The Korea Heritage Service announced Thursday that it has designated "The Complete Draft Manuscripts of Park Ji-won's Jehol Diary" as a national treasure, along with three Buddhist paintings and statues and three Joseon-era temple pavilions.
The draft manuscripts, held at Dankook University's Seokjuseon Memorial Museum, document the travels of scholar Park Ji-won (1737-1805) to Beijing and Jehol in Qing Dynasty China. The collection represents the earliest surviving draft of what would become one of Korea's most influential works of practical learning.
"The Complete Draft Manuscripts of Park Ji-won's Jehol Diary allows us to examine the original form when first created and the revision process by Park Ji-won and his descendants," the Heritage Service said. "Given its influence on late Joseon society as a representative work of practical learning, it holds great value for treasure designation."
The museum holds 20 volumes across 10 categories, though not all are Park's original handwriting. Of these, eight volumes across four categories were designated as treasures, including manuscripts containing Western learning terminology absent from later editions.
The Heritage Service also designated as treasures the "Amitabha Buddha Preaching Painting of Hyeondeungsa Temple in Gapyeong," dated to 1759; the "Stone Seated Vairocana Buddha from Jingusa Temple Site in Imsil," estimated from the late 9th century Unified Silla period; and the "Stone Seated Shakyamuni Buddha Triad and Excavated Relics of Shinheungsa Temple in Yangsan," completed in 1682.
Three Joseon-era temple pavilions also received treasure designation: Chimgyeru Pavilion at Songgwangsa Temple in Suncheon, rebuilt in 1668; Deokhwiru Pavilion at Bongjeongsa Temple in Andong, built in 1680; and Cheonboru Pavilion at Yongjusa Temple in Hwaseong, constructed in 1790 by King Jeongjo to honor his father Crown Prince Sado.
