Kyujanggak

This quarter in my Korean class all of us have to do two balpyo 발표, or presentations. The topic of the first is to briefly (5 minutes) introduce some place on the SNU campus. I gave my balpyo on Friday, so I thought I'd share some of the information and pictures.

At Erma's suggestion, I looked at Kyujanggak (규장각 奎章閣; its official romanized name starts with a k-, but the standard romanization nowadays would be Gyujanggak). It's a striking building on campus, with a traditional-style roof:



Kyujanggak literally means something like "Pavilion of Royal Calligraphy". Originally a small building used to house the writings of the kings of the Joseon 조선 朝鮮 Dynasty, it was later the name given by the King Jeongjo 정조 to the official library he established in 1776. In addition to the personal writings of the kings, the library was used to house numerous other texts, maps, woodblock printing plates, and the like. Toward the end of the 19th century King Gojong 고종 purchased many foreign publications to add to the library as well.

With the end of the kingdom and the beginning of Japanese occupation at the start of the 20th century, the library ceased to be a governmental institution and its holdings were eventually transferred to Keijo Imperial University, which after liberation became Seoul National University.

Originally part of the SNU library system, Kyujanggak has now become an independent campus unit, maintaining and making available to scholars the 260,000 or so items in the library collection, and publishing a number of scholarly journals. The building shown above was constructed in 1990, then renovated and expanded a few years ago. Here's another view, this one showing the sign in front.


Scholars from around the world working on research projects related to the collection can get Kyujanggak visiting scholar status.

There is a really nice exhibition room in the basement level of the building, where some of the most interesting and important objects in the collection are on display. In the atrium that holds the staircase leading down to the exhibition room, this famous map of Korea is on display:


It's the Daedong Yeojido 대동여지도 大東輿地圖, or Grand Map of Korea. If it looks big, that's because it is: it stands 6.7 meters (about 20 feet) high. It can be folded up into book size for convenient carrying. (What's on display is a reproduction, rather than the original.) The map was made in 1861.

Kyujanggak's exhibition room is open weekdays from 9:30 to 5:30. If you ever get a chance to visit the SNU campus, it's worth a look.