The National Museum of Korea is holding an exhibition entitled “Silk Road and Dunhuang.” The event, which is being held as the fifth in the museum’s world civilization exhibition series, has significance as the first exhibition in Korea, related to the Silk Road. For the exhibition, which is being put on under the co-sponsorship of the Dong-A Ilbo and MBC, the museum borrowed a total of 214 relics from 12 foreign institutions.

The exhibition serves as an occasion to finally introduce the valuable ancient record, Wang ocheonchukguk jeon to the general public for the very first time. Wang ocheonchukguk jeon, a travel journal written by a Silla Buddhist priest named Hyecho in the early 8th century, has long been regarded as one of the three best ancient travel journals. It was discovered by the French archaeologist Paul Pelliot in Dunhuang in 1908. It is currently kept by the National Library of France (Bibliotheque nationale de France) and will be open to the public for the first time since its publication 1,283 years ago.

Besides, visitors will encounter other valuable relics brought back from the places where Hyecho visited, such as Kashgar, an oasis town east of the Taklamakan Desert, the Chinese garrison town of Lulan, and the section of the Silk Road in China that connects Dunhuang with Xian.

Moreover, Dunhuang Cave, from which Wang ocheonchukguk jeon was excavated, has been perfectly replicated in the exhibition hall to offer visitors a very special experience.

The exhibition will offer visitors a precious opportunity to see what the culture, art, everyday life, and religion of the diverse peoples in the regions along the Silk Road was like, along with the close relations between their civilization and that of Korea.

Entrance of Dunhuang Cave No.17

Wang ocheonchukguk jeon (Record of Travels in Five Indian Regions) 

Dunhuang Cave No.17, 8th century, 42x358 cm

Beauty standing under trees, Astana, Turpan, 8th century, 90x74.5 cm

Cavalry soldiers holding a halbert, 3rd century BCE~3rd century