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The oldest photograph of a burial monument believed to be that of King Kwanggaeto the Great of the Koguryo kingdom has been unearthed in a Paris museum. Unveiled on Sunday, the picture was taken in 1907 by the French scholar Edouard Chavannes (1865-1935), the first European to explore the remains of the ancient Korean kingdom in what is now Jian in China¡¯s Jilin Province. The glass negative-plate is held in the Musee National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet in the French capital.
Yim Young-bang, the former director of the National Museum of Modern Art, and Prof. Seo Gil-su of Seokyeong University have examined the picture in the collection. The monument¡¯s height is recorded at 6.20 m, which is shorter than the actual 6.39 m, suggesting 19 cm were buried. Chavannes recorded his explorations in a pamphlet titled ¡°A report on historic sites of the ancient Korean realm of Koguryo (L¡¯ancien Royaume Coreen de Kao-eou-Li).¡± China has made attempts to rewrite history and co-opt the kingdom into its own history.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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