The Korea Heritage Service said on the 26th it designated a set of draft manuscripts of “Yeolha Ilgi,” a travel account written by Park Ji-won after returning from Qing China in the late Joseon period, as a state-designated cultural heritage treasure.
The “Draft Manuscripts of Park Ji-won’s Yeolha Ilgi,” held by Dankook University’s Seok Juseon Memorial Museum, preserves material from the earliest stage of the work’s production. Park (1737-1805) compiled the account after visiting Beijing and other areas, including Rehe.
The agency said the manuscripts include an early original text — a book made from the author’s handwritten manuscript — produced after Park’s return from Qing. It said the many copied versions of “Yeolha Ilgi” preserved in Korea and abroad are considered to have been organized on the basis of this original, including the table of contents, order and text.
The museum holds 10 types in 20 volumes of draft materials, but the agency said not all are believed to be Park’s own handwritten originals. The collection shows revisions and additions made by his descendants and literary associates.
From the 10 types in 20 volumes, the agency designated four types in eight volumes as treasures as Park’s handwritten originals: two volumes of Yeonhaeng Eumcheong (Geon and Gon), which include Western learning-related terms and new content not found in the standard edition; one volume that includes Yeonhaeng Eumcheongrok 4 and Yeonhaeng Eumcheonggi 3, which the agency said reflects the earliest form of the original; four volumes titled Yeolha Ilgi Won, Hyeong, I and Jeong, an original text with a preface and paragraphs; and one volume of Yeolha Piseorok, which contains many passages not included in the standard edition.
The agency said the draft set allows researchers to examine both the work’s original form and the process of revision and adaptation by Park and later hands. It said the manuscripts merit treasure status given the work’s influence as a leading Silhak text of the late Joseon period.
The Korea Heritage Service also said it designated three other items as treasures: “Amitabha Buddha Preaching,” a Buddhist painting at Hyeondeungsa Temple in Gapyeong; a seated stone Vairocana Buddha at the former Jingusa Temple site in Imsil; and a seated stone triad of Sakyamuni Buddha with associated reliquary items at Sinheungsa Temple in Yangsan.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.