has signified authority and dominance since the feudal ages. Then, we should take a new concept in which every region enjoys equal authority. Within this new concept, Washington D.C., Seoul and CheongJu all have equal standing. Parts belong to the whole but show their own surviving power25) as an independent unit. The whole, made up of physical integration, of individual region belongs to the bigger whole being a substructure of another whole. This indefinite dialectic relationship between the part and the whole manifests the will to overcome the inconsistency of dominance and subordination, and this naturally features each region's own actions to survive. The true democracy will arrive when all regions set up parallel not subordinate or vertical relationship with each other. Here lies the point26) that we have to pay attention to dissolving the centralized power to secure the future of Korea. Here lies the spirit of Jikji.
It is only natural that we want to be free from bureaucracy, mobilization and surveillance system that still exist upon the new millennium; however, along with this, the unique and diversified feature in regions should be preserved and acknowledged. I hereby advocate new-regionalism as a national paradigm that does not fall into the category of either sentimental regional emotion or local emotion, which signifies a feudal residue. The difference between new-regionalism and previously existing regionalism is that the former strongly demonstrates the determined will to disorganize centralism. Individual region should possess independent surviving ability and should not be swayed by control or ruling of outer party. I will save my words here but will say only one more thing24. This new-regionalism precisely contributes in recreating Jikji spirit to the modern times.
4)Deconstructing national monopoly and centralism.
Let's make an assumption. What if a new regime that rules national state with cyberspace, financial market and culture, not with the obsolete colonization system that sends out army to exploit labor and resources? Then what kind of lifestyle we should choose? If so, it is more likely that we will stay only at the half-colonized system where seeking to manage our feeble life with its own interests in one federal nation under new liberalism and a global country regime.27) Under this new paradigm, it is hard to preserve national culture adhering to ethnicity and keep up its pathos and life principle as they are. It is obvious that enormous capital will devour and rule small capital even in the field of cultural art. Therefore, we have to prepare for the future cultural exploitation by disabling the authority of cultural imperialism and propping up national culture and regional culture to sustain our daily lives, not to mention, being ready for possibly miserable struggles while going through all these conflicts.
The borderline of rulers and subordinates was drawn from the monopoly of information and knowledge at the pre-modern society. In any country, we are likely to find that ruling class produces and manufactures knowledge as a governing tool. The metal type from Goryeo (高麗) or Chosun (朝鮮) dynasty was used intending to use for a long time28) and printing accurate characters; however, it couldn't be a help in spreading knowledge among the public since only a few of ruling class owned29) it. In the feudal society, the people who produce and control knowledge rule the regime at the center of the system while subordinates only receive and use the knowledge. In this mode of dichotomy, it is inevitable for the state to choose monopolization of information. The Jikji lies right here at the meeting point of resistance against state's control of information and emotion and state's control itself. Therefore, the fact that the metal type was published in a small province, CheongJu, not in the capital while still undergoing the ruling of Mongol dynasty is noticeable. It is noticeable in a sense that it is highly valuable from the viewpoint of cultural history even if letters are rough30) in size or figure. I hereby bring up this subject, avoiding plane description about the publication of Jikji and the history phone of late period of the medieval Korean state, but rather going in-depth to raise this issue from the point of state's monopoly on information. I have to admit that this is a highly controversial thesis.
