https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-returns-9-ancient-korean-artifacts-south-korea
Recently, the 9 of the Joseon Dynasty’s national royal seals were returned by ICE to South Korea. Of the nine, two seals of the Joseon Dynasty, the “Daegunjubo” was created in 1882 by the royal seal was made in 1740 and returned to the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA). The emperor’s seal is classified by the CHA as a national treasure of South Korea.
The Daegunjubo is a “guksae”, and official state seal made in King Gojong’s rule. The royal seal is a ceremonial seal created during King Yeongjo’s rule and is called the Royal Seal of Hyojung.
The Daegunjubo is a relatively small seal, measuring 7.9 centimeters in height, and 12.7 centimeters long and is a silver seal with turtle shape on top. The Daegunjubo is recorded as being called the “Gojung Sillok” (Annals of King Gojung), “Seungjeongwon Ilgi” (Diaries of the Royal Secretariat) and “Ilseongnok” (Daily Records of the Royal Court).
The Royal Seal of King Hyojung is a gold seal whose height is 8.4 centimeters tall and 12.6 centimeters long. King Yeongjo created the eobo, aka the royal seal, to present the title “Bright Righteousness and Correct Virtue” to King Hyojung in 1740 after King Hyojung died. It was used ceremonially for coronations of the king and queen and for something like an act of good deeds or valor. It is said that the eobo is enshrined with the ancestral tablet of the king or queen after their death to symbolize the continuity of the dynasty and the validation of the royal family. The eobo is also used in state affairs such as foreign diplomatic documents and in that case, it was referred to as the “guksae”.
The eobo in documents was usually used for the king’s written orders of the day, which is called “Hongpae” and ‘Baekpae” and is like a diploma of passing the state exam for high ranking officials and “Yuseo” which was a written command for regional officials and so on and so forth. There were many written commands by the king, but it is rare to find a seal of the crown prince that writes commands in proxy of the king.
On the Daegunjubo, there was an inscription that had “W B. Tom” on it, but it is theorized that it might have been a foreigner who got the seal somehow and then later inscribed his name on the seal. There was no prior practice of inscribing foreign languages on the seals so it is hypothesized that it was more of a “damage” than a true inscription, but otherwise, the both seals are in good shape.
In total, there were 412 guksae and eobo made in the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire, but there are still 73 missing. A man named Lee Dae-Soo, a Korean-American had the two seals and decided to donate them to the CHA and the Korean government.
The CHA made a statement saying that they will try to make sure all the missing artifacts of Korea return to Korea.
The other five are signets of the Joseon Dynasty’s Royal Court. These signets were used to officialize books or paintings using these signets in the Joseon Royal Court.
Comments
That's something I wasn't even aware was affected by the actions of ICE. Do you know the reason why ICE is returning all of the artifacts now, after having them for so long? I really don't know much about history and especially art history but it's so crazy how far some old artifacts, especially stolen artifacts, can travel and be hidden for so long before people find them. I know as in terms of something similar, Nepal had a similar situation where so many of the old royal and national artifacts from Nepal ended up in England, US, and many other places and have recently been in the news for similar returning efforts.
Ariana, thank you for sharing this event of historical importance! This makes me both happy and a little bitter. I am happy because the seals have been returned to their place of origin, where they represent a rich cultural history and significance. On the other hand, I am bitter because historically, SO many cultural artifacts have been stolen and smuggled out of the Eastern countries. Every once in a while, I hear news about something being returned and I wonder how many or how much of it is still out there- in places where people do not even acknowledge its value or do stupid things like inscribe “W B. Tom” on it. We really need more accuntability from the West and strong action against these sumgglers.
I had no clue that ICE even played a role in art/historical artifacts or that we had the royal seals! I cannot believe that a foreigner might have inscribed their name on something so valuable to Korean culture and history. I knew that a lot of the seals were missing, but I had no idea that 73 were still missing. I hope that we could find it soon, and I love that they are still trying to return the artifacts to where they belong.
Woah, that was really interesting, Ariana! I had no clue that ICE played any role in repatriation of stole art/artifacts. As an Art History student, I have heard various stories over the years about stolen or damaged artifacts that become completely lost to history, but, more importantly, completely lost to its culture. There are so many examples of colonists, scholars, and opposing forces stealing artifacts from local cultures such as the Benin Bronze statues and, of course, the art of European Jews stolen by the Nazis. As in the case of the Korean royal seals, I am happy to see that there are continued efforts to return these artifacts and art to their rightful homes.