Heroes Who Helped Save Korean Heritage from Harm

The South Korean governmental website http://www.korea.net/news/news/newsview.asp?serial_no=20080620018 gives an English summery on a new publication by its Cultural Heritage Administration. Their programme "National Memory Heritage Service" http://www.memorykorea.go.kr/ shows an interesting mixture of current national and heritage consciousness in Korea. Here the text:

"In February this year, the 600-year-old Sungnyemun Gate, one of Korea's proud historical landmarks went down in flames. The entire nation fell into shock and the incident forced many to reconsider the value of cultural assets usually taken for granted. Therefore, it is timely that the Cultural Heritage Administration has released a book, called 수난의 문화재 (The sufferings of Cultural Heritage), of selected stories of heroes who saved some part(s) of Korea's cultural heritage purely for the sake of it. They might be scholars who carried priceless books into the mountains during war, professors struggling to retrieve stolen treasures from abroad or soldiers who refused to bomb time-honored temples despite commands from above. Though the book is written in Korean only, here are few episodes summarized to share with Korea.net readers. Scholars save special books

In 1592, when Japan launched a full-scale invasion against Korea (the Imjin Wars of 1592-1598), one of the most devastating blows that the Joseon Dynasty suffered - aside from the usual killing and looting - was the destruction and theft of historical records. As Korea had already suffered invasion by Mongols during the previous Goryeo Dynasty, the country was prepared with four copies of respective books stored in Seoul, Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong Province), Gyeongsangbuk-do (North Gyeongsang Province) and Jeolla-do (Jeolla Province). However only the version in Jeonju County of Jeolla-do survived. When the war broke out most men were recruited into the army. Ahn Eui (1592-1596) and Sohn Hong-rok (1537-1610), who were too old to volunteer, instead rushed to Jeonju storage out of concern for books that were basically left abandoned due to the nationwide emergency. The two first considered burying the books deep in the ground, but after hearing of the capture of Japanese solider who were hiding two pages of a book ripped from royal annals from Gyeongsangbuk-do, they switched their plans to take them and hide them deep in the mountains. They put a portion of the records detailing 180 years of history in 47 boxes and other records including those of the Goryeo Dynasty in another 15 boxes on dozens of horses, all at their own expense. Arriving at the steep, high cave of Yonggam in Mt. Naejangsan, they had to unload the books to carry them to the mountain with 30 servants. Royal portraits were brought in later. There were 100 volunteers, monks, peasants and wandering warriors too, who volunteered help. Ahn and Sohn took turns watching over the books for the next 14 months.

Because the war lasted for seven years, with the shifting battle lines, the annals had to be moved several times more. Out of the mountain cave they were then carried to Haeju in Hwanghae-do (Hwanghae Province – now in North Korea) and then to Gangwha-do Island in 1595. In 1596 Ahn got ill and passed away. Sohn was left to carry the books until finally reaching Bohyunsa Temple of Mt. Myohyangsan of Pyeongan-do (Province – also in North Korea). He and Ahn were (posthumously) afforded the highest title a civilian can receive for their contribution to the country. Together they saved the historical records of the early half of the Joseon Dynasty. Joseon Wangjosillok (National Treasure No. 151), otherwise known as the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) is a collection of 1,893 books that cover 472 years of royal records of Joseon Dynasty from 1392 to 1863. It is now officially recognized by UNESCO as the longest coverage of a single dynasty in the world.For more information on Annals of Joseon Dynasty: http://sillok.history.go.kr/ (Eng, Jpn, Chn)

Purchasing patriotism

During Japan's annexation of Korea from 1910-45, one of the obvious signs of a country falling apart was the rapid looting, stealing and smuggling away of national treasures. Priceless paintings and royal artifacts were easily obtained by rich Japanese collectors consisting of military officers, bankers and other businessmen. Jeon Hyeong-pil (1906-1962) decided that the least he could do was to prevent such a loss by making the best of his rich inheritance. Armed with his artisan friends he tried to collect as many items of national heritage as possible scattered across the country. In 1935 he offered 20,000 won for a single vase from a Japanese antique dealer. A big fancy house in downtown Seoul was worth 1,000 won at the time. That particular vase had a long name “Cheongja unhak sanggam mun maebyeong.” It is adorned with drawings of red cranes and was later designated national treasure no. 68, as the most representative example of fine Korean porcelain.

In 1942, he noticed another antique dealer busy going somewhere. He learnt that the original copy of “Hunminjeongeum (National Treasure no. 70)” was discovered in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do (North Gyeongsang Province) and the owner was demanding 1,000 won. He immediately sent the owner 10,000 won and passed 1,000 won to the antique dealer to bring it to him. During that time Japan was busy banning the usage of Korean and the Korean alphabet (Hangeul) in school. All the Hangeul-based newspapers also ceased publication and scholars of Korean language were arrested. Jeon knew he had to get the book before the Japanese authorities found out, and when he acquired the book, he guarded it day and night.

Bohwagak, Korea's first private art museum was founded in 1938. There he unloaded some 20,000 old books as well as countless examples of calligraphy, Buddhist artifacts, porcelain and statues. In 1950 when the Korean War broke out, save a few extremely valuable ones, he was unable to take them all on his way to seek refuge. Bohwagak was a mess by the time he returned and he had to buy back his collection once again. His museum was later re-named the Gansong Art Museum. The place opens twice a year in spring and autumn, for two weeks only. The place is always packed as this is the only place to see the best of the best Korean treasures otherwise only shown in school textbooks. For more information call: 02-762-0442 (Korean only).

