East Asia's largest Stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great to be restored digitally

The stele of King Gwanggaeto has been digitally recreated on the \'Path of History\' at the National Museum of Korea. Courtesy of the National Museum of Korea

The Stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo, the largest stele in East Asia, is brought back to life with digital technology to meet modern people.

The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, announced on January 24 that it will display a digitally reproduced stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great and original stone rubbings at its exhibition hall called the Path of History.

An LED pillar with a height of 7.5 meters and with a width of 2.6 meters will display the stele, which was realized based on photographs and video footage, on all four sides.

The digital stele is modeled after the artifact in Jian, China. The stele of King Gwanggaeto of Great, which has a total of 1,775 characters engraved on four sides of the stone with a maximum height of 6.39 meters, contains the founding myth of Goguryeo, ascension and achievements of the king, and management regulations of the tomb. The stele was built around 414 by his son, King Jangsu, to honor his father's achievements.

The original stone rubbings were also unveiled this time. They are regarded as highly valuable as they show a shape close to the original stele. It is known that there are only about 10 types of original stone rubbings of the Stele of Gwanggaeto of Great in the world. The Cheongmyeong edition of the original stone rubbings, which the museum purchased from Lim Chang-soon, a scholar of the Chinese classics, last year, will be displayed at its exhibition hall for Goguryeo. The digitally original stone rubbings will be displayed at the Path of History.

The museum also announced its major project plans for this year. In order to bridge the cultural gap in regions at risk of depopulation, the museum will organize a series of regional exhibitions of highly recognized cultural assets, such as gold crowns, horse-riding potteries, inlaid celadon, and white porcelain moon jars. In the first half of the year, the museum will hold an exhibition in Gangjin, Sangju, Boryeong, Dangjin, Hapcheon, and Namwon, and in the second half in Goryeong, Jeungpyeong, Haman, Jangsu, Yanggu, and Haenam. The late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's special exhibition “A Collector's Invitation,” will be on tour at the Jeju Museum and Chuncheon Museum. The exhibition gained huge popularity last year with 740,000 visitors in Gwangju, Daegu, and Cheongju.

The museum will also strengthen services for culturally vulnerable groups such as the disabled. An experiential exhibition space for people with disabilities will be created in its permanent exhibition hall on the third floor with the theme of metal crafts. Various contents, such as audio guides with sign language, will also be provided.

From the Paleolithic Room to the Goguryeo Room, the first floor of the permanent exhibition hall will be completely reorganized. This is the first time this space has been completely reorganized since the opening of the museum in Yongsan. In particular, the exhibition space for Goguryeo will be expanded. A new space dedicated to Uigwe of Oegyujanggak will also be created in the permanent exhibition hall. Digital books will be produced to overcome the limitations of displaying physical books.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.