Do you know
where the three lion statues have gone from Dabo-tap[1]?
No, did you know that there had been existed lion statues on the Dabo-tap at
least? As you guess, those three lion statues are representative examples of
Korea’s cultural heritages plundered by Japan. Most of the Korean people might
have a rough idea of those looted cultural assets, but not about the exact
situations or the way to repatriate them.
According to
official record, roughly 66,000 Korean heritage items are kept in Japan and
only 6,000 of them returned to Korea after various attempts to get them back.
Accordingly, though royal records from Joseon and other cultural assets returned
recently from Japan, they constitute only a small portion of stolen cultural
heritages. Some cultural assets were forcefully or illegally taken by another
nation like in this case, which is why the international community utters that
looted properties should be returned to their rightful owner.
Of course, no
country has to keep all of national treasures in the country. However, art has
traditionally been collected privately and kept stored, only rarely being put
on display in Japan. That is, it is clear that there are great amounts of Korean
national treasures in Japan, but we don’t even know who owns it or where it is.
And Japanese Government has not done enough to trace those collections and
insure they are made available for exhibitions and study. Much of the
collections have gone underground, which is a loss to our heritage.
History, that’s
what permeates in our cultural assets. The cultural heritages reflect the
lifestyle, language, and major incidents of the time. So, they are regarded as
precious records and research materials of our history.
Spirit, that’s
what infuses in our cultural assets. We cried, shouted, fought against,
suffered, rejoiced, and enjoyed with them. We have felt all sorts of human
emotions in them. Besides, seeing the delicate and exquisite decoration, we
even feel our ancestors’ artistic soul to complete sophisticated artwork.
Minjok, that’s
what pervades in our cultural assets. Our cultural heritages have suffered a
history full of ups and downs with us. Suffering turbulent period with them
together, we can arouse national consciousness and feel somehow solidarity in
them.
Hence, cultural
assets are neither just a knowledge in the textbook should be memorized nor
just a tour package. They are, our living history and reality. Then the
cultural assets have importance in itself as Hye-mun, a Korean Buddhist monk,
once put it, “An egg cannot break a rock, but soul-instilled egg can do.” However,
as we cannot get them back, we gradually lose those instilled-spirits.
Naturally, Korean art and culture become regarded as a hybrid, lying somewhere
between Chinese and Japanese styles in the West, rather than as a distinct
product of a distinct culture.
Moreover, since
far larger amounts of treasures are in Japanese’s private hands, the problem
becomes difficult to be solved only with negotiation between each country’s
governments. All of the Korean people need to show a special interest and make
more aggressive efforts to bring back the stolen national treasures. ‘Bringing
back cultural assets’ is not simply bringing the stolen cultural heritages to
where they originally were. It is the process for finding our handed-over soul
from our ancestors, and for realizing we are owners ourselves of them.
Again, through returning our looted cultural assets, we can cultivate appreciation of Korea's artistic heritage. Through getting back our plundered cultural heritages, we can get back our history, spirit, and our Minjok
[1] Tap(in Korean) = pagoda
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