The Office of the Yi Dynasty or called Yiwangjik was an organization to manage every affairs related to the royal

House of Yi The House of Yi, also called the Yi dynasty (also transcribed as the Lee dynasty), was the royal family of the Joseon dynasty and later the imperial family of the Korean Empire, descended from the Joseon founder Yi Seong-gye. All of his descendan ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

during the Japanese occupation. It was established in February 1911 as part of the Japanese central government's

Imperial Household Ministry The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

but was under the day-to-day supervision of the

Government-General of Korea Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. Yiwangjik assumed all responsibility for the former imperial family's affairs, including the imperial household, property, rituals, and institutions such as the museum, zoo and gardens set up at

Changgyeonggung Palace Changgyeong Palace is a palace located in Seoul, South Korea. The palace was built in the mid-15th century by King Sejong for his father, Taejong. It was originally named "Suganggung", but it was renovated and enlarged in 1483 by King Seongjo ...

. Likewise it also continued the record-keeping traditions of the Seongjeonwon Diaries and the imperial

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

. However, unlike the situation before 1910 where the Korean emperor could make decisions regarding the budget and staffing, the ex-emperor had no such power over Yiwangjik, a department of the Imperial Household Ministry. For similar reasons, the current South Korean government considers imperial records written under Japanese supervision to be unreliable, and is the reason why its nomination of the Annals for UNESCO

Memory of the World Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

registration excluded the volumes relating to Gojong and Sunjong and unlike the Annals for Joseon's other 25 kings does not consider the post-1910 Annals to be National Treasures. ''Yi-wang-jik,'' or ''Ri-o-shoku,'' translates to the Yi Kings' Household. (Compare to the Emperor Emeritus' Household, ''Jyokou-shoku'' 上皇職, or the Crown Prince's Household ''Koushi-shoku'' 皇嗣職 of the present-day

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

.) ''Yi-wang'' or ''Ri-o'' (李王), literally "King Yi", is the title devised for the ex-Emperor of Korea within the

Kazoku The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ' ...

system. Other translations of the name into English exist. After WWII, the US Military Government officially used the name Prince Lee Household. Yiwangjik's offices were at

Changdeokgung Palace Changdeokgung (Hangul: 창덕궁, Hanja: 昌德宮; literally, "The Palace of Prospering Virtue"), also known as Changdeokgung Palace or Changdeok Palace, is set within a large park in Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the "Five G ...

on the site of what is now the Changdeokgung Management Office. The Yiwangjik building, as well as many Yiwangjik records, burned down in a suspected arson on the night of 6 June 1960.Kang Ji-nam
"땅 한 평 안 남기고 공중분해"
("Disassembled in mid-air leaving not even one ''

pyeong A ''pyeong'' (abbreviationpy) is a Korean unit of area and floorspace, equal to a square '' kan'' or 36square Korean feet. The ''ping'' and ''tsubo'' are its equivalent Taiwanese and Japanese units, similarly based on a square '' bu'' ( ja:步) ...

'' of land"), ''

Dong-a Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A ...

,'' 18 October 2006.

Legacy

Under the US military government Yiwangjik was renamed to the Office for the Former Royal Family (구왕궁) on 8 November 1945 and on 8 June 1955 the Former Imperial Properties Affairs Office (구황실재산사무총국).US Army Forces in Korea Official Gazette, Ordinance 26 of 8 November 1945. The Cultural Heritage Administration extends this name to 구왕궁사무�

Gwanbo, 8 June 1955, page 3. On 2 October 1961 this office became the Bureau of Cultural Property with responsibilities broadened to cover all former dynasties rather than just Yi Dynasty affairs. On 1 January 2019 the administration of Yi Dynasty properties were once again separated into their own organization, the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center (궁능유적본부) of the

Cultural Heritage Administration The Cultural Heritage Administration () or CHA, formerly the Cultural Properties Administration, is the agency of the South Korean government charged with preserving and promoting Korean cultural heritage. It is headquartered in the city of Dae ...

