The Repatriated Daedongyeojido (Territorial Map of the Great East) Depicting the Aspirations of the Joseon Dynasty

 - Daedongyeojido Including Dongyeodo (Atlas of the Eastern State) to Be Revealed for the First Time -

On March 30, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at the National Palace Museum of Korea (located in Jongno-gu, Seoul), the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA; Administrator: Choi Eung-chon) will introduce Daedongyeojido (Territorial Map of the Great East) to the press. It has recently been returned from Japan through the efforts of the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF; Chair: Kim Jung-hee).

※ Daedongyeojido (Territorial Map of the Great East): Transcribed on a woodblock-printed Gapja edition (1864) / a complete set of twenty-three albums (one album for the list of maps, twenty-two albums of maps) / size: (each) 30 cm × 20 cm, (overall when unfolded) approx. 6.7 m × approx. 4 m

The existence of this map was made known when the previous owner expressed his intention to sell it. Upon obtaining the information, the OKCHF, with active administrative support from the CHA, carried out several thorough surveys. It eventually succeeded in its repatriation this March through close collaboration with related personnel.

Daedongyeojidowas first produced and published in 1861 by Kim Jeongho (ca. 1804–ca.1866), a Joseon-era geographer and publisher specializing in maps of the nation. It was republished in 1864 in the form of twenty-two accordion-style albums. The version retrieved from Japan is a woodblock-printed edition produced in 1864. It is colored and contains gapil* (hand-written revisions). The geographic information from Dongyeodo(Atlas of the Eastern State) is added as well. This edition is in fact a combination of Daedongyeojido and Dongyeodo

* Gapil: Revisions made by adding new content or images or deleting them from a written text or painting

Dongyeodo* is a jeondo* (complete map) of Joseon-era Korea that is believed to have been consulted by Kim Jeongho as jeobon* (source material) for Daedongyeojido. A colored transcribed edition, Dongyeodo features geographic information on Joseon-era Korea, including traffic routes, military facilities, and places names amounting to roughly 18,000 items. In contrast, Daedongyeojido omits many place names and jugi* due to the difficulties involved in carving woodblocks.

* Dongyeodo (Atlas of the Eastern State): A transcribed copy / twenty-three albums (one album for the list of maps, twenty-two albums of maps)
* Jeondo: A complete painting or map
*Jeobon: Original version of a document or book before being revised or translated
* Jugi: Recording information in the margins on the history of respective territories, cartographic techniques applied, and instructions on how to use the maps

The edition returned from Japan is the first known example that compensated for the limitations of the woodblock-printed edition of Daedongyeojido by transcribing the annotations from Dongyeodo. With the addition of these annotations, Daedongyeojido is a modified version that was presumably produced owing to the wide distribution of Daedongyeojido. Since this edition presents a different organization and contents compared to other editions in Korean collections, its return from Japan carries considerable significance.

This Daedongyeojido edition consists of a total of twenty-three albums (one album for the list of maps, twenty-two albums of maps). The format follows that of Dongyeodo. Other editions of Daedongyeojido generally have no separate list of maps and are composed of twenty-two albums. Each album of both Dongyeodo and Daedongyeojido is produced in an accordion format. The unfolded albums each depict a 120 li (roughly 47 km) portion of the Korean Peninsula ranging from north to south. They can be placed in twenty-two layers to complete a map of the Korean Peninsula.

The most noticeable feature of the returned Daedongyeojido is that it provides detailed geographical information with a majority of the annotations from Dongyeodo transcribed on it. For example, in the second album where it illustrates Baekdusan Mountain and the neighboring regions, the Baekdusan National Boundary Monument* and the distances between military facilities are added, which are not noted in the woodblock-printed edition of Daedongyeojido. Moreover, in the fourteenth album, which depicts Ulleungdo Island and the neighboring region, is written a point of departure for ships heading to Ulleungdo that is not found in other editions of Daedongyeojido.

* Baekdusan National Boundary Monument: A monument erected on Baekdusan Mountain in 1712 (the 38th year of the reign of King Sukjong) to mark the boundary between Joseon Korea and Qing China

The specifics of the sections of the returned Daedongyeojido also differ from those of other editions currently held in Korea. As a case in point, the section “Jidoyuseol” is engraved and printed in the first album of other woodblock-printed editions, but is transcribed in the empty space of the maps in this returned edition. The content of the “Jidoyuseol” section in the returned edition is identical to that of Dongyeodo. In addition, Samcheok-bu in Gangwon-do Province and Ulleungdo Island are printed over two pages in other woodblock-printed editions, but are scaled down and shown across a single page in the returned edition. This was done to match the layout in Dongyeodo.

* “Jidoyuseol”: A text indicating the purpose of production of a map and its significance

The Daedongyeojido edition that is being introduced on this occasion will provide material for the study of the production and use of maps during the Joseon Dynasty. It will also expand the scope of research on Joseon-era geographic information as the first woodblock-printed edition with transcribed annotations from Dongyeodo that has been identified to date. It is especially valuable since examples of Dongyeodoand Gapja editions of Daedongyeojido and are rare.

The CHA and the OKCHF hope that the return and public viewing of this Daedongyeojido will enhance interest in the scientific cultural heritage of the Joseon Dynasty and inspire national pride in this aspect of Korean history. They plan to continue their robust efforts to locate and retrieve important Korean cultural properties housed overseas through active administration and the expansion of on-site cooperative networks. The acquisition of this repatriated Daedongyeojido edition was undertaken using lottery funds as a part of the Government Innovation project.

Division: International Cooperation Division, Heritage Promotion Bureau / Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation
Contact persons: Kim Byeong Yun (042-481-4734)
Park Ji Yeon (042-481-4738)
Kang Hae Seung (02-6902-0732)
Kim Seon Hui (02-6902-0771)