Kyujanggak

Coordinates: 37°27′44″N 126°57′02″E / 37.462168°N 126.950444°E / 37.462168; 126.950444
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the royal library of the
Joseon Dynasty. For the university library and research facility in SNU succeeding this, see Seoul National University § Kyujanggak
.
Kyujanggak
Korean name
Hangul
규장각
Hanja
奎章閣
Revised RomanizationGyujanggak
McCune–ReischauerKyujanggak

Kyujanggak (

Gwanak-gu in Seoul. The archive functions as a key repository of Korean historical records and a centre for research and publication of an annual journal titled Kyujanggak.[3]

History

It is named after imperial calligraphic works stored there, the kyujang (奎章), which literally means "writings of Kyu", a scholar-deity, but has come to refer to divinely inspired writings, in particularly, the emperor's.[4][5]

In 1782, the Outer Kyujanggak library (known as Oegyujanggak) was built in the ancient royal palace on

Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul
, where the royal viewing copies were kept, and most of the viewing copies were transferred there.

The library's role underwent various changes after the

Keijo Imperial University
, which later gave rise to the Seoul National University. The library moved to its present location in 1990 and became independent of the Seoul National University Central Library in 1992.

Looting and repatriation

In 1866, during the

2010 G-20 Seoul summit to return the royal documents on a five-year renewable loan basis.[7] From April to June 2011, 297 volumes with 191 different Uigwes, were shipped back in four separate installments and subsequently kept at the National Museum of Korea.[8]

In 1922, during the

Japanese annexation of Korea.[9] After a 16-month process 1,200 volumes including 150 Uigwe were returned in December 2011, and subsequently kept at the National Palace Museum of Korea.[10]

Collection

The collection has over 260,000 items, with many of them digitized and available online. Notably the

National treasures of South Korea and are inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme
.

In addition, it has royal, government, private documents, such as land transactions and power of attorney and maps on natural geography and the state of society of Joseon Dynasty. The antique maps include a provincial map of 1872, a plotting-paper map stamped by Bibyeonsa, a Joseon map, and an eight-province map. It also has a database of Government records with 110 volumes in ten kinds kept by each provincial and gun office, 99 collections of compiled official documents, foreign diplomacy documents kept by each province, 149 volumes of foreign trade-related materials, 180 volumes of court proceeding records. The materials depicts how the nation took modernization policies and coped with aggressions of Western powers. The court proceeding records, from 1894 to 1910, provide information on life style of people from various walks of life, their way of thinking, and acts of the State. It also includes book titles plates and Naegak illyeok, at 1,249 volumes, a daily record of affairs kept by the Gyujanggak Royal Library from 1779 to 1883. Its contents are not found in other chronological documents covering the same period.[11]

In media

The library was used as a filming location, as part of Seoul National University, for Seoul Broadcasting System's 2008 drama Star's Lover. It was used as the university of Kim Chul Soo's, played by Yoo Ji-tae, employment, his lectures and Lee Ma-ri's, played by Choi Ji-woo, visit to the school. Other locations used included the gallery and museum roads. This is the first time the university has allowed its campus to be used as a filming location.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "규장각(奎章閣) Kyujanggak". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  2. ^ "정조(正祖) King Jeongjo". Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  3. ^ "History: Kyujanggak". Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  4. ^ Official site's old history page: the page is not replaced on the new site, whose "History" page focuses on the Institute and not the historical Archive. Archived June 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Dictionary entry on ‘奎’" (in Chinese)
  6. ^ Kwon Mee-yoo "NGO to Demand Return of Royal Texts From France" Korea Times. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 2012-04-24
  7. ^ "Korea, France Clinch Deal on Return of Royal Archive" Chosun Ilbo 13 November 2010. Retrieved 2012-04-24
  8. ^ Lee, Claire "Ancient Korean royal books welcomed back home" Korea Herald. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-23
  9. ^ "Looted Korean Texts Return Home from Japan". The Chosun Ilbo. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  10. ^ Lee, Claire "Looted Korean royal texts return home" Korea Herald. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-23
  11. ^ "Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Royal Library". Korea History on-Line. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  12. ^ "A Star's Lover". Korean TV Drama. Korea Tourism Organization. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kyujanggak.

37°27′44″N 126°57′02″E / 37.462168°N 126.950444°E / 37.462168; 126.950444

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