. There was no systematic preservation of the imperial family's movable property (furniture, pottery etc) after WWII, and they became scattered amongst the Yiwangjik descendant organisations and palace storerooms. Kim, Jeong-im (2011). "국립고궁박물관 (國立古宮博物館)", ''Encyclopedia of Korean culture'' http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Item/E0069253 To gather up the dispersed relics the Cultural Heritage Administration established the Palace Relics Exhibition Hall (궁중유물전시관) in 1992, which later became the

National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...

in 2005. Imperial rites such as the Jongmyo Daeje are now managed through the

Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association The Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association ( ko, 전주이씨대동종약원) is a family association from South Korea, and it was founded by the Jeonju Yi (Lee) clan, the household of Joseon and the Korean Empire, which were the ruling house of the ...

, which is a private organisation managed by the former Imperial family's descendants. Nonetheless Jongmyo Daeje continues to be held at the Jongmyo site which is now under the management of the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, with the music performed by National Gugak Center musicians. Other institutions connected to Yiwangjik include: *Yiwangjik's Music Department merged after the Second World War with other folk music organizations to form the

National Gugak Center The National Gugak Center, located in Seoul, South Korea, is the primary institution of learning for Korean traditional music (), including both court music and folk music. It was founded in 1951 through a merger of Korean musical organizati ...

in 1951. *The

Jangseogak The Janseogak refers to an archival collection currently held at the Academy of Korean Studies (''Hangukhak jungang yeon'guwon'') outside of Seoul, South Korea. The collection focuses on works dealing with traditional Korean history and culture a ...

(장서각, 藏書閣), or library, of Yiwangjik was transferred in 1981 to the

Academy of Korean Studies Academy of Korean Studies (한국학중앙연구원, AKS) is a South Korean research and educational institute with the purpose of establishing profound research on Korean culture. It was established on June 22, 1978, by Ministry of Education & ...

. *The Imperial Museum (Jesil Bakmulgwan, 제실박물관, 帝室博物館) established in 1909 during Sunjong's reign continued under Yiwangjik management (with name changes and mergers) during the Japanese period, continued after 1945 as the Deoksugung Museum, and was merged into the

National Museum of Korea The National Museum of Korea is the flagship museum of Korean history and art in South Korea and is the cultural organization that represents Korea. Since its establishment in 1945, the museum has been committed to various studies and research a ...

in 1969. *The Yiwangjik Art Manufactory (이왕직미술품제작소, 李王職美術品製作所), established in 1908, closed in 1937. However its existence ensured the transmission of Korean fine art techniques from the Joseon period to the modern period, and many of its artisans were given the Important Intangible Cultural Property designation after Korean independence.Choi, Gong-ho (2013). ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'', "이왕직미술품제작소"

/ref>

Heads of Yiwangjik

*Min Byeong-seok (閔丙奭), 1911-1919 *Lee Jae-geuk (李載克), 1919-1923 *Min Yeong-gi (閔泳綺), 1923-1927 *Han Chang-su (韓昌洙), 1927-1932 *Shinoda Jisaku (篠田治策), 1932-1940 *Lee Hang-gu (李恒九), 1940-1945 (son of Lee Wan Yong) *Jang Heon-shik (張憲植), 1945 Appointed Chief Administrator of Yiwangjik by the

United States Army Military Government in Korea The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948. The country during this period was plagued with political and eco ...

: *Yun Hong-seob (尹弘燮), 3 November 1945-...US Army Forces in Korea Official Gazette, Appointment Number 27 of 3 November 1945. In English the title is "Chief Administrator of the Prince Lee Household" whereas the Korean is "李王職管理課長".

External links

Royal Palaces and Tombs Center
of the Cultural Heritage Administration.
National Gugak Center

References

{{reflist House of Yi Korea under Japanese rule Imperial Household Agency

Legacy

Heads of Yiwangjik

See also

External links

References