The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, sometimes called sillok () for short, are state-compiled and published records, called Veritable Records, documenting the reigns of the kings of the Joseon dynasty in Korea. Kept from 1392 to 1865, they comprise 1,893 volumes and are thought to be the longest continual documentation of a single dynasty in the world.
The records of the last two monarchs are believed to have been influenced by the Japanese colonial rule and, therefore, their credibility compromised. Excluding the records of the last two kings, the sillok is designated as the 151st national treasure of South Korea and listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World registry.
In 2006, the annals were digitized and made available online by the National Institute of Korean History. Both a modern-Korean translation in hangul and the original in Classical Chinese are available. In January 2012, the National Institute of Korean History announced a plan to translate them to English by 2033. The work was scheduled to start in 2014 with an initial budget of ₩500 million, but it was estimated that a total of ₩40 billion would be needed to complete the project.
Compilation process
The Ch'unch'ugwan, overseen by the three High State Councillors, served as the state archive for administrative records. However, the eight historians of the seventh, eighth, and ninth ranks in the Office of Royal Decrees () were responsible for maintaining daily records of official court activities. These historians accompanied the king at all times, and Joseon kings did not conduct official business without a historian present. The daily historical records produced by the eight historians were called sacho (), which served as the basis for the compilation.
After the death of a king, the veritable records, or sillok, of the deceased monarch's reign were compiled by a special committee known as the Sillokch'ŏng, or the Office of Annals Compilation. This committee included high-ranking officials and the most competent scholars. The compilation relied on various primary sources, including the sacho, historians' private memoranda, administrative records (), and the Seungjeongwon ilgi.
The compilation process consisted roughly of three phases. First, the primary sources were gathered, and the historians produced the first draft (). This draft was then refined into a second draft (), which was reviewed and finalized by high-ranking officials into a final draft (). Once finalized, the drafts, sacho, and the historians' private memoranda were pulped in water and expunged () to prevent leaks.
Great care was taken to ensure the integrity of the records; historians were guaranteed legal protection and editorial independence, especially from the king. Only the historians were allowed to read the sacho; if any historian disclosed or altered its contents, they were subject to severe punishment. Pulping and expunging the drafts and certain primary sources likely to contain historian commentary was a safety measure designed to insulate the historians from political influences and preserve the integrity of the records.
An oft-cited story in the sillok about King Taejong falling off his horse has been used to illustrate the commitment of Joseon court historians to documenting even events displeasing or embarrassing to the king and the extent to which the king could not influence which stories were included in the sillok:
The historian present defied King Taejong's order and ensured that not only the king's fall but also his wish to keep it off the record were documented.
The 1624 Yi Kwal's Rebellion resulted in the destruction of the Ch'unch'ugwan repository. It was not replaced; the government ultimately returned to printing four copies of the records and storing them at the other repositories. The Mount Myohyang copy was moved to Jeoksangsan in 1633. Part of the Manisan collection was lost during the 1636 Qing invasion of Joseon, and the surviving volumes moved to Jeongjoksan on Ganghwa Island in 1678.
Around the 1945 liberation of Korea, the Jeoksangsan copies were partially looted during the instability; there are reportedly uncertain rumors that some of these copies were actually taken during the 1950–1953 Korean War to North Korea.
!
! English
! Hangul
! Hanja
! # volumes<br>(gwon)
! # books<br>(chaek)
! Monarch
! Start of compilation
! Notes
|-
| 1
|
|
|
| 15
| 3
| Taejo<br />()
| 1413
|
|-
| 2
|
|
|
| 6
| 1
| Jeongjong<br />
| 1426
|
|-
| 3
|
|
|
| 36
| 16
| Taejong<br />()
| 1431
|
|-
| 4
| Veritable Records of Sejong
|
|
| 163
| 67
| Sejong<br />()
| 1454
|
|-
| 5
|
|
|
| 13
| 6
| Munjong<br />()
| 1455
|
|-
| 6
|
|
|
| 14
| 6
| Danjong<br />()
| 1469
| Changed name from Diary of Nosangun <br>(, ) in 1698.
|-
| 7
|
|
|
| 49
| 18
| Sejo<br />()
| 1471
|
|-
| 8
|
|
|
| 8
| 3
| Yejong<br />()
| 1472
|
|-
| 9
|
|
|
| 297
| 47
| Seongjong<br />()
| 1499
|
|-
| 10
|
|
|
| 63
| 17
| Yeonsangun<br />()
| 1509
|
|-
| 11
|
|
|
| 105
| 53
| Jungjong<br />()
| 1550
|
|-
| 12
|
|
|
| 2
| 2
| Injong<br />()
| 1550
|
|-
| 13
|
|
|
| 34
| 21
| Myeongjong<br />()
| 1571
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 14
|
|
|
| 221
| 116
| rowspan="2" | Seonjo<br />()
| 1616
| rowspan="2" |
|-
| Revised Veritable Records of Seonjo
|
|
| 42
| 8
| 1657
|-
| rowspan="2" | 15
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |
| 187
| 64
| rowspan="2" | Gwanghaegun<br />()
| 1633
| rowspan="2" |
|-
| 187
| 40
| 1653
|-
| 16
|
|
|
| 50
| 50
| Injo<br />()
| 1653
|
|-
| 17
|
|
|
| 21
| 22
| Hyojong<br />()
| 1661
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 18
|
|
|
| 22
| 23
| rowspan="2" | Hyeonjong<br />()
| 1677
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
|
|
| 28
| 29
| 1683
|-
| 19
|
|
|
| 65
| 73
| Sukjong<br />()
| 1728
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 20
|
|
|
| 15
| 7
| rowspan="2" | Gyeongjong<br />()
| 1732
| rowspan="2" |
|-
| Revised Veritable Records of Gyeongjong
|
|
| 5
| 3
| 1781
|-
| 21
|
|
|
| 127
| 83
| Yeongjo<br />()
| 1781
| Renamed from Veritable Records of Yeongjong <br>(, ) in 1899.
|-
| 22
|
|
|
| 54
| 56
| Jeongjo<br />()
| 1805
| Renamed from Veritable Records of Jeongjong <br>(, ) in 1899.
|-
| 23
|
|
|
| 34
| 36
| Sunjo<br />
| 1838
| Renamed from Veritable Records of Sunjong <br>(, ) in 1899.
|-
| 24
|
|
|
| 16
| 9
| Heonjong<br />()
| 1851
|
|-
| 25
|
|
|
| 15
| 9
| Cheoljong<br />()
| 1865
|
|- style="background-color: #ddd;"
| 26
|
|
|
| 52
| 52
| Gojong<br />()
| 1934
| rowspan="2" | Often excluded from the collection <br>by Korean academics.
|-style="background-color: #ddd;"
| 27
|
|
|
| 22
| 8
| Sunjong<br />()
| 1934
|}
See also
- Seungjeongwon ilgi
- Samguk Sagi
- Samguk Yusa
- Goryeosa
- Office of the Yi Dynasty
Notes
References
External links
- Korea Heritage Service: The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty
- NAVER Encyclopedia