National museum opens new exhibition on historic Joseon-era library's texts

The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul, is holding a permanent exhibition for the Oegyujanggak Uigwe on the second floor. It opened to the public on Friday.

Visitors browse the first section of the Oegyujanggak Uigwe permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul, shown here filled with high-definition replicas of original green silk Uigwe covers, on Nov. 14. [NEWS1]

When a collection of historical artifacts finally returns home after being stolen and taken abroad for decades, it’s a national celebration. But the next task is building a home for them again.

The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul, did just that for the Oegyujanggak Uigwe, with a permanent exhibition on the second floor that opened to the public on Friday.

Uigwe for bestowing an honorary title upon Queen Jangryeol in 1686 [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Uigwe for renovating Jongmyo Shrine in 1637 with its original chaegui (book cover) [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Oegyujanggak was a library built on Ganghwa Island in Incheon by King Jeongjo (r. 1776-1800) of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) to accommodate valuable items for the royal family. Uigwe refers to the archival books that depicted in detail the protocols for various state rites in text and drawings.

The Oegyujanggak Uigwe were stolen by the French Navy during the Byeonginyangyo, or the French counterattack against Korea in 1866 for the execution of seven French Catholic missionaries. The collection was largely forgotten and even initially misclassified as Chinese books due to being written in hanja — the Korean name for Chinese characters that were used during the Joseon era. It was only when Korean scholar Park Byeong-seon (1923-2011) discovered them in 1975 and advocated their return that they were brought back in 2011.

Since then, the National Museum of Korea has been managing the 297 repatriated volumes and has held two temporary exhibitions, published seven scholarly books and created an online database on the materials.

At the new permanent exhibition for the Oegyujanggak Uigwe, 32 books will be displayed per year, with eight shown simultaneously — changing every three months.

A digital archive section of the Oegyujanggak Uigwe permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul allows visitors to flip through the pages of interactive Uigwe books and read translated excerpts and additional descriptions. [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The museum stressed that the gallery has been arranged to be as easy to understand as possible for the general audience. It arranged a digital archive section, featuring interactive books that are the same size as the original Uigwe. Visitors can flip through the pages and read translated excerpts and additional descriptions. The digital books are also available in English.

The exhibition also places emphasis on the appearance of the Uigwe, namely the book covers, or chaegui. They were made of green silk but later wore out and were replaced with new ones in the 1970s in France. The ragged covers were returned as well in 2011, and high-definition replicas are on view at the museum. To this day, only 11 books remain in their original form.

Uigwe for the funeral of King Sukjong in 1721 [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Uigwe for installing the Royal Coffin Hall of King Sukjong in 1721 [SHIN MIN-HEE]

One Uigwe typically had two to nine copies, one of which was a royal perusal, meaning that it was personally read by the king. Of the 297 volumes that are back in their homeland, 291 are royal perusals. Because these were considered important royal records, they were published in high quality and most of them were enshrined specially at Oegyujanggak. Twenty-nine Uigwe are only survived with single copies each.

A section of the exhibition, dedicated to retelling the entire procedures of garye (royal wedding ceremony) and hyungnye (royal funeral), documents Kim Sukjong (r. 1674-1720) and his three weddings, as well as his 27-month-long funeral.

The National Museum of Korea is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, with hours extending to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The permanent exhibitions are free.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]