[On-site Video] Daedongyeojido and Yongbieocheonga Together... Meet the 'Masterpiece City' Hanyang at the Exhibition

[Asia Economy PD Yoon Jin-geun] The ‘Daedongyeojido’ and ‘Dongyeodo’ created by Gosan-ja Kim Jeong-ho have been displayed side by side in one place.

The Seoul Museum of History has been holding a special exhibition titled ‘100 Treasures of the Masterpiece City Hanyang’ since the 20th. This special exhibition showcases artworks, crafts, and books created by the yangban, technicians, and artisans of Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty.

At the exhibition, the ‘Daedongyeojido’ and ‘Dongyeodo’ directly produced by Gosan-ja Kim Jeong-ho were displayed simultaneously for the first time. The Daedongyeojido consists of a total of 21 folding screens made from woodblock prints, depicting the terrain of Joseon in detail down to every mountain range and river. Place names and routes are meticulously marked, including the capital Hanyang, Baekdusan Mountain, and Jeju Island.

The Dongyeodo, a hand-copied colored map made before the Daedongyeojido, contains about 7,000 more place names than the Daedongyeojido. Its composition includes 1 set of 23 folding screens, which is one more than the 22 folding screens that make up the Daedongyeojido.

In the ‘Jeonjeok’ (printed books) section, visitors can see Joseon-era printing technology and books such as the woodblock printed ‘Yongbieocheonga’ and the ‘Zizhi Tongjian,’ the first Joseon printed with metal movable type using the Chojugapin typeface.

In the ‘Crafts’ section, white porcelain jars made in the early Joseon period are exhibited. Not only are they excellently preserved and crafted, but they were excavated from Cheongjin-dong, Jongno-gu (then Unjongga), with a clear provenance, and have been registered as national cultural heritage.

Additionally, works that reveal life in Joseon at the time are displayed, including calligraphy albums written by Hanho Han Seok-bong, Joseon’s greatest master calligrapher, and a 15-meter-long painting depicting the oldest map of Hansungbu’s administrative districts.

Kim Hyun-young, a curator in the exhibition department at the Seoul Museum of History, said, “This exhibition encompasses about 100 artifacts representing Hanyang during the Joseon Dynasty from the museum’s collection, covering fields such as maps, calligraphy, old documents, printed books, and crafts. We hope visitors feel the historical depth of Seoul through artifacts filled with the skills and tastes of the people of Hanyang who led Joseon’s cultural arts.”

‘100 Treasures of the Masterpiece City Hanyang’ is open until August 7 at the special exhibition hall of the Seoul Museum of History in Jongno-gu, Seoul.