In your daily life, how often have you used Meok? I think there is nobody who would say "Everyday!" Meok was used as an ink in the past. However, as printing technology has been developed and prevailed, Meok is rarely used by people. Instead of Meok, ink has prevailed in our life. The fact that Meok is unpopular among people means that our printing tradition could disappear in the near future. Fortunately, in spite of this poor situation, there is one person who inherits this Korean printing tradition. Let's meet Han Sang Muk, a Meojang.

  Q1. Can you introduce your job, "Meokjang?"

  As you can see by the name of Meokjang, a Meokjang is a person who makes Meok. Only five people in the country are Meokjangs. My daughter is being educated by me to become a Meokjang. Furthermore, there is another one who lives in my village, Eumsung, who is also being educated now by me to become a Meokjang as well.

  Q2. After starting a job as a Meokjang, what is the most difficult?

  A Meokjang was considered to be a trivial profession in the past. Therefore, the process of making Meok or the specifics of Meok's materials were not recorded in the historical literature. Most information about Meok was passed down orally. The lack of written literature about Meok makes being a Meokjang difficult because it is hard to prove which way is the right way to make Meok traditionally. Therefore, finding  the true way to make Meok requires continuous experiments and endurance.

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  Q3. When do you feel happiness since becoming a Meokjang?

  These days, the Korean government has decided to recover and publish the "the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty." In the recovery of this cultural asset, my Meok will be used. Moreover, the recovery of "the Tripitaka Koreana" will also use my Meok. Due to these commissions, I feel like I have walked along the right path to protect and pass down our traditions as a Meokjang.

  Q4. I heard that you spent 10 years to travel Korea, China, and Japan to study Meok. What is the biggest impression you got in your travels?

   Even though the three countries are in Asia, there are differences in the perception about their own tradition. At first, most Koreans think that our traditions are old-fashioned or conservative, and far from our present life. Contrary to these ideas about tradition, the Japanese think their past and present traditions coexist. Japanese perception about tradition is more positive than in Korea. For example, they are enjoying wearing the kimono on their national holidays.

  The Chinese have unaccountable pride in their traditions. While studying Chinese' Meok, I met various kinds of Chinese Meokjangs. Like Korean Meokjangs, they don't make a lot of money by making Meok. Furthermore, the compensation for Chinese Meokjang is not better than those of Korea. Even though the environment surrounding Korean and Chinese Meokjang is the same, the Chinese have greater confidence in their tradition.

  Q5. Can you explain Meok's variety?

  Meok has three varieties. The first is "Songyeon Meok," which is made of pine resin. The second is "Yuyeon Meok," which is made of vegetable oil. The third is "Kwangmulseong Meok," which is made with petroleum and natural gas. Songyeon Meok can be more changeable in color much easier to make other varieties. As time goes by, the letters written by Songyeon Meok turn blue. In the Joseon dynasty, the use of Songyeon Meok was greater than that of Yuyeon Meok because the latter was more expensive. Therefore, most historical literature on Joseon dynasty were written by using Songyeon Meok. Due to this fact, history scholars can identify which century the documents were written by observing the blue level of the letters.

  Q6. Is black Meok's only color?

  No! Meok has five colors that are different from each other in subtle ways. Meok's colors are black, brown, gray, dark red, and midnight blue. The color becomes different by materials and production environment. If the materials are the same, the color of the Meok can be different because of the production environment such as the temperature and humidity. Meok is really sensitive to the production environment. Therefore, there is a difficulty to produce exactly the same color that the consumer wants. Inevitably, to meet the demand for Meok's color, Meokjang has to add natural dyes to the Meok.

  Q7. Can you explain the process of making Meok?

  At first, I burn materials and gather the soot from the materials. The soot looks like flour. Like kneaded flour, I knead the soot with glue. As the kneading time is longer, the Meok's quality becomes better because the kneading helps the soot particles in dough to become smaller. Soot composed by tiny particles makes the Meok softer. After making the dough, I put it into a mold. Then, the only thing I have to do is to dehydrate it with great patience. It takes a long time for the dough to become Meok because the dough has to be dehydrated from inside to outside. If the dough gets dry from outside, the Meok's appearance crack. A handy size of Meok takes about three months to dry perfectly. If the size of the Meok is bigger, the dry time can be over three years.

  Q8. What is Meok's strengths compared to ink?

  The letters written by using Meok do not spread over the paper. Compared to Meok, ink spreads out all over the paper more frequently. As time goes by, the spreading level of ink becomes wider. One study proved this fact by using a microscope magnifying a letter written by Meok and ink. If we use ink in our daily life, whether it spreads or not does not matter. However, when we are trying to use ink for recording cultural heritage, this problem appears. Ink is spreading on the paper so fast that the cultural heritage would become inevitably damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize Meok when we are recording our cultural heritage such as the Tripitaka Koreana.

  Q9. As a pioneer who made a bold decision to become a Meokjang, give advice to Chungnam University students.

  There is one word I want to say to the youth in Chungnam National University. "Deul-i-dae" Koreans use this expression for those who do what they want to do without hesitation. I hope that the youth do not wait for too long for their opportunity to come. With great initiative, you can seize your precious opportunity and accomplish your goals. However, if the results do not go with what you expected, don't be disappointed and let this failure deter. Through endless failure, you will achieve your goal. Continuous effort and great initiative are the key to becoming the one who you want to be.

 By CP Reporter Kim Min-su