Scientific approach to confirm the excellence of seokgayeoraehaengjeoksong as Korean cultural heritage

In this study, in order to scientifically approach to confirm the excellence of Seokgayeoraehaengjeoksong as Korean Cultural Heritage, we analyzed the fibers and ink characteristics of six types of old documents including the Seokgayeoraehaengjeoksong, and compared to traditional Hanji. As a result of observing the fiber length and the shape of the fibers in the old document through an optical microscope, it was confirmed that all documents were made of fibers in paper mulberry. It was speculated that the degree of deterioration of the old document was affected by the preservation status regardless of the era of production through the oxidation index and hydrogen-bond intensity calculated from the IR spectrum data. In addition, as a result of conducting principal component analysis (PCA) in order to infer the production period of ancient documents, it was confirmed that classification of old documents according to the period was possible. As a result of measuring the particle size of the ink (Muk) contained in the Seokgayeoraehaengjeoksong and two types of old documents, the particle size was less than 80 nm on average, indicating the characteristics of lamp black soot ink (Yooyeon Muk). It is widely known that lamp black soot ink (Yooyeon Muk) is used in metal type printing, but more detailed research on whether the Seokgayeoraehaengjeoksong was produced through metal type printing seemed to be necessary.