The Craft of the Korean Woodblock Daedongbo
Printing a comprehensive genealogy (*Daedongbo*) was an undertaking of immense communal gravity. Woodblocks were soaked in salt water for three years, boiled, and dried in the shade to prevent warpage across centuries. Scribes inscribed characters in reversed mirror-script (*Ban-jeol*), and master engravers (*Gak-su*) carved each stroke with millimeter precision.
Official copies were stamped in red cinnabar with clan seals (*Mun-jung-ji-in*) and royal office seals to certify authenticity against fraudulent lineage claims, common during late Joseon class upheaval.
The center fold (*Pan-sim*) features the traditional black or white fishtail emblem (*Eo-mi*), which guides the binder when folding the double-sided leaf and displays the volume and page numbers.
Surviving complete sets of early woodblock prints remain curated at Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies (Seoul National University) and the Jangseogak Royal Archives, serving as authoritative primary sources.
All woodblock texts, inscriptions, and transcripts in this viewer are reproduced verbatim from historical clan records and primary Kyujanggak catalog holdings without modification or speculative additions.