Wood Block for Printing

Physical Description:

Carved on both sides, this wooden printing block records Origin of Household Rites (家禮源流, Garyewollyu), a collection of writings on household rites categorized and summarized during the reign of King Hyeonjong (顯宗, r. 1659-1674) of Joseon by a scholar named Yu Gye (兪棨, 1607-1664). This block contains part of Fascicle 4 of the text Origins of Household Rites entitled “Going to Welcome the Bride (親迎, chinyeong, Ch. qinying),” the procedure in which the groom welcomes the bride at a wedding ceremony. Korea was the first country in the world to use the technique of carving letters on woodblocks and using them for printing. After the invention of metal type in the early Joseon period, woodblock printing was used to publish scriptures, anthologies and family records in Buddhist temples, Confucian academies and households.

[Korean Collection, University of Michigan Museum of Art (2017) p. 290]

Usage Rights:

If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.