Gabin type cast

Sejong had Yi Cheon, Jang Yeong-sil and others cast a new bronze type, the Gabin type, which became the model of Joseon movable type.

Finding the Gyemi type of Taejong’s reign and his own Gyeongja type (1420) small and uneven, Sejong in 1434 put Yi Cheon in charge of casting a new bronze type with Jang Yeong-sil and others. Named after the cyclical name of the year, the Gabin type ran to more than 200,000 pieces.

Its characters were regular and handsome, and the type was locked firmly into the forme without beeswax, so printing became much faster. It became the representative type of Joseon, recast several times down to the end of the dynasty, and the Worin cheongang jigok was printed using Gabin type together with Hangeul type.