Goryeo dynasty was not directly involved with publishing the Jikji. However, overall, we cannot deny that religious piety and national authority are co-related for this. Actually, the secular substance of the state and sacred substance of Buddhism cooperated in publishing Jikji in their mutual needs. At that time, Buddhism was a religion but also an ideology. From the sacred aspect, it was a religion and at the same time, it was ideology from the aspect of secularity. Jikji was an educational textbook used for the spread of Buddhism, which world cross at once point of the secular world and sacred world; consequently, Jikji was a Sutra of Buddhism and at the same time a guidebook of ideology. If we look only at the surface, publishing the Jikji was an educational textbook compilation project for monks.31) The content of Jikji itself is not a solely created matter, but the Jikji is composed of excerpts from various Sutras. In other words, there are three categories immanent in the Jikji: first is metal type; second Buddhism; and third education. All the while, there lies a national problem as to using and manufacturing iron and is also upheld by substructure as regards crafting industry. On the other side, Buddhism, at that time, was in impending danger of losing its dominance when confronting Confucianism. Therefore, the inner layer of Buddhism, at that time, raised its voice to go back to the status they once enjoyed, as the spirit of the times, through education. This could be a little extraordinary interpretation, but we have to understand the publishing of Jikji itself and the ruling strategy of the state. Here, we have to examine literate class. Almost 100 years back from now, only 20 to 30% of population could write, and 40 to 50% of people could read. Nonetheless, most of people could exchange ideas and emotions, and this was enabled by oral language or other expressing methods. As a consequence, it was a general phenomenon for the ruling class to try to secure control over knowledge and information since the knowledge and information were used for an absolute standard when citing authority. Thus, literate class was in strict control, and the controllers were the only party that belonged to the mainstream of state's governing. The inequality of knowledge in the medieval Korean times must have been worse than this. The new Jikji culture should be understood as the strategic method32) to loosen the vertical subordination of a region toward the center if we consider the point mentioned above; moreover, it should be discussed from the aspect of dissolving monopolization of information. From the aspect of history of Korean culture, publishing Jikji was at the crossing point of inner desire of subordinates and spiritual culture. The new crossing point in the 21st century is digital.
3.Disorganizing jkji Mythology and Creating Jikji Culture
A few years back from now, President Young-Sam Kim asked the PM of France to return the Jikji to Korea. It must be hard to turn down for France since France was, at that time, trying to make a TGV construction contract with Korea. However, one librarian guarded Jikji with his life to dismiss the proposal. Actually, the President Kim's demand was a bit unreasonable because there was no precedent that gave cultural assets back to the home country unless it was acquired by sack. As it is well known today, Jikji was sold at unimaginably low price to France, so France has its own excuse to justify its occupation. The demand of President Kim could not meet international conventions, either. Nonetheless, President Kim spoke out for this and failed. This is only one example of how Koreans lost impartial balance toward culture because they are so occupied with pride in it. Even some scholars are only emphasizing the excellence of Korean culture. This is being also applied to Jikji. Everybody, even 3-year-old kid, knows that Korean culture doesn't acquire high status in the history of world culture. In other words, we have to face the fact that Jikji, which printed Sutras(經) in Chinese characters not in Korean, could influence the world culture much less than the Gutenberg type that printed the Bible with Roman characters.33) Nonetheless, an overall rampant phenomena in Korean society is found in exaggerating the Korean culture and its impact on the world, saying something of 4,000 years. We cannot find any superiority or inferiority in culture nor profundity or shallowness. Let's put it this way, could Jikji have been worldly recognized if Jikji had remained in Korea? It is obvious that the government of France must have found the President Kim's demand a little bit odd.
1)Dissolving Jikji mythology
I'm not here to explain the procedure of diplomacy. What I want to do is just explaining the generating process of Jikji Mythology. Koreans transformed the sorrow toward lost cultural assets to obsession, and the obsession did not work properly. Most of Koreans are not fully aware of Jikji, but have incredible pride in printing technology. The wave of this mythology is sweeping out and distorting the real significance of Jikji from the cultural history aspect. The Jikji received spotlights when the discourse from Mr. President came out. Then, Jikji was reborn as a myth with vague sureties. Hereafter, Jikji, with the books of Yeo Gyu Jang Gak(外 奎章閣) , was viewed as a target that must be taken and, at the same time, as a lost sacred book and core of national culture. The misunderstanding that obtaining Jikji will bestow superiority to Korean culture extends the myth farther and farther. We have discussed Jikji for more than 2 decades so far; however, there are more people who never heard of Jikji than those who did. They may know the Turtle Boat(거북船), Chun Hyang Jeon(春香傳), or The Great Majesty Gwang Gae To(廣開土王), but they do not know Jikji. cultural values, it is not endowed with its proper meaning. Jikji is the discourse of region and national culture her produced valuable treasure in the history of national. It can be said that although Jikji takes its significant place among the outstanding cultural values national culture had produced, it is not endowed with its proper meaning. Jikji is the discourse of a region and valuable treasure in the history of national culture, but it falls into a myth we are not conscious of. This seems to be a sort of madness in a sense of excluding Jikji because of the division and exclusion34) of mind, thus eventually creating the Jikji Myth. We should reflect deeply on this.
The mystification of Jikji is really apprehensive. It is necessary that we reconsider the mystification of Jikji that causes us to be overwhelmed by the historical fact that Jikji is the earliest printing type in the world and ensures us to be buried under the name of formalism.35) How can Jikji be mystified? Jikji is Jikji. Jikji is not above Jikji. Jikji can be ranked as it is only when we coolly realize the exaggerated meaning of Jikji. However, Jikji gets more and more mystified. What is the reason for that? There can be several analyses about that. First, Korean people's excessive love about national culture is one of the different reasons. Among many subjects of cultural history which humankind possesses as a myth, our national cultural artifacts do not belong in its important list, though. This argument may evoke some controversies since it insults four thousand years' glorious national culture. Of course, those controversies are justifiable. It is clear that all our cultural properties, tangible or intangible, are extremely important. However, what they are thought to be extremely important to us is one thing, and what they are considered to be significant in the history of world culture is another. Be cool and calm. It is urgent that we destroy the collective consciousness of what we only acknowledge, or of something that is important only to us.
Once again, we think about it in the context of comparative cultural history. As we know well, it is apparent that the invention of metal print type would be the first in the list of the human being's primary intellectual properties. But the winner of its meritorious service went to Gutenberg, who was a merchant in Mainz city, in the context of cultural history. The maniacal followers of Jikji wailed for that because other countries including UNESCO does not acknowledge this even if Korea's Jikji is apparently earlier than Gutenberg's. They say further that Jikji is not only the earliest, but also the oldest. Furthermore, they petition for global acknowledgement in that Jikji is earliest and oldest in the world history of culture. Of course, it is certainly important that they continue to make efforts to register it onto UNESCO's documentary cultural legacies.36) But I maintain again that Korea's metal print type should not be viewed in terms of industry or capital. Neither should we exaggerate the significance of the metal print type, by suggesting that it came either by the basic motive power of overall industry or by the start of capitalism. If we understand it in a totally new angle and take it on the logical basis, the importance of Jikji in the world history of culture could be esteemed naturally. Culture is not Olympic Games. It is not the competition of records such as in a 100M sprint race. If we judge the earliest culture as the most excellent one, in terms of time, we may fall in a blunder. Culture is basically trans-temporal and trans-spatial. Accordingly, I believe the excellence of culture can be brought out no matter when it comes out. If we think the excellence of culture has to be judged by time, such judgment can be a low-level viewpoint of culture.
2)Modern Recreation of Jikji
I suggested that we deconstruct the myth of Jikji and reconsider the spirit of Jikji in terms of anti-capitalism. In a word, the spirit of Jikji is share and sacrifice, which, I believe, is the start of recognition about Jikji and allows us to contemplate the history of human culture in a different attitude. I have before explored for that even if insufficient, but this time I will mention the more challenging and specific argument. I think the spirit of Jikji is a rejection of Bill Gates' information paradigm. I have said in the early part of this writing that Bill Gates is one of the most influential persons who manipulate the world of today. He is the most powerful man in the cyber world. Rather, he is an emperor of the earth. In the 21st century, the power of politicians or people who possess the military or money is more and more being weakened. Meanwhile, in the information age, when digital logic is being elevated into the equivalent of law, institution and ethics, Bill Gates is an emperor. Additionally, there is the ideology of new-liberalism of cyber power and biological science represented by genome-project37) around him. In the apex of that power, Bill Gates is standing.38) His one word is the order itself in the neo-liberalism world. Then, what is the reason for that? The reason why Bill Gates ascends to the emperor's throne is related to the fact that the new-world appears, where the production and consumption of knowledge and emotion is mainly conducted in the cyberspace. There is no national border in this world where knowledge and emotion are spread. The previous order of people-nation or race-nation is gradually deteriorating. Bill Gates is the symbol of the new-world which substitutes the previous order and creates new cyber power.
