KOREAN PRINTING WOODBLOCKS

Production Process of Woodblocks

1. Selecting wood

The wood cut for the woodblocks had to be at least 40 centimeters wide to provide sufficient surface space. It could be neither too soft nor too hard. Plentiful broadleaf trees like wild cherry, wild pear, white birch and maple trees were mostly used. Fruit trees, including jujube trees and pear trees, known to provide the best lumber, were not often used for making woodblocks. Evergreens, including pines and nut pines, almost considered symbols of Korea, were hardly ever used because their wood was soft and their grain was uneven, and thus, were not suitable for engraving.

Selecting wood

2. Seasoning the wood

When trees to make woodblocks were found, they were cut between autumn and early spring when growth had stopped. The tree was then cut into logs suitable for making woodblocks and seasoned for 1 to 2 years. During this seasoning period, the log must be laid flat to prevent cracking and warping from occurring after making a woodblock. When the seasoning was done, the lumber was cut into woodblock-sized boards. If the thickness of a woodblock was supposed to be 3 centimeters, the board was cut to a thickness of 5 centimeters. When the cutting was finished, the board was boiled in salt water to remove any resin.

Seasoning the wood

3. Removing resin

When the cutting was finished, the wood was steamed and boiled in salt water. This process was the most important and essential step in making a woodblock. , an agricultural encyclopedia written in the late Joseon Dynasty, stated, “When a board is prepared after cutting it to size, it shall be boiled in salt water and dried. Then, the board will not warp and will be easy to engrave.” Boiling in salt water removes the resin in the wood and prevents it from warping. If this process is not done correctly, the woodblock will crack and warp. After boiling, the board, now with salt on its surface, should be dried in the shade with good ventilation for a period of 1 to 3 years. This helps lessen the likelihood of warping. The board drying process also requires a sophisticated technique as incorrect preparation may make the board unusable. When the drying process is over, the distribution of moisture in the wood will be even, and the grain will be easier to engrave. Furthermore, the resin, often food for harmful insects, will be totally removed, preventing their infiltration into the board. In addition, the boiling process will kill any remaining insect eggs, and the woodblock can be preserved for a long period of time.

Removing resin

4. Final finishing of the woodblock

When the boiling and drying are finished, the wood for the block is smoothed out with a plane in the following order: back, front, and both sides. The ends are also trimmed and cut to the right size.

Final finishing of the woodblock

5. Adding end pieces

When the board is prepared, the end pieces are attached. Wood for the end pieces was usually pine or nut pine, the easiest to find, regardless of the wood used for the woodblock itself. In attaching the end pieces, the grain of the end pieces and the woodblock itself should be perpendicular to each other (not in line) to prevent the surface from bending later.

Adding end pieces

6. Attaching the woodblock draft

Once the block is prepared, the paper with the draft text is attached to the surface text side down, and then, the engraving begins. The draft paper is cut to size using a fixed frame, a woodblock for cutting the paper, after which, the transcriber writes the text. A paste is applied to the prepared board, the draft is attached text side down, and another coat of paste is applied. After it dries, vegetable oil is applied to make the characters appear. The oil penetrates into the board faster and deeper than water, thus, making the engraving easier.

Attaching the woodblock draft Fixed frame

7. Engraving

First, the boundary lines and the outer lines of the blank edge are engraved thinly to delineate the lines. Then, the body of the text is engraved. When the engraving of the text body is finished, the title of the book, volume number, number of pages, and fishtail are all engraved. Woodblocks for Buddhist scriptures sometimes have information with the name of the engraver or donor in the lower part of the center. When an error was found after engraving, a character, or the whole line, was replaced with bogwood using the inlay technique.

Engraving

8. Printing

Once the engraving is done, the printing process begins. For printing, the ink is applied evenly with an ink brush or ink broom made from the tips of rice straw. Then, it is covered with a sheet of paper, and the printing is conducted by rubbing it lightly with a brush made of a mixture of horsehair or human hair and beeswax. Usually, pine soot ink, made by mixing pine soot and a binding agent, is used. If a foreign material is added to the ink or the glue, it could breed microorganisms that might damage the woodblock.

Printing

Picture : Lee Chang-seok, the print master Picture : Lee Chang-seok, the print master
(the 16th intangible cultural asset of Gangwon-do)

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