Collections of 15th century poems to be designated as ‘national treasures’

A collection of 15th century poems by top Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty and envoys from China’s Ming Dynasty and an album of Joseon poems will be designated as South Korea’s “national treasures.”

The Cultural Heritage Administration said Thursday that it will designate the Collection of Poems by the Ming Envoys and Joseon Academicians (Treasure No. 1404) and the Album of Poems for the Eight Views of XiaoXiang (Treasure No. 1405) as national treasures.

The Collection of Poems by the Ming Envoys and Joseon Academicians contains 37 poems written in the mid-15th century by Ming envoys to Joseon and Joseon academicians at Jiphyeonjeon, Confucian academic research institute, in a competition over their literary achievements. Originally made in the form of a book, the collection was re-created as a16-meter-long scroll during the Qing Dynasty. The scroll ended up in South Korea around 1958 and was appraised by Jeon Hyeong-pil (1906-1962), a renowned art collector who tried to preserve and research Korea's cultural relics. Historic records about the literary competition still exist.

The Cultural Heritage Administration said that the scroll is a “precious material” in the research of the history of calligraphy because it preserves some of the top Joseon academicians’ rare handwritings in various styles.

The Album of Poems for the Eight Views of XiaoXiang is a collection of poems written by 21 great writers of the 15th century. Grand Prince Anpyeong, the third son of King Sejong the Great, created the album in 1442. The “eight views of XiaoXiang” refers to eight scenic locations in the Xiaoxiang region, in what is now modern Hunan Province, China.


Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com