Gyujanggak: a trove of national treasures
By Chung Ah-young
Established by King Jeongjo at Changdeok Palace in 1776 as a royal library and office for servants who worked as special consultants for the king, Gyujanggak (Kyujanggak) has been a trove for national treasures that hold abundant historical and cultural meaning even today.
Despite the enormous significance of the archive, there has been little systemic or comprehensive research on history easily accessible to the public.
To better help the public easily understand the library’s heritage particularly, a two-volume series — “Kyujanggak: Rediscovering Its History and Culture” and “Kyujanggak and the Cultural History of Books” — has been published in English by the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies.
This series is designed to introduce the collection to a wider audience, offering accessible and accurate information on the collection and how it was created. For the first time, it offers an English-speaking audience in-depth access to these treasures and their cultural significance. The book series is a historical overview of the development of the library during the Joseon Kingdom.
Originally begun only as an archive to store the writings of kings, King Jeongjo reinvented it as a research institute to foster the most-talented and dedicated “scholar-officials” under the “chogye” literary official program.
Since its foundation, countless books, documents and all kinds of material were collected and stored there until the library was shut down during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945).
The current collection encompasses more than 250,000 books and documents and also includes materials from the Daehan Empire period, as well as various pictures, calligraphy, maps and even wooden printing blocks.
Among them, seven items are now designated as National Treasures and 25 of them have been labeled as cultural assets. The “Annals of the Joseon Kingdom,” the “Seungjeongwon Ilgi” and the “Uigwe” protocol manuals have also been designated as part of UNESCOWorld Heritage.
Gyujanggak symbolizes the majesty and splendor of the Joseon court with venerable books, documents and historical records. However, except for a small circle of specialists, most people are unaware of the sheer variety available in the royal library.
The library reflects the late pre-modern and modern history of Korea, as it evolved from a repository of royal writings to the centerpiece of Confucian statecraft, from the imperial library of the Daehan Empire to the state of the art archive and research center.
In 1782, Oegyujanggak, which means “Outer Gyujanggak,” was founded on Ganghwa Island as an annex of the main library by the order of King Jeongjo.
However, after King Jeongjo died in 1800, the library which operated as an essential governmental body for his own governance, faced a serious setback. The library had to suffer its own diminution as privileges granted to the library’s officials called “gaksin” were rescinded and the office was no longer able to function as a political wing inside the government. Only the function of housing and preserving items and books of former kings, or the function of compiling and publishing books were maintained.
The reduction in scope of the library’s operations that continued during the so-called “Sedo Politics” period — which refers to the reigns of Sunjo, Heonjong and Cheoljong after King Jeongjo — led to the overall deterioration in quantity and quality of the publications that were produced by it.
The Regent Daewongun (1820-1898) reinforced two offices, the Jongbusi and the Jongchinbu, which weakened the library’s presence. The primary duty of Jongbusi was to complete the royal family’s genealogical record and also monitor wrongdoings of some of the royal family members. The function of Jongchinbu was to manage all honorary titles that were to be bestowed upon royal family members.
During the colonial period (1910-1945), the Japanese authorities forcibly occupied the Daehan Empire on Aug. 29, 1910 and abolished Gyujanggak. In 1911, Japanese authorities assimilated the library’s books into the property of the Joseon Governor General’s office. Later, they were relocated to Gyeongseong Imperial University and today they are now housed in Seoul National University.
The richness and variety of the collection are amply illustrated in the collection, which introduces more than 200 examples of books, documents, maps and paintings. This work not only explains the works’ contents and significance, but also how they were produced and circulated. Besides the famous “veritable records” (Sillok) and ritual manuals (Uigwe), there are also Buddhist works, medical manuals, maps of local counties, literary work, land ledgers and diplomatic correspondence. They show that the Gyujanggak collection is a vital window into Korea’s pre-modern and early modern history.
The two volumes were authored by eminent researchers of the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies and other institutions, who share their intimate knowledge of the collection and their history with readers.