Joseon Intellectual’s Reading Walk
The exhibition's poster
What would have been the reading attitudes of our Joseon ancestors? Could it have been similar to our reading behaviors of today?
To provide an answer for the questions above, The National Library of Korea planned an exhibition of rare old books from April 2 to June 29. The ‘Joseon Intellectual’s Reading Walk’ exhibition was held in the Classic Operation Room, commemorating the 2012 ‘National Year of Reading’.
The exhibition had the purpose of showing various methods of reading and providing a way of comparing the reading culture of the past and the present. The exhibition was also meaningful as it allowed people of today to realize the decreasing levels of reading and the importance of rare old books.
In The National Library of Korea, there were more than 20 rare old books displayed in the Classic Operation Room. As there were a large number of people in the library, many people visited the exhibition to look at the old books. Not only adults and seniors but a number of teenagers came along to read about the lives of our ancestors. From reference books to books of cultivation, there were many materials that people rarely had seen.
The Classic Operation Room
Fortunately, I had the chance to meet Ahn Hye Kyong, the planner of the ‘Joseon Intellectual’s
Reading Walk’ exhibition and the person in charge for the display, to interview her about some more information. She is currently the Rare Book Specialist of Korea Research Institute for Library and Information (KRILI).
1. As it is not easy for busy students to come for exhibitions, are there other ways to see rare old books?
If you visit the website of The National Library of Korea, you can see specific information and
original databases of books that are exhibited in the Classic Operation Room. Especially in
the case of old books, the copyright has been outdated so anyone can enjoy these books through the Internet. The cyber-exhibition site is the following. http://www.nl.go.kr/nl/antique/list.jsp
2. In what ways did you advertise this exhibition?
We advertised this exhibition by sending report materials to media outlets and posted an advertisement on our website. Other than that, we held an old literature lecture on May 18th called ‘The Reading of Korean Intellectuals of the Joseon Dynasty, Learning the Happiness”. For those who have participated in the lecture, we are providing them with individual notices via e-mail.
3. Are more exhibitions planned to be held in the future?
In The National Library of Korea, we have more than 280,000 old documents. To make it easier for people to understand the complex and rare information of the old books, we will be opening 4 exhibitions per year with different themes. In July, there will be an exhibition named ‘Looking at the lives of women in the past’ and in October, documents connected with ‘The past examination and the story of rising to a higher position’ will be exhibited.
4. Would you like to say a word to teenagers regarding the 2012 ‘National Year of Reading’?
I heard that teenagers have not much time to read as they are busy with the preparation of higher grades. However, if they look at the reading methods of the past, there will be some things that can be very helpful even in the present. For example, promising to read a number of books every day, re-calling the things that have been read before and remembering to take some notes of important lines are some of the correct methods of reading. If people of today perform these correct and sensible attitudes of reading, it will become a great property of them.
The following are some famous displayed books of the past which are well-known to the people of Korea.
1.’The Secret of Enjoying Ignorance’ 격몽요결[擊蒙要訣] –Yool-Gok Yi-yi
This is a book published by a famous scholar, Yool-Gok Yi-yi, for those who were starting to learn literature. Consisted of 10 different parts, this book introduces correct methods of reading and moral principles that people should practice. This book was read by many Confucians and kings of Korea. A famous phrase of this book is ‘For telling the difference between the right and the wrong, there is nothing better than reading because all of our ancestor’s traces within books teach what to follow and what to look out for.’
2. ‘Book on Self Culture’ 사소절[士小節] – Lee Duk Moo
This is an autobiography of a realism scholar, Lee Duk Moo, to inform people of manners between scholars and family members. As a book of etiquette, it helps to cultivate minds and have a moral character. At that time, this was acknowledged as very useful and efficient. Lee Duk Moo explains the manners by saying, ‘Do not put saliva on your fingertips to turn over the pages, do not underline with your nails and do not fold the pages. Also, do not open the book when you are cleaning and do not turn over the pages with a hand you had scratched your head with.’
3. ’Method of Reading’ 독서요결[讀書要訣]
This book has recorded the methods of reading and the reading attitudes of people in the past. Also, it explains the correct order of learning from a book and the right mental attitude that a person should have before reading a book. To make it easier to understand, there are many diagrams along with the information. The author and the publisher of this old book are not known.
As I looked through all of the exhibited books, I learned that it is really important to read frequently and make sure that you get a full understanding of the book’s message. Scholars of the past had a great reading attitude and that helped them to acquire a huge amount of useful information through reading. I wish many teenagers could realize the importance of having the correct reading attitude through the exhibitions provided by The National Library of Korea.
For those who have interest in the ‘Joseon Intellectual’s Reading Walk’ exhibition, they can find more information on the National Library of Korea’s homepage; http://www.nl.go.kr. Other exhibitions with similar themes will be displayed throughout the year and the ‘Joseon Intellectual’s Reading Walk’ exhibition will be displayed again at the same place next year. To visit the National Library of Korea, please refer to the map below. More information about location can be found on the library’s homepage.
