(Yonhap News)
The Wang ocheonchukguk jeon, a historical travelogue by the Buddhist monk Hyecho (704-787) of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. – A.D. 935), has been returned to Korea and will be on display at the National Museum of Korea.
First written 1,300 years ago, Hyecho’s tales of his travels were lost for centuries before being discovered in the Dunhuang Grotto in China in 1908 and removed by the French explorer and archaeologist Paul Pelliot.
Now owned by the National Library of France, the journal is considered an important historical record with extensive information about the cultural, political and economic customs of ancient India and central Asia during the 8th century.
| Wang ocheonchukguk jeon (Record of Travels in Five Indian Regions) 42×358 cm (Yonhap News) |
The National Museum of Korea will display the journal as part of its special exhibition, “Silk Road and Dunhuang,” from December 18 to April 3. According to the museum, this is the first time the journal will be on display to the general public. (Left: Replica of Dunhuang Grotto (National Museum of Korea)
Hyecho went to China when he was 16 and left for India to study Buddhism in 723, when he was 20 years old. He arrived in India from Guangzhou, China, and then traveled nearly 20,000 kilometers to Xian, China, via Persia and central Asia, visiting some 40 ancient countries along the way.
After returning to China in 727, he wrote down his impressions of the political, cultural, economic customs and systems of the kingdoms he visited on the Silk Road.
The journal, widely thought to be the first overseas travelogue written by a Korean, contains 893 classical Chinese characters in 227 lines. Despite some slight damage to the cover, the book is regarded as an extremely important example of the genre, which includes Marco Polo's “The Travels of Marco Polo (Il Milione).”
Also in the exhibit are 220 relics owned by ten museums in Xinjiang, Gansu and Ningxia, China that were found at the Duunhuang Grotto alongside the Wang ocheonchukguk jeon. (Right: Bronze cavalry soldiers holding halberds (National Museum of Korea))
Visitors can also view other valuable relics from the places Hyecho visited, including items from Kashgar, an oasis town east of the Taklamakan Desert, and the Chinese garrison town of Lulan. Displays include examples of gold buckles from the Chinese Silk Road city of Kharashahr and bronze statues of cavalry soldiers holding halberds from the Han Dynasty. The exhibit also features a replica of Dunhuang Grotto.
To learn more about this exhibition, click here to visit the museum homepage (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Vietnam, Spanish and Thai)
By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
