List of Books in the Oekyujanggak Analyzed

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List of Books in the Oekyujanggak Analyzed

A professor at Seoul National University (SNU), Lee Tae-jin, said Friday that almost all the 5,067 books in 1,007 sets in 'Oekyujanggak', the Chosun Dynasty library on Kanghwa Island, were burnt by the French navy in 1866 when they invaded Korea.
The professor Lee analyzed the library directory, the 'Jongsa Oekyujanggakhyongjian', which was compiled in 1857 and includes a list of all the books in the royal library. Up until now, only the titles of 359 books, which the French navy took to France after their invasion of Chosun Korea, were known.
Among the books burnt by the French navy, hundreds of unique documents, including 25 poems written by the Chosun King Yongjo, were included.
Professor Lee said, 'I feel so sorry that there were so many precious cultural assets in the list of books, which have all now been reduced to ashes.'
Kang Joo-an : jooan@joongang.co.kr
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