[Current Culture] If You Had to Choose Only One Item in 2022

I visited the National Museum of Korea after a long time. It was partly to see the hugely successful exhibition “600 Years of the Habsburgs: Masterpieces of Fascination,” and partly to revisit the Banpasayusang (Pensive Bodhisattva) statue, which I hadn’t been able to properly appreciate before due to the crowds. Special exhibitions like the Habsburg exhibition require an admission fee, but the general exhibitions are free to visit. For those who have never been to the National Museum, I recommend going on a weekday as weekends can be quite crowded. I am confident it will be time well spent.

Since the museum is so large, I cannot list all the collection titles in this short space, so I will mention just a few. Starting with the “Room of Contemplation,” which is considered one of the most popular exhibition rooms. About a year ago, at the beginning of the exhibition, the room was so crowded that there was no time to reflect, which was a downside. But this time, perhaps because it was a weekday, I was able to have an experience somewhat akin to contemplation in a quiet atmosphere. The two Banpasayusang statues, created in the late 6th and early 7th centuries, felt like living beings rather than mere artifacts. The Buddha I faced in the dark and silent space spoke something indescribable in words to the worldly beings who are beyond vulgarity.

After the amazing experience in the Room of Contemplation, I toured other permanent exhibitions. Like a good book or movie, a good museum offers new impressions every time you visit. This time, the collection that caught my eye was the “Imjinrok.” This work, briefly taught in high school literature classes as a historical novel from the Joseon Dynasty, is actually closer to a war legend passed down orally with many variants, and the original author is unknown. Unlike actual history, it contains fictional records of repeatedly defeating the Japanese army and portrays the heroic aspects of historical figures in an exaggerated, myth-like manner. In modern terms, it is a fantasy novel.

Among the various genres of web novels, “modern fantasy” has many subgenres. Works with a multiverse worldview are called “Isekai (異世界) stories,” stories mixing reality and games are “game fantasy,” and stories where the protagonist dies and is reborn are classified as “regression stories.” The novel “The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate,” recently adapted into a popular drama, is a representative example of a regression story. Some who cherish so-called “pure literature” disparage these works as childish, but that is unfounded. Fantasy has roots in our literature. The most representative Joseon Dynasty novel, “Guunmong,” is an example. I also saw Imjinrok, which can be classified as an “alternate history” genre. I wonder if there were any regression stories among novels of that time. Something like “The Youngest Son of a Yangban Family”?

I saw the permanent exhibitions in the morning and the Habsburg special exhibition in the afternoon, and the famous feast had plenty to offer. Since there are many reviews available, please refer to them, but I want to share a story about the last artifact that bids farewell to visitors as they exