Cheongju, the happy city worth living in

Cheongju City is a T-shaped city with its towns developed towards the south and north. Cheongju is an inland city located 128km from southeast of Seoul. Mt. Uam covers the city and Musimcheon (stream) passes through its central downtown. It is known as the “city of education and culture.”

City of Education and Culture
Throughout its history, Cheongju has been boasting of its beautiful sceneries and prosperous culture. Cheongju was known especially for having a high quality printing and publishing culture from old times. The earliest metal type printed book Jikji says it all.

JIKJI

JIKJI is the oldest metal printed book in the world among existing books, which was published in 1377 in Heungdeoksa Temple, Cheongju. The original name is 「Baekunhwasang Chorok Buljo Jikji Simche Yojol」, which is a collection of Buddhist treatises and teachings. It was compiled by Baegunhwasang(1289-1374), a Buddhist priest in Korea, and printed by his two disciples, Seokchan and Daljam, in metal type. It was originally consisted of two volumes, but only the last volume has been kept in the National Library of France in Paris. It is the world’s oldest text printed with metal type, predating by 78 years Gutenberg 42 line Bible published in 1455. JIKJI was registered to UNESCO MEMORY OF THE WORLD in 4th September 2001, and its worth in human cultural history is highly valued by eminent scholars. The Early Printing Museum is now located in the Huengdeok Temple site. 

① Early Printing Museum


Cheongju Early Printing Museum preserves and exhibits the ancient Buddhist text titled “Jikji” along with some 800 materials related to printing techniques and equipment used in and around the end of Goryeo Dynasty in 14 century.

② Myeongam Park
It is located on the hillside of Uam Mt., the guardian Mt. of Cheongju, and beloved by citizens of Cheongju for its beautiful scenery. There is the biggest reservoir in Cheongju, where ypu can enjoy boating and a view of the dense forest. There you can easily reache the roundabout route and hiking trails of Uam Mt., the Cheongju National Museum, Uam Children’s Hall, Cheongju Zoo, and the Sangdang Mountain Fortress. There is a fishing place and facilities for the snow sledding. you can also find restaurants serving delicious foods around there. It is expected to establish the street of Waterside Cafes and the street of Art to develop the Myeongam Park as the resting area for families.

③ Sangdang Mountain Fortress
It is close to the downtown of Cheongju, so the citizens of Cheongju enjoy visting there. The length of the mountain fortress is over 4 kilometers and it is parabola stonework. It is presumed that it might be constructed during Silla Kingdom(57 B.C – 9 A.D.). It has the typical characteristic of Korean mountain fortress that builds the outer wall with the trimmed granites and hardens the inner wall by adding the gravels and soil, and allows people to pass along the inside of the mountain fortress. It was extensively improved in 1596 during the Imjin Waeran(Japanese Invasions of Korea, 1592 – 1598) and rebuilt in 1716 during the reign of Sukjong, the 19th king of Joseon Dynasty(1392-1910). There is a Hanok(Korean Housing) Village in the mountain fortress. You can reach there by car or a bus from the downtown of Cheongju.

VANK and the Cheongju Early Printing Museum are promoting the JIKJI to spread thw wisdom of Koreans and value of JIKJI to the world.

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