Joseon wangjo sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty)

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.151-3

Category

Books & Records

Era

조선시대

Designated year

1973

Location

종로구, 서울특별시— 서울특별시 종로구

Coordinates

37.462351, 126.950453

Joseon Wangjo Sillok comprises of 1,893 books and 888 volumes covering 472 years (1392-1863) of the history of the Joseon Dynasty in a chronological order, from the reign of King Taejo, the founder, to the end of the reign of King Cheoljong. The contents of these annals are encyclopedic, including general state affairs, economy, culture and politics. They are also highly reliable records with historic authenticity and credibility. Historiographers were legally guaranteed independence in their record keeping and the right to keep secrets. After a king's death and the coronation of his successor, professional officials were appointed to write the annals of his reign at the Sillokcheong, the Office for Annals Compilation. Nobody was allowed to read the sacho, or draft history, not even the king. Once the annals were compiled in multiple copies, each copy was stored in special archives. Up until the early 20th century, most of the copies stored at archives in Taebaeksan Mountain, Jeongjoksan Mountain, Jeoksangsan Mountain and Odaesan Mountain survived, even after the massive destruction by the Japanese Invasion (1592-1598) and the Qing Invasion (1636-1637). The Odaesan Edition consists of 27 volumes. Annals covering the period from the reigns of King Taejo to King Myeongjong are one of the four copies transcribed from the Jeonju Archive's edition from July in the 36th year of King Seonjo (1603) to March of the 39th year (1606). Then, newly compiled annals were continuously updated till the Annals of King Cheoljong was published in the second year of King Gojong (1865). From the 39th year of King Seonjo (1606) to 1910, they continued to be preserved at the Odaesan Mountain archive. The copies were taken to Tokyo University, Japan during the Japanese Imperial Regime to be mostly lost amid the Kanto Earthquake in 1923. Among them, 30 volumes are preserved at the University of Tokyo, and only 27 volumes were moved to Gyeongseong Imperial University.

Location