○ Exhibits: about 400 relics of ancient writings including “a rubbed copy of the inscription on King Gwanggaeto's Monument”

 

 This exhibition was organized to show the results of joint Korea-Japan studies in response to increased public in­terest in written materials. It is an exhibition that sheds light on human life in ancient times, featuring a rubbing of the in­scription on King Gwanggaeto’s Stone Monument, made before the stone was treated with lime; Jungseong-ri Silla Monument in Pohang; Silla documents preserved at Shosoin, the Japanese Imperial Repository; the Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra found inside Seokgatap Pagoda; a copy of Avatamsaka Sutra written in black ink on white paper from the Unified Silla pe­riod, and other relevant National Treasures.

 

The introductory part of the exhibition, titled “From Pic­tures to Writings” explains the shift from the prehistoric period to the historic period. Featured here are the rock carvings from Cheonjeon-ri in Ulju, Ulsan, which show a mixture of pictures, signs and letters, to help understand the development of pic­tures into writings under the flow of history.

 

Part I, under the theme “Acceptance of Letters” explores the methods of writing used before writings such as pictures and signs. Featured ex­hibits include materials relating to the major methods of com­munication used by the ruling class in negotiations with China including wooden tablets, inscriptions in stone, currency, and bronze mirrors.

 

Under the theme “Writings and Rule,” Part 2 explores the use of writings in rule as reflected in stone monuments, wood­en tablets, bronze swords and bronze mirrors, and written documents. Examples of writing include “I am very familiar with the Analects of Confucius at least,” written very large by an official in the provinces and hung up to show to the local people, and “I have nothing and therefore cannot take a high government post,” written by a low-level Silla official living in the late 6th to early 7th century, bemoaning his lot in life. An 8th century Unified Silla official who found his work hard and wearying found the time nevertheless to draw faces. The mate­rials found in Unified Silla village registers and notice boards from Japanese streets reflect the lives of government officials and farmers in those times.

 

The third part, “Writings in Daily Life” shows aspects of the daily lives of people of the past such as food and medicine, housing and architecture, trade and distribution through writ­ings found on ceramics, tiles, bricks, and wooden tablets. In the Baekje period, government offices made loans of rice to the people to tide over hungry times in spring, and gathered it back with interest at the autumn harvest. In the Unified Silla period, the people of Cheongju cultivated fields of rice and hemp, and grew mulberry trees, cedar trees, and walnut trees. In the same period, the aristocrats in the capital ate stingrays, fish, deer meat, pork, and salted fish (jeotgal), and looked after their health with rhubarb, licorice and various other medicinal herbs. In the crown prince’s palace, Donggung, the royal kitch­en prepared and served foods in various types of dishes and at­tached to each dish a tag listing the ingredients used. The main utensils used by officials in charge of writing such materials were the brush, ink, inkstone and knife. The knife was used to erase letters written on wood, and in that sense had the same function as a modern eraser. The rice and grains stored in the warehouses, were nibbled at by mice. This is deduced from the fact that wooden baggage tags excavated from the 6th century Silla fortress Haman-Sungsansanseong bear the tooth marks of mice.

 

The fourth part of the exhibition, “Thought, Religion and Writings” sheds light on thought and religious life of the past including Buddhism and native folk beliefs through such items as Buddhist images, bells, and Buddhist sutras. Scriptures such as the Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra, the Unified Silla Avatamsaka Sutra written in ink on white paper, and Shijing, and the aureole of the Gilt-bronze Buddha inscribed with the date “the seventh year of Yeonga” give a glimpse into the people’s faith in Buddha in those times, while wooden tablets in the shape of male genitalia and wooden wishing dolls reveal some of the ways in which people wished for good fortune and tried to stave off misfortune.

 

The closing part of the exhibition is titled “The Korean Language and Script—the Invention of Idu.” It highlights the efforts made by the people of the time to represent the Ko­rean language in writing with a system called Idu, through examples written on wooden tablets, stone monuments, and stone inscriptions. The people of Baekje and Silla had to a good extent learnt how to use Chinese characters. The created new characters such as dap 畓 for wet fields, jeon 畠 for dry fields, and hyeong 形 for the land area, and developed Idu, which used Chinese characters to represent the Korean language, using Korean word order.

 

A separate theme zone features explanations of important cultural properties showing writings from the 5th century and 9th century such as the rubbing of King Gwanggaeto’s Stone Monument and other Goguryeo materials, as well as calligra­phy works by the Silla scholars Kim Saeng and Choe Chi-won.

 

Overall, this exhibition adopts the storytelling method and features videos and photos of the Ulju rock carvings, the Silla village registers and King Gwanggaeto’s Stone Monument for the ease and convenience of visitors. Exhibition materials that will prove helpful to the education of Korean history will also be provided. When the exhibition closes in Seoul, it is headed for Gyeongju National Museum and Buyeo National Museum, thus providing a larger number of people the opportunity to learn about the letters used by Koreans of the past. 

 

 

A Rubbed Copy of the Inscription on King Gwanggaeto's Monument

Goguryeo 414, H 6.3m, Owned by the National Museum of Japanese History

 

 

Spotless Pure Light Dharani Sutra from Seokgatap Pagoda

Unified Silla, 8th century, 6.7x620cm, National Treasure No.126

 

 

Silla Documents Collected in the Shosoin--Japanese Imperial Repository

Unified Silla