Let me take an example. In the past age, the production and consumption of paper book is mainly obtained through the printing technology. Book-writing is an independent occupation and the technology of paper book print plays an important role of distributing its created works.39) However, the sudden appearance of new sort of the book like E-book transforms the production system of knowledge into totally new one. When an author writes a book, it is the old story that he writes on the manuscript paper with a feathered pen, and then types it in the computer, to translate his emotion into knowledge, and finally sends it to the publishing company as the form of diskette.
Now, the informational processing of emotion is achieved in the digital way within the cyberspace. These days, the fantasy novel gradually becomes a popular genre because the author writes and distributes a book immediately on the cyberspace, without transmitting it to the publishing company, while the reader also immediately reads and criticizes it. It implies that the interactive communication runs rapidly toward the speed of light. On the other hand, music or picture is inserted into the art of language, which thus creates fusion art. It shows that literature escapes from the word-text sphere and enters into the hypertext sphere, expanding the extent of interaction with the other genres of art.
These kinds of all the facts come from the cyber environment and the ideology of new-liberalism. New-liberalism is an ideology fusing socialism and capitalism, and its base is the post-industrial society. Today, in Korea, a computer is a very common necessity which most of people use. The supply of super-computer, the expansion of on-line living condition and the combination of network with arts give birth to such a new category as Cyber Survival. Although cyberspace is actually not a real space, it has the virtual reality similar to the real space which creates human's feeling, disintegrates it and consumes it. Compared to the geometrical space conception, it is the non-Euclidian typological space that is rough, complicated and reflexive non-shaped one where all the relations are overlapped, transmitted, severed and connected.40) In the multi-medial space, human's feelings are greatly transforming. Today's survival is concerned about the possibility that we can accept this transformation and create the techno-culture. I am not certain that the cyber space can completely include the reality of lives, but I wish to observe how the techno-cyber culture changes.
However, I believe that we should be calm and critical at this point. We may thank Bill Gates, but we should boldly negate and deconstruct his way. Whether he intends or not, he is an autocrat of cyber power and he has the whole humankind at his hand by the strength of autocracy and monopoly. His followers create great added values by the strength of semi-conductor and cyber industry, and construct the charisma of cyber world. This phenomenon is going toward the common goal of monopoly of information industry. Then, is it right that certain people, nation, or group follows this kind of paradigm of centralization? Is it good that one just turns a follower pursuing the power of the first world, joins it and receives some rewards? Today, the slogan of South Korea aims to build Information-oriented nation and the rebirth of knowledge and culture industry. This is following of the Bill Gates' paradigm. I object to this as many people do. I think the centralization of the power of the first world is not desirable. Although, today, Korea achieves the industrialization, it is not right that Korea is boast of what it belongs to the first world, or Korea exploits other national countries for it. Koreans or wise intellectuals should have an apparent aim to deconstruct Bill Gates' paradigm in fact, Korea should play an important role in preventing all the world from becoming the colony of information. This is the very spirit of Jikji, 'share and sacrifice'. Therefore, new Jikji culture has its foundation in sacrifice, love and share. And it should help impeding competition in unlimited speed. Is it not the spirit of Jikji that revives the speed of human, not the speed of light?
