Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), Volumes 3-5

Basic information

Designation

National Treasure No.306

Category

Books & Records

Era

14세기말

Designated year

2003

Location

예천군, 경상북도— 경상북도 예천군

Coordinates

No precise coordinates are available, so this item is not shown as a map marker. To be added later.

Samguk yusa is a historical record compiled by the Buddhist monk Il Yeon (1206∼1289) in the late Goryeo Period (1281). Books 3 to 5 of Samguk yusa were bound into this one volume, whose blue silk cover features the title Samguk yusa and the subtitle Eulhae seokju. Each damaged page was thoroughly repaired, and the original contents were fully recovered whenever necessary. The volume consists of 107 pages in total, including 50 pages from Book 3 (missing the first six pages), 31 pages from Book 4, and 26 pages from Book 5 (missing the last four pages). A lot of historical records from the Goryeo Period used to employ a unique way of referring to a king to honor the monarch, but this edition of Samguk yusa shows no trace of such a system, which indicates that it was published in the early Joseon Dynasty. In terms of the contents, it also presents many differences compared to the Jeongdeok edition, which was published in Gyeongju in 1512 (the 7th year of King Jungjong). It means that this book was published in the late 14th century (early Joseon). As the earliest extant book of Samguk yusa, it is an extremely important document for the study of bibliography of the early Joseon Dynasty, also providing guidance to correct the mistakes in the Jeongdeok edition.