Brush of Life and Death: Korea’s Greatest Admiral at Major National Museum Exhibit
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
The National Museum of Korea opens “Our Admiral Yi Sun-sin” from Oct. 28 to Mar. 3 to mark the 480th anniversary of Yi Sun-sin’s birth and the 80th anniversary of Liberation. The largest-ever Yi Sun-sin exhibition presents 258 records (369 items) from 45 institutions at home and abroad, including seven volumes of Yi’s handwritten war diary (Nanjung ilgi), official reports (Imjinjangcho), personal letters, his long sword (janggeom) engraved with lines attributed to him, and battlefield artifacts from Japanese daimyo (feudal lords). Six items (15 pieces) are national treasures and 39 items (43 pieces) are classified as treasures. The show brings rarely seen national treasures together, reunites two panels of a war folding screen previously held separately in Europe and East Asia, and displays Japanese armor and battle screens shown in Korea for the first time. The exhibition uses original documents, portraits, video, sound and hands-on displays to portray Yi not only as an undefeated naval commander (23 victories in 23 battles) but as a complex human—showing his devotion to family, grief over his son’s death, and how he has been viewed in China, Japan and the West. Admission is free during the opening week (Oct. 28–Nov. 4) and on the anniversary of his death (Dec. 16). (Nanjung ilgi: Yi Sun-sin’s wartime diary; janggeom: long sword; daimyo: feudal lord)