Let me discuss the creation of new culture of Jikji, a theme of this thesis, under such understanding. Jikji is the cultural legacy of the past. Today, we possess present Jikji. Then, how do the future people think about Jikji? I selected the Modern Creation of Jikji as a subtitle from the beginning. Here the word modern refers to the future. I intend to understand Jikji's trans-temporality through the past, the present and future of Jikji which now turns wholly modernized. Therefore, the new Jikji culture promotes the positive reproduction of the spirit and meaning proper for today's concept. Although Jikji represents the spirit of Zen Buddhism, the self-realization in process of mediation and contemplation, it should be 'interesting, easy and flexible41) to modern people. Furthermore, it means the cultural creation in that the past Jikji is revivified as the present Jikji, and transmitted as the future Jikji. In the previous days, the pre-modern culture was a part of life not regarded as culture. In 1377, the late period of Goryeo, the creation of new Jikji culture is just a phrase displaying human's pride. Conclusively speaking, this is not a good understanding. Culture is not a creation by someone only. It, as Danje mentions, refers to all the forms which humankind produces. It is spiritual accumulations in a total form, not just a creation by someone. I insist again that culture come out of the total activities of human's production and not an artificial creation by someone. Then, is the positive recreation of a new Jikji culture impossible? Answer is no.
Culture is similar to a swallow's seed, implying that culture is like the principle of nature in which a seed delivered by a messenger of culture is planted, sprouted, and finally bears fruits. For instance, in the 3~4th centuries when the Buddhism culture had been transmitted, Lee Chadon was the messenger of culture since his martyrdom gave birth to Emile Bell(에밀레종), Dabo Tower(多寶塔) in Bulguk Temple(佛國寺). Accordingly, culture needs messengers and warriors, including soil for its seed and people to enjoy it. We are waiting for new Digerati(digital + literati) actually capitalist of information, who can cope with the trend of the world.42) If we accumulate the information power, we should the digital circumstance in which power elite group of digital age can grow. When all these things are organically integrated and operated, culture is born and developed. Likewise, new cultural flower and culture blooms in the cyberspace. It is by our responsibility that the seed delivered by Bill Gates, the messenger of the human culture, should be well planted, sprouted and bloom. From such seed of culture, the spirit of Jikji is in urgent need for modern society with love and charity to share with people in difficulty and poverty.
4.Creation of New Jikji Culture: Conclusion
There are a lot of cultural legacies produced by our people. Hangul(한글), Tortoise Ship(거북선), 80,000 complete collection of Buddhist Scriptures(八萬大藏經), Shimchung Story(沈靑傳), Rain Gauge(測雨器) and so on. However, among them, what can be splendidly acknowledged in the history of world culture is few. Simply to accept this fact will be courageous. Let us break down our pride with such real courage. That is the Jikji spirit of challenge, courage and creation. And then, let us make our cultural properties contributing and acceptable to the history of world culture. Here is the spirit of Jikji. Recreating the historical cultural assets to be cultural capital of Digital Age concerns our efforts to preserve and transmit our culture as well as place it right in the universal culture of the world, and this action also relates to wisdom by which to reproduce the past legacy into the present cultural capital.
Then, from where do we start such new our recognition? First of all, let us throw away the viewpoint of modern capitalism. Especially, we should not overlook the fact that the invention of a metal print type has nothing to do with industry in Goryeo dynasty. Meanwhile, the invention of Gutenberg's print type was not only the turning point of European civilization, but also the signal of industrialization. It is noted that Gutenberg's print type was one of mass products and a motive power of the Western progress. Gutenberg's print type was important because it had much artistic elaboration and reflected the massive flow of science and industrialization. Yet, it is not important to note when it was printed, and where it is now located in the context of the history of culture. Nonetheless, Korean people are still obsessed in that Jikji is the earliest and the oldest, hopelessly mentioning the year of 1337 only. They would advocate for 'return movement' of it, lamenting that Jikji, the only oldest metal print type in the world, is placed in the National Library of France. This is not a wise attitude. Rather, it is more important that we think about the essence of Jikji and the reproduction of the value of cultural history. The metal print type in the middle age of Korea must have been separated from industry, yet it should be seen from the spiritual culture produced in a spiritual level. As a matter of fact, Jikji itself shows the sincerest efforts by human being, the almsgiving as the self-restraint of desire, reverence, prayer, charity and self-realization through awakening. Therefore, it exists in a total different level from the capitalistic concept of commercialism like mass production. In terms of cultural history, the essence of Jikji was the truth and aura of Buddhist culture. But in the late of 1300s, the Buddhist aura was gradually breaking down. Jikji was published in the introductory period of new Confucian ideology as the main axis of thought. Jikji was located at the intersection of Buddhist aura and Confucian ideology. Therefore, one cannot understand Korea's metal print type in terms of capitalism. The spirit of Korea's metal print type consists not in commercial mass-production, but in small production and spiritual culture. We understand Jikji literally means right teaching and correct understanding. It is the spirit of Jikji. We should not understand Jikji from the angle of capitalism and industrial mass-production, but in terms of the realization of spiritual culture, education, and comprehensive culture.
