[KS] The Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda

Brother Anthony ansonjae at sogang.ac.kr
Sun Jan 30 08:33:58 EST 2011


I am wondering if anybody can tell me why Japan returned the Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda to Korea in 1918? The explanation supplied in various places by the National Museum of Korea is that it was "returned by the efforts of British and American journalists, E.Bethell and H.Hulbert," but Bethell's articles in the Korea Daily News and Hulbert's article in the Japan Chronicle (that was reproduced in other countries) date from 1907, soon after the theft. Bethell died in 1909, at least partly as a result of his time in prison in Shanghai (a quite scandalous enough story in itself). Hulbert also left Korea at that time and I do not know if he wrote again about the Pagoda? Was there any further campaign? Also, I wonder where it was located prior to the 1976 move to the garden of the National Museum? I am struck that James Gale, writing in 1915 about its younger sister that still stands in Seoul's Tapgol Park, mentions the relocation of the Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda without any sign of indignation and with no hint that it might ever be returned.

Brother Anthony
President, RASKB etc








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