Precious cargo: Kansong Art Museum transfers 98 cultural assets to new facility

Korean Heritage

Published: 04 Jul. 2024, 14:41 Updated: 04 Jul. 2024, 16:23

Precious cargo: Kansong Art Museum transfers 98 cultural assets to new facility

Korea's important treasures are loaded onto a truck to be transferred from the Kansong Art Museum in central Seoul to the museum's new branch in Daegu on July 2 under police escort. [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

Important cultural assets get unloaded at the new Kansong Art Museum in Daegu on July 2. [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

The Kansong Art Museum announced Wednesday that it successfully transferred 98 cultural assets, including national treasures, to Daegu under strict police escort.

The museum said the transfer was carried out confidentially, as it included notable items, such as the "Haerye" segment of "Hunminjeongeum" and the "Celadon Prunus Vase with Inlaid Cloud and Crane Design," which are national treasures, and the Joseon-era painting "Miindo" (Portrait of a Beauty) by Sin Yun-bok, a state-designated treasure. The museum described the operation as the largest transfer of cultural heritage assests since the museum’s establishment in 1938.

These transferred treasures will undergo preservation treatment and preparation for exhibition to mark the opening of the Kansong Art Museum’s new Daegu branch, which is scheduled to open in September. The new museum will be three stories high and feature six exhibition halls.

The new Kansong Art Museum in Daegu is slated to open in September. [KANSONG ART MUSEUM]

“This transfer of cultural heritage is the largest since the Korean War,” said Jeon In-geon, the director of the Kansong Art Museum. “The transfer of the 'Hunminjeongeum Haerye' segment is particularly significant as it rarely leaves the museum. It has only been exhibited outside the Kansong Museum in Seoul twice for exhibitions at the National Hangeul Museum and the National Museum of Korea.”

There’s only one existing copy of the "Huminjeongeum Haerye" segment. The respected art collector Jeon Hyeong-pil (1906-1962), founder of the Kansong Art and Culture Foundation, discovered a copy of "Hunminjeongeum" in 1940, which includes both the "Yeui" and "Haerye" segments, and purchased it for the museum he founded. The book is designated as a national treasure and is also registered on Unesco's Memory of the World list.

The "Haerye" segment of ″Hunminjeongeum″ is a national treasure. [KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE]

Written by Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) court scholars in 1446, "Hunminjeongeum" is one of Korea’s most important texts. It serves as a guide to hangul, the Korean alphabet, created by King Sejong (1397-1450) the same year the book was published.

The book comprises two parts: the "Yeui" section, which explains the reasons for hangul's creation, and the "Haerye" section, which details the principles and usage and provides examples of the writing system. While the "Yeui" section is replicated in several other ancient documents and thus holds lesser value, the "Haerye" section is extremely rare and highly valued.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]