I have discussed the truth and false of Jikji culture, emphasizing that the creation of culture is not artificially achieved. So I suggested that we should find our aspiration to create the new Jikji culture as meaningful even if this job cannot be done with ease in reality. Where we admit this fact modestly, the creation of new Jikji culture is possible. Korean people, especially lived in Cheongju, wish to believe that Cheongju used to be the birthplace of information culture. Neither is it the fact. The metal print type is not the only means to produce and supply information; rather, a wood print type or manuscripts or oral transmission can be more effective. As for a print type, the production of knowledge and information was mainly done in Gangwha island(강화도) or other regional printing places. Except Jikji, Cheongju was not an advanced place for distribution of information. Rather, it is proper that Cheongju is a marginal place for distribution of information and knowledge. Then in 2000, what is the objective of South Korea and Cheongju? From our center-oriented inclination by which we believe we are the center of nation and world, the importance of knowledge and information is raised up once more. That is paradox and resistance to such marginal consciousness as we had before. Let us go back to the logical sense cool-headed out of passion and exaggeration.
I mentioned that Bill Gates is a messenger of the history of human culture. And I specified Bill Gates' paradigm. But we should realize that gigantic power and charisma are put onto his information empire. Today, to declare that Korea will soon be an information-oriented country is to straightforwardly confess to enter into the first world and the advanced country. However, in information, if the relationship of central power and marginal colony continually exists, it is not proportionate to humanism, the spirit of Jikji. Our real objective is to deconstruct Bill Gates' paradigm. That is the spirit of Jikji and the principle of humanism, which helps breaking down the non-democratic structure overpowered by one person or one nation, and thus make an equal society where all the people share knowledge and information, just as the spirit of Jikji is share and sacrifice, and disorganize monopoly. It may be impossible to do so, but if we realize the spirit of Jikji, we can be really proud that Korea's Jikji is the earliest metal print type in the world.
Notes
1)http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/writing.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ofnote/03-00instructor.asp
This article appeared in the March 2000 issue of Instructor magazine (Instructor, Mar. 2000).
2)http://www.gutenberg.de/english/g2000_e.htm. This official homepage of Gutenberg informs us that a variety of events about him are going on recently. These events and festivals held in the whole area of the City of Mainz are so diverse and so large in scale that it might be called Gutenberg industry. I am just astonished at the cultural potential of Germans academically analyzing a figure while holding him in great respect, and at the same time maximizing his commercial value and reproducing it into huge capital.
3)Nelly Richard, "Postmodernism and Periphery", Third text. no.2. p.8.
4)http://www.Jikji.or.kr/default4.html (see homepage of the Early Printing Museum of Cheongju)
5)See, http://gutenberg.aol.de/gutenb.htm and http://www.gutenberg.net/ and others. Data processing is going on in German under the title of Das Projekt Gutenberg-DE, and also in English. This grand project to convert major works in the world into digital texts is under way in Germany, the United States, and other places at the same time. Through such projects providing various services of knowledge and information, the world state system may reinforce Occidentalism and accelerate popularization of English as a world language.
6)http://www.humi.keio.ac.jp/treasures. Treasures of Keio University. The Keio Gutenberg Bible & Incunabula.
7)Eo Ryeong Lee, "change of informational value", http://www.kmc.go.kr/press/990730-dhmi.htm.
