▲ Veritable Records of King Sejong (Volume 80), Jeongjoksan Archive edition. Photo courtesy of the Jeonju National Museum. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, March 3 (Yonhap) -- “Your Majesty, we humbly request that royal archives be built in Seongju of Gyeongsang Province and Jeonju of Jeolla Province to preserve important state records.” (From the Veritable Records of King Sejong)

 

On the third day of the seventh lunar month in 1439, officials at the Chun’gugwan (Office of Royal Decrees and Records) made this appeal to the king. The proposal called for dedicated facilities to safely store critical state documents, including the Joseon Wangjo Sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), which recorded the daily affairs of kings, and royal protocols known as uigwe.

 

In response, the Joseon court established royal archives in Hanyang (present-day Seoul), Chungju, Jeonju and Seongju.

 

Among them, the Jeonju archive housed 576 volumes of the annals, covering reigns from King Taejo (r. 1392–1398) to King Myeongjong (r. 1545–1567), along with other historical materials of the time.

 

When the 1592 Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War) reduced other archives to ashes, the Jeonju archive survived — thanks to the life-risking efforts of Ahn Ui (1529–1596) and Son Hong-rok (1537–1600).

 

Now, the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty once preserved at Jeonju and a record documenting the two men’s devotion are being displayed side by side at the exhibition “Opening the Treasure House of Records” at the Jeonju National Museum.

 

The museum said Tuesday it is exhibiting two volumes of the Jeongjoksan Archive edition of the Veritable Records of King Sejong alongside Imgyegisa, a duty log written while guarding the annals.

 

It marks the first time in some 434 years — since the Imjin War — that the two records have been shown together.

 

The special pairing became possible as the museum created a new permanent exhibition space dedicated to royal documentary heritage. For Imgyegisa, it is the first time the record has been loaned out since being entrusted to the Jeongeup City Museum.

 

 

▲ Jeonbuk Tangible Cultural Heritage, "Imgyegisa." Photo courtesy of the Jeonju National Museum. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

Written by Ahn and others, Imgyegisa recounts the transfer of the annals from Jeonju to Naejangsan’s Eungbongam Hermitage in June 1592 and their eventual handover in July 1593 to Chungcheong Governor Lee San-bo (1539–1594) in Asan.

 

A museum official described the reunion of the two records as “dramatic,” noting that the preservation of 200 years of early Joseon history was possible thanks to the dedication of Ahn, Son and other people from the Jeonbuk region.

 

Rarely seen national treasures and state-designated cultural properties are also on display.

 

A portrait of King Taejo, founder of Joseon, is among them. The image was copied in 1872 and enshrined at Gyeonggijeon Shrine in Jeonju. Although many royal portraits across the country were destroyed during the Imjin War, the Taejo portrait at Gyeonggijeon was reportedly saved by local official Oh Hui-gil (1556–1625), who moved it to Naejangsan for safekeeping. The portrait depicts the king seated formally on a royal throne, clad in blue robes and gazing forward with solemn authority.

 

Also traveling to Jeonju is an uigwe from the Oegyujanggak Royal Library on Ganghwa Island — often regarded as the “flower” of Joseon documentary culture. These volumes, believed to have been produced for the king’s personal perusal, were looted by French troops in 1866 and returned to Korea 145 years later.

 

The exhibition features the Uigwe of the Royal Portrait Production of King Sukjong (1713), which documents the roughly 40-day process of creating the king’s portrait. According to the museum, this marks the first time an Oegyujanggak uigwe has been displayed in a permanent gallery of a museum affiliated with the National Museum of Korea, outside of special exhibitions. The volume will be rotated every 90 days.

 

The exhibition presents about 20 artifacts illuminating the Joseon royal court, the city of Jeonju and Korea’s documentary heritage. Items include a document appointing Yi Hwa (1348–1408), half-brother of King Taejo, as a meritorious founding contributor, and the treasured “Wansanbujido,” a late-Joseon map depicting Jeonju Fortress and its surrounding landscape.

 

The exhibition runs through May 25. Key cultural properties — including the Jeongjoksan edition of the Veritable Records of King Sejong, the portrait of King Taejo and the black-lacquered chest used to store royal portraits — will be on view only through March 24 to ensure their preservation.

▲ The exhibition hall in the Jeonju National Museum. Photo courtesy of the museum. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

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