Friendship and goodwill

Where there's goodwill, there are friends from abroad willing to help. The 10-storied Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda (National Treasure no. 86) that stands proudly at the center of the main hall of the National Museum of Korea went through a lot to return home. First erected in 1348 at Mt. Busosan in Gwangdeok-myeon, Gaepung-gun, Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Province), the pagoda was built of white marble with intricate designs of Buddha, Bodhisattvas, flowers, and arabesque patterns, piled up in multi-tiers 13.5m high. In March, 1907 a group of Japanese people showed up in Mt. Busosan with a command from Japanese court official Tanaka Mitsuaki (1843-1939), who claimed that Korean Emperor Gojong (1852-1919) had offered the stone pagoda to him. He planned to remove the pagoda to the garden of his home in Tokyo.

The locals who didn't believe the lie volunteered to protect the pagoda but were helpless against the guns of the Japanese. With the Korean government too weak to prevent anything, dozens of carts carried off the dismantled pieces of pagoda at night. The real fight started there. The news soon reached Seoul and Ernest Thomas Bethel (1872-1909), an English journalist who was at the time publishing two Korean and English dailies, Daehan Maeil Shinbo and Korea Daily News. Despite Japan's efforts to buy him off, Bethel disclosed the scandal committed by the high Japanese official to the world. Homer Hulbert (1863-1949), an American missionary to Korea and also an editor of Korea Review, joined in the efforts. Hulbert made the facts known in the Japan Chronicle, English daily in Kobe, Japan, and then in the New York Post. This even led to extra investigation by the Japanese government. Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda returned finally in 1918, 11 years later. Most agree that if it weren't for Bethel and Hulbert, the pagoda may have either never been returned or it may have taken much, much longer to come home.

Jaseondang, the residence of crown prince in Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The replica stands at Gyeongbokgung Palace.A sad example of the latter case was Jaseondang, the Crown Prince's Compound of Gyeongbokgung Palace, which in 1916 also got carried off and took 80 years to return home. Even then it was reduced to chunks of cornerstones as the rest of the building went down with the great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. Another example of late return is Bukgwan daecheopbi, or Bukgwan stone monument, erected in 1709 to commemorate a series of Korean victories during the Imjin Wars. Japan removed the monument in 1905. It was later found inside Yasukuni Shrine cemented to the ground and with a large stone pressing it down from on top.

After Korea's liberation from Japan, Korea officially requested the return of the cultural asset. Japan insisted that since the monument came from what is now a North Korean territory, it would be returned when the two Koreas reunify. This prompted unprecedented efforts of Buddhist monks from the North, South and even Japanese monks. The monument finally returned home in 2005. After a short period of display in the South, it was transferred to the North where the North Korean government designated it National Treasure No.193. This one took exactly 100 years to return.


Proving priority
In France there is a Korean historian, Dr. Park Byeong-seon, who after discovering the last volume of Jikji, a collection of Korean Buddhist documents in the French National Library in 1967, worked hard to prove the value of the book. After three long years of study and experimentation with printing patterns and styles using mud, potato, wood and others she published a thesis that this particular book published in 1377 is the world's oldest printed with metal type. This was confirmed by UNESCO in 2001. It has meanwhile triggered Korea to regain the lost books in France, many of them taken during the French troops' invasion of Ganghwa-do Island in 1866. In the latest progress, the two governments joined hands to digitalize the contents of the books. The resulting effort was released this month in June 2008. “Of course it's not over,” the official at the Culture Heritage Administration said, “we still got to get the actual books back.” And so the effort goes on. National Memory Heritage Service: http://www.memorykorea.go.kr/ Jikji World.net: http://www.jikjiworld.net/content/english/jikji/main.jsp


More grateful examples

Some treasures were saved at the last minute during the Korean War. American official James Hamilton Dill (1927-) recalls with pride how he took particular care not to bomb Deoksugung Palace, despite the fact that North Koreans were using it as a base. Diplomat Kim Yong-joo (1905-1985) pleaded with General MacArthur to refrain as much as he could from massive destruction of Seoul and its palace grounds. Pilot Jang Ji-ryang (1924 -) almost got executed for defying orders to open fire on Haeinsa Temple that held the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, engraved on over 80,000 wooden blocks. The book finally ends with a wonderful example of a German Monastery, St. Ottilien Archabbey in Emming, which returned 21 paintings of the old Joseon Period in the form of a permanent loan to the Korean monastery of the Order of St. Benedict Waegwan Abbey in Jeollabuk-do (North Jeolla Province) in late 2006.

With much convincing from Father Seon Ji-hoon, archabbot Jeremias Schroeder, concluded that the paintings would “be better off in their country of origin rather than sleeping in this abbey.” Given that, these paintings -- unlike other treasures -- weren't looted or smuggled out in the first place, but purchased while doing missionary work in Korea such decesion was a rare case. Thanks to the friendship between Father Seon and archabbot Schroeder and also with much gratitude to the monastery, the returned painting drawn by Korea's legendary landscape painter Jeong Seon (1676-1759) will be open to public viewing in 2009."

By Kim Hee-sungKorea.net staff writer