8)http://www.jikji.org. Not enough as, it is important to set up such a plan.
9)http://www.citizen.or.kr/jikji/saup.html(Homepage of chong-ju citizens' society)
10)http://www.jikjicorea.com/second.html. Jikji digital research center has various strategies, such as Jikji animation making, data base constructing and cd rom developing.
11)Literature Theory of Valter Benjamin, trans. by Sung-Wan Ban, Min-Eum Publishing Co, 1983, p.201.
12)http://gutenberg_net/history.html. Refer to the section as The Beginning of the Gutenberg Philosophy. The premise on which Michael Hart based Project Gutenberg was: anything that can be entered into a computer can be reproduced indefinitely what Michael termed Replicator Technology. The concept of Replicator Technology is simple; once a book or any other items (pictures, sounds, and even 3-D items can be stored in a computer), then any number of copies can and will be available. Everyone in the world, or even not in this world (given satellite transmission) can have a copy of the book that is in a computer. This project seeks flexibility of information not its fixation. In other words, it is an ambitious project as to establishing the enormous massive information system that enables replication at any place to spread information to people.
13)http://www.gutenberg.de/english/erfindun.htm.
14)Ulrich Bech, Dangerous Society, going for the new modernization, in Risikkogesellschaft, Auf Dem weg in eine andere Moderne, trans. by Sung-Tae Hong,. Sae Mul Kyul Publishing Co., 1997, p.337.
15)Gutenberg's Masterpiece the 42-line bible in http://www.gutenberg.de/english/bibel.htm. Today, 48 copies remain in existence. Of these, two are owned by the Gutenberg museum. With this bible, which remains under the nova forma scribendi, was esthetically equal to handwriting that was at their height at that time. The development of the art of printing brought about a major change in the world of writing. The spread of knowledge and scientific discoveries promoted scientific development and became a milestone in the historical progress towards modern times.
16)Literature Theory of Valter Benjamin, trans. by Sung-Wan Ban, Min-Eum Publishing Co., 1983, p.201.
17)Byoung-Tae Yoon, Type Printing Culture of Korea, Ancient Printing Culture series, vol. 6 (2000), the Early Printing Museum of Cheongju, p.13.
18)Hye-Bong Cheon, Korea Sa-Ju Type Model, Pul Jo Jikji Sim Che'e Yo Jol, The World of Jikji, Seo-Won University Ho-Seo Culture Research Center, 1998, p.7.
19)Se-Yoel Lee, National Culture of Chung-Buk and Jikji early Printing Culture, Historical Characteristic of Jikji, Chung-Buk People's art federation Art Research Center, 1997, p.30.
20)Bill Gates firmly believes that e-book will bring incredible information revolution emphasizing the virtue of metal type for fast speed and massive replication. Furthermore he states that e-book will solve the gap between learners, and this will be a turning point for the history of culture. Refer to this site: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ofnote/11-19billg.asp
21)Kwang-Hyun Shim, Breakout of Modernization and Culture Research, Culture and Science Co., 1998, p. 268. The professor Shim states how the capitalistic text grammar collapses and being replaced by new e-language, referring to Delouse. Information science creates language with new method that is not sound or text. This method is very much flexible in featuring flow, disperse and recollecting. This method is referred to as interactive and multi-communicative hypertext.
22)http://www.Jikji.org/about/Jikji_project/faq/(July 11, 2000).
23)http://www.intechpublishing.net/. E-book is called as either digital book or cyber book. It is also tried in Korea, and the distinct feature is providing information with bending the space.
24)To live by the Jikji spirit, Korea should propose a new vision of humanism, while pointing out the misrepresentation of Bill Gates paradigm or genome project.
25)http://trut.chungbuk.ac.kr/~whan86/re16.htm.
26)Seung-Hwan Kim, Methodology of Describing the History of Regional Culture, Chung-Buk University Jung-Won Culture Research Center, July 2000.
27)Seung-Hwan Kim, Korea's Modern Literature and Absolutism, Korea Modern Literature Study, vol. 7(1999), Korea Modern Literature Academic Society, p.294.
