[KS] Museum Buildings

[gkl1 at columbia.edu]

Hats off to Hyung Il Pai for bringing some order to all of these museums!

It might be useful to note, however, that Yi EUn, the 3rd son of King  
Kojong (by Kojong's second consort Lady Om), was not the last king of  
Korea. That would have been his elder half brother (by Queen Min),  
Sunjong (Yi ChOk), r. 1907-10. Hyung Il misled by EUn's formal  
designation "YOng Chinwang." But in this case the Wang element does  
not mean "king". After Kojong became Emperor (1897), his sons were  
designated with the "wang" element, which now meant "prince". EUn was  
indeed exiled to Japan in 1907, after he had been designated Crown  
Prince to Sunjong. The exile of Yi EUn specifically meant that King  
Sunjong would have no heir and that the ChosOn dynasty would be over  
when he died. In Japan Yi EUn was forced to marry a Japanese Princess,  
Masako. When Yi Un permanently returned to Korea in 1960, she came  
with him and Koreanized her name to Yi Pangja. Un died in 1970, and  
she remained in Korea afterward. A few years later she wrote an  
interesting memoir of their life together. Among other things, she  
frankly recognized that her husband was a hostage, which she  
considered unjust. She said that this sad fact aroused her sympathy  
for him long before they were finally married in 1920.

Gari Ledyard

Quoting Hyung Il Pai <hyungpai at eastasian.ucsb.edu>:

>
> Dear members,
>
> We are talking about three different museum buildings in three
> different palaces.
>
> First, The Oldest is the Yi Wanga (Cheshil) Pangmulkwan built in
> Changgyongwon in 1908. It opened in 1909 to the public.  The same year
> the Colonial government built the zoo and botanical garden
> (Shingmulwon), the latter which is still preserved. This was the first
> museum in Korea as Jim mentioned in the last email. Officially, the
> museum collections were said to be donations from the Yi royal Family
> Household ( Yi Wangjik)- however, we already know it was a puppet govt.
> manipulated by Ito Hirobumi. From what I have seen from Japanese
> records, museum catalogues of the period (Chosen taikan 1911), and
> antiquity shop catalogues based on Keijo, it was a haphazard affair,
> both looted, purchased ( Buddhist sculpture, ceramics- celadon) as well
> as donated by prominent Yangban households ( in terms of paintings).
> The classification systems and genres again reflect the tastes and
> preferences of the ruling elite as well as professors from Tokyo
> University Sekino Tadashi ( an architect and art historian) who had
> been sent to Korea to conduct annual archaeological surveys from 1909.
> The funds for the upkeep of the Yi Royal Family with the figurehead
> Sunjong came from the Colonial government coffers.
> This building was used as the Changsogak before the collections was
> moved to the Academy of Korean studies
>
> Second, the archaeological collections excavated by the Committee on
> Korean Antiquities (Three Kingdoms, Koryo, etc) were exhibited at the
> Chosen Sotokufu Museum established in Kyongbokkung in 1915, The
> permanent museum was part of the Chosen Products Exposition ( Choson
> Mulsan Kongjinhoe)-the first colonial exposition which opened also in
> Tokyop Ueno to commemorate the Fifth year of annexation.
> This is the building Donald Clark was talking about. The pagodas and
> sculpture from abandoned palaces and temple ruins along with the
> returned Kyongch'onsaji pagoda later on were exhibited in the ground in
> front of this museum again at the recommendation of Sekino Tadashi in
> 1918.This building was used as the Research Institute of Cultural
> Properties till 1996-7 when it was demolished. Since then, the
> Kyongbokkung was rebuilt following the plans dating to 1867 (since it
> was Taewongun's pet project) following the much controversial razing of
> the National Museum Building, AKA, the Colonial Govt building in 1993
> by Kim Young-sam.
>
> Third, the Sokchojon was the First Western Style building built in
> Toksuggung palace by King Kojong  when he moved there after his hiding
> stint at the Russian Delegation after the assasination of Queen Min. It
> was built by a British architect in 1897. In 1927, it was used as the
> first modern art museum with the opening of the first Chosen Misuljon -
> competitive modern fine arts competition - the precurssor to the
> Kukchon ( Frank Hoffman knows more about this than me). This building
> is full of Yi royal Taehan Cheguk symbols and the interior architecture
> and facade is currently undegoing renovation.
> In conclusion, the three royal palaces were pretty much destroyed at
> will and relandscaped for colonial government own agendas- to show off
> the successes of their civilizing mission - for which  exhibitionary
> spaces became centers of cultural and heritage tourism. In 1907, the
> last King Yi un was taken to be educated in Japan and raised as
> Japanese royalty, and therefore, the Colonial govt had a free hand to
> do what they want to palace grounds.
>  In the post-war period till now, the Office of Cultural Properties and
> the Munhwajaech'ong is pushing to resurrect all the past symbols of
> Chosen Kingship and Old Seoul -by rebuilding Kwanghwamun plaza (albeit-
> marred by the shiny colossal statues of Yi Sunshin and King Sejong),
> restoring fortress walls and Namsan, and Old Gates ( Tongdaemun and the
> most recently burned down South Gate).Kyongbokkung and Secret Gardens
> ( Ch'angdokkung- a world heritage site) are very popular destinations
> amongst Hallyu drama fans from China and Japan who are fans of Korean
> historical romances/ dramas.
> I have old photos of all these places but am not allowed to post them
> -something to do with the interface. Thank you for bringing up such an
> important topic. My Information comes from the "100 year History of the
> Museums in Korea" published by the Nationa Museum in Korea ( 2009)
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Hyung Il Pai, Fulbright Scholar, Kyunjangak (2010-11)
> East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies Department, HSSB Building
> University of California , Santa Barbara
> CA 93106, U.S.A.
> Fax: 805) 893-3011, Office Phone: 805) 893-2245
> Email: Hyungpai at eastasian.ucsb.edu
> Dept Office for Messages; 805) 893-4549