''Uigwe'' () is the generic name given to a collection of approximately 3,895 books recording in detail the royal rituals and ceremonies of the
Joseon dynasty
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
of
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
. There is no generally agreed English translation for the title of the work; some scholars suggest "book of state rites", while the ''Glossary of Korean Studies'' from the Korea Foundation suggests "manual of the state event" or "rubrica for a state ceremony." The expression "Royal Protocols" (of the Joseon Dynasty) is widely used.
The collection of ''Uigwe'' was inscribed in
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
's
Memory of the World International Register in 2007, recognising it as documentary heritage of global importance.
The term "Uigwe" is not easily translated. It refers to a collection of rites, protocols, codes and rules. Thus, the Joseon ''Sijeong Uigwe'' are the “Protocols” or legal “Code” of the Joseon ''Sijeong''. The Joseon ''Sijeong Uigwe'' was compiled under the reign of
King Sejong (ruled 1418 to 1450).
King Sejong is credited for organizing a body of scholars that consolidated, refined and codified various laws, practices, beliefs and the accepted Confucius systems into law. The Joseon ''Sijeong Uigwe'' was compiled into an volumes, similar, to a modern encyclopedia. Volumes included comprehensive criminal, civil, administrative and tax laws.
Content
Combining text and detailed illustrations, each ''Uigwe'' preserves the records of the Superintendency (''dogam''), set up temporarily to plan and carry out special state rites. These rites included investitures, coronations, weddings, banquets, the painting of royal portraits, funerals and ancestral rites. Each ''Uigwe'', some in several volumes with several copies, was written either by hand but more often printed using
woodblocks for the History Archive copies. Most of the ''Uigwe'', had one exclusive edition for the king, distinguished by silk covers, high quality paper, binding, superior handwriting and overall presentation, was intended to serve as the royal viewing copy. The silk covers used exclusively for the king were made of quality silk, had superior patterns often of clouds, and usually had red decorations around its borderline. Four to nine other copied version for scholars were kept for each of the four state archives, which for most of the Joseon period were located on Mount Jeongjoksan on
Ganghwa-do Island; Mount Jeoksang in
Muju-gun County,
Jeollabuk-do Province;
Mount Odaesan in
Gangwon-do Province and
Mount Taebaeksan in
Yeongwol-gun County. The ''Uigwe'' for funerals and weddings includes large and detailed images of processions, often involving thousands of participants.
Looting and repatriation
1866: French troops
In 1782, the Outer
Gyujanggak library (known as Oe-Gyujang-gak) was built in the ancient royal palace on
Ganghwa-do Island to accommodate an overflow of books from the main
Gyujanggak library at
Changdeokgung Palace in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, where the royal viewing copies were kept, and most of the viewing copies were transferred there. In 1866, after the execution of a number of French Catholic missionaries in Korea, a French expeditionary force came from China to seek explanations, resulting in the
French campaign against Korea. Unable to gain access to the authorities, the troops attacked Ganghwa-do Island and seized the royal books, along with a vast amount of silverware and other royal artifacts. The books were kept at the
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
in Paris soon after their arrival in France. They were largely forgotten until Korean scholar, Park Byeongseon, discovered them in 1975, whilst working there as a librarian.
Following the discovery, the return was officially requested in 1992. In 1993, then-French President
François Mitterrand returned one copy during a visit to Seoul to sell its high-speed
TGV train technology; with the promised to return the remaining collection. The Korean Government tried to retrieve the royal documents through a permanent lease, since French law prohibits national assets to be transferred abroad. In 2010, a Seoul-based civic group spearhead the return but the request to exclude illegally obtained property from its list of national assets was rejected by a Paris court.
After a series of long disputes and negotiations, an agreement was made by
President Lee Myung-bak and
President Nicolas Sarkozy at the
2010 G-20 Seoul summit to return the documents on a five-year renewable loan basis. From April to June 2011, 297 volumes with 191 different ''Uigwe''s, were shipped back in four separate installments.
1922: Japanese Occupation Period
In 1922, during the
Korea under Japanese rule
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon".
Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
, many volumes of books including 167 of ''Uigwe'', along with some 1,000 other relics, stored at the royal
Gyujanggak library at
Changdeokgung Palace and history archive in the Buddhist temple at
Mount Odaesan were transferred to the
University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
. As they were stored at the
University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
, they were not included in the list of artifacts to be returned compiled in 1965, when the two countries signed a treaty which normalized diplomatic ties.