28)Sun-Ju Hwang, The Flaws of Jikji from Hung Duk Sa Ji and the Cause, Ancient Printing Culture, Vol. 6(2000), the Early Printing Museum of Cheongju, p.131.
29)Byoung-Tae Yoon, Type Printing Culture of Korea, Ancient Printing Culture Vol. 6(2000), the Early Printing Museum of Cheongju, p.131.
30)Mun-Yoel Park, The Study on the Metal Type from Korea and Views toward the Origin of Publishing Technology, Ancient Printing Culture, ser. 6(2000), the Early Printing Museum of Cheongju, p.100.
31)If I briefly explain a few facts about Jikji, they are as following:
In 1377, Jikji was published covering selected contents of Sutras as of Kyoung Duk Jeon Dung Book, Sun-Mun in Hung Duk Sa Ji of Cheong Ju Yoem-Song Series and so on. The Jikji compiled excerpts from gatha, eulogy, praises, and songs from Sutras. Jikji Sim Ch'e from Jikji is a abstract from recognized phrases of Su Shin O Do (translator's footnote: moral training to reach spiritual enlightenment) saying as. This meaning of this phrase is that if you directly see the mind of human being in sincere and true meditation, you realize your mind as if being that of Buddha. Jikji is a textbook when monks are moving into the Voluntary Dept after completing the study in the Great Religion Dept. *Refer to this site: http://Jikji.or.kr/default4.html.
32)Sang Wuk Kim, The Pending Question of Building Regions as Information-Based Societies and Assignment, The Present Condition of Information-Based Society of Assignment, Chung-Buk United, 2000, p.8.
33)http://www.Jikji.org/about/Jikji_project/faq/ (July 18, 2000).
34)Michel Foucault, L'ordre du discours, Gallimard, 1971. The Order of Discouse, ed. Lee Jeongwoo Sebyuk, 1997, p.14.
35)Kyung min Eun, Jikji, the infinite potential! http://www.Jikjicorea.Com/second. Html. He, a scholar of Jikji, mentions that 'Jikji shoud die, and then Jikji can live. He continually insists that false understanding about Jikji be corrected, and suggests that we recreate Jikji with calm and analytical understanding of that.
36)The registration of Jikji in the world documentary culture is very urgent. In 1977, Hunminjeonum, the national treasure No.70 and Chosun dynasty's authentic story was appointed as the earliest documentary legacy in the world. UNESCO announced that these two book have the cultural, social and aesthetic value and rareness, which thus are acknowledged as the earliest documentary legacy in the world. In 1995, 80,000 collective Buddhist Scriptures in Hein Temple, Sokkuram in Bulguk Temple and Chongmyo were registered as the world cultural legacy. This is very proud since the excellence of our national cultural legacy is admitted in the world. World documentary cultural legacy means the registered documents as international list, among papers, manuscripts, oral records. It is very honorable that Hunminjeonum and Chosun dynasty's authentic story was selected as the first cultural legacy. But we should not overlook that in UNESCO, they think it important to preserve the legacy and national culture.
37)http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geneman/ The appearance of gene-rich region will subordinate the relatively low level country in Biological Science to the first world. This is called Gene Imperialism. We can read the secrets of human body by means of the complicated genes-map and bear the designer Baby and remake the part of body, which can protract the human life.
38)I do not mean the only person, Bill Gates. I think he is the international symbol of cyber power.
39)Anold Hauser, Sozial Geschichte der Kunst and Literatur, co-trans. Yum Moo Ung & Ban Sung Hwan. The Social History of Literature and Art, Modern Period 2, Creation and Criticism Co., 1981, p.65.
40)Kwang Hyun Shim, Post-Modern Cultural Politics and Cultural Studies, Cultural Science Co., 1998, p.287.
41)Duk Hyung Jeong, The story of realization Jikji, http://www.Jikjicorea.com/second.html (July 10, 2000).
42)Se-Yoel Lee, Jikji Digerati, Jikji publishing company,2000, p.218.