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Empty borok case, now back in Korea, leaves much to the imagination

Published: 28 Jul. 2022, 15:58

Borok is an outer case that was used to store a royal seal known as eobo, which was produced for the occasion of the bestowal of an honorific title or posthumous name on a king or queen of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The above borok returned to Korea from the United States early this month. [CULTURAL HERITAGE ADMINISTRATION]

An old reddish box was placed under the spotlight for local reporters to take photographs of at the Korea House on Wednesday.

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation were able to bring back this box, known as borok, from the United States early this month. Riot Games, a United States-based video game developer, provided the funds to acquire the box from a British corporation in the United States, who was about to sell it to a different owner, to make sure it could safely return to its home country.

This box with a lock appears to have once stored something very valuable. But it was found empty and brought back empty.

Why would the Korean government try so hard to bring back an empty box?

A borok is an outer case that was used to store a royal seal known as eobo, which was produced for the occasion of the bestowal of an honorific title or posthumous name on a king or queen of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). A royal seal was placed in an inner case known as botong and then set inside the outer borok before being stored at the Jongmyo Shrine or the Outer Royal Library. A borok was conventionally produced together with the seal. However, this borok appears to have lost its seal.

According to the CHA, it is difficult to find out the owner of the borok as most borok are practically identical. According to the foundation, hundreds of borok and inlok, or the outer case especially for a seal of the crown prince, crown princess and eldest son of the crown prince and his consort, were produced over three centuries, from the early 1600s after the Japanese Invasions of Korea in 1598 through the reign of Emperor Sunjong.

Jaden royal seal for the Crown Prince Investiture of King Jeongjo (1759), left, and its borok. [NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Golden royal seal for the bestowal of temple and posthumous titles upon King Yejong (1470), left, and its borok [NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Silver royal seal bestowed upon the Crown Prince (King Jeongjo) by King Yeongjo, engraved with praises for his filial piety, left, and its borok [NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Despite its lack of content, the borok retrieved from the U.S. is still significant as borok for royal seals were not produced in large quantities compared to those for ordinary seals.

“That is why borok is highly regarded as a symbol of the legitimacy and historicity of the Joseon royal court,” said Seo Joon, a retired researcher at the National Palace Museum who specialized in royal seals.

Steps to take to store a royal seal inside a borok [NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA]

Storing eobo inside borok required certain formalities, as did nearly everything that took place in the royal court. Eobo had to first be wrapped with a red bojagi, or a cloth, tied with a ribbon crosswise and then placed in the inner botong. A pouch filled with 14 different medicinal herbs would be inserted also to keep moths away. Cotton balls were inserted to fill the space so that the seal would not move. After closing the lid of the botong, it was wrapped again using another red bojagi and tied crosswise with a purple ribbon. It would then be inserted into a borok, together with another pouch of herbs and cotton balls. It would then be locked with a key, and the key would be stored in a separate key pouch. A small piece of paper with signatures would be attached to the lock to seal it once more.

There’s a turtle-shaped handle attached to the center of the upper panel of the returned borok. The interior of the box is lined with red silk and the exterior is wrapped with leather and coated with red lacquer.

Different types of red bojagi, or traditional wrapping cloth, were used to wrap a seal [NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA]

“Given several features — the exterior edges reinforced with metal plates, the chrysanthemum-shaped eyebolts forming a single oval, the shape of the hinges — the case can be presumed to have been produced in the 19th century,” said Seo. “They hold the potential to be studied and utilized as chronicle objects for exploring the transformation and development of the style and material of royal crafts, thereby expanding the scope and boundaries of research related to the Joseon royal court. We hope to find the owner of the borok as well, though it will take a very long time.”

Currently, 312 borok and inlok cases transferred from the Jongmyo Shrine are housed in the National Palace Museum of Korea in central Seoul.

The latest borok will first join some of the other restituted cultural properties that were looted during the Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) and the Korean War (1950-53) in an exhibit titled “Treasures of Ours Treasured by Others: Journey of Korean Cultural Heritage,” which kicked off early this month at the National Palace Museum of Korea.

According to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, the borok will join the other retrieved cultural properties next month. The exhibit runs until Sept. 25.

Some of the retrieved cultural properties on display in the exhibit include, the Odaesan Copy of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which was plundered during the Japanese occupation and repatriated in 2006, and the Junmyeongjibo or the State Seal of Royal Appointment, which was stolen by an American soldier during the Korean War.

Semi-formal Jacket and Ceremoial Skirt Worn by Princess Deokhye, which returned from Japan in 2015 [JOONGANG ILBO]

Armor in Cotton with Leather Plates, which returned from Germany in 2018 [JOONGANG ILBO]

There are also cultural properties that were voluntarily returned to Korea by foreign museums after acknowledging that they were illegally removed from Korea, such as Armor with Leather Lining, which was unconditionally returned by the St. Ottilien Archabbey in Germany and the Original Edition of the Taewhwangwon Banknote Issued by the Hojo (Ministry of Taxation), which was returned from the United States.

The exhibition also explores the repatriation, study and future utilization of the roughly 200,000 pieces of Korean cultural properties scattered across 25 countries.

A visitor looks at a collection of 21 paintings by renowned Korean painter Jeong Seon (1676-1759), which made a dramatic return home in 2005 from a German monastery. It is currently on exhibit at the “Treasures of Ours Treasured by Others: Journey of Korean Cultural Heritage" exhibit at the National Palace Museum of Korea in central Seoul. [NEWS1]

“Korea is working to facilitate the utilization of overseas properties in the sites where they are held, including providing support for conservation treatment and exhibition,” Lim Kyoung-hee, an official from the museum, said.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [[email protected]]