In November 2008,
Seoul Metropolitan Council passed a resolution urging Japan to return the ''Uigwe''. The looted collection included
Empress Myeongseong's state funeral protocol, that lasted for about two years following her murder by Japanese assassins in
Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1895.
In August 2010, then-Japanese Prime Minister
Naoto Kan announced the return of the ''Uigwe'' to mark the centenary of
Japanese annexation of Korea.
Then in October 2011, Prime Minister
Yoshihiko Noda returned five copies during his visit to Seoul in a bid to improve relations. The copies chronicled the royal rituals of
King Gojong and
King Sunjong, the last two emperors of Joseon dynasty and
Korean Empire
The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910.
Dur ...
before Korea was annexed in 1910. This was followed, after a 16-month process, by the return of 1,200 volumes including 150 ''Uigwe'' in December 2011.
[Lee, Clair]
"Looted Korean royal texts return home"
''Korea Herald''. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-23
Collection and exhibition
The ''Uigwe'' that remained in Korea were preserved and housed in the
Gyujanggak library at
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities.
The university's main c ...
, and as part of the
Jangseogak collection at
Academy of Korean Studies
The Academy of Korean Studies (AKS; ) is a South Korean research and educational institute focusing on Korean studies. It was established on June 22, 1978, by the Ministry of Education & Science Technology.
Works
Journals
*'' Korea Journal'' ...
. Gyujanggak library has the largest collection, with 2,940 volumes with 546 different ''Uigwe''; while the latter has 490 volumes with 287 different ''Uigwe''.
National Museum of Korea
The 297 copies of the ''Uigwes that were returned from France, are housed at the
National Museum of Korea
The National Museum of Korea () is the flagship museum of Korean history and Korean art, art in South Korea. Since its establishment in 1945, the museum has been committed to various studies and research activities in the fields of archaeology ...
, where a special exhibition, ''The Return of the Oegyujanggak Uigwe from France: Records of the State Rites of the Joseon Dynasty'', was held from 19 July to 18 September 2011.
In June 2011, ahead of the exhibition, the Museum showcased five of the copies to the media. They were
selected for their historical significance and to demonstrate the wide range of activities recorded in different kinds of ''Uigwe''. They were:
* ''Uigwe for a Royal Feast'' (1630)
* ''Uigwe for the Ceremony of Offering Honorable Names to Queen Jangryeol'' (1686)
* ''Uigwe for the State Funeral of Queen Jangryeol'' (1688)
* ''Uigwe for the Funeral of Uiso, the Eldest Grandson of the King'' (1752)
* ''Uigwe for the Construction of the West Palace'' (1831)
The ''Uigwe for a Royal Feast'' is the oldest copy that was looted by the French. It recorded the royal feast held by
King Injo of Joseon in March 1630, wishing for longevity and good health for Queen Dowager Inmok. It is also one of the few "copied" versions as most of them are reportedly original editions that were exclusively printed for the king. The museum stated that three of the five shown do not have any surviving copied versions. Also a couple of silk covers of other volumes were displayed separately as
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
removed 286 of them for restoration in the 1970s. The covers were returned along with the 297 volumes.
National Palace Museum of Korea
The copies that were returned by Japan are housed at the
National Palace Museum of Korea with a special exhibition from 27 December 2011 to 5 February 2012.
Media
To mark the return of the stolen ''Uigwe'' on 2011 by French Government, a special episode of
Running Man (Episode 48) was aired. In this episode, the Running Man members have to find "the sleeping ''Uigwe"'' that was stored in the underground section.
Song Ji-hyo won this episode.
See also
*
History of Korea
The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago.
Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825.
The earl ...
*
Annals of the Joseon Dynasty
The ''Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty'', sometimes called ''sillok'' () for short, are state-compiled and published records, called Veritable Records, documenting the reigns of the kings of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. Kept from 1392 to ...
*
Donggwoldo
*
Joseon Dynasty politics
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Manuscrits coréens numérisés de la Bibliothèque nationale de France (Digitized Korean manuscripts from the French national library)
National Museum of Korea site with digitized manuscripts and transcription in KoreanKyujanggak site with digitized manuscripts{{Joseon
Works by Joseon people
Art and cultural repatriation
Memory of the World Register
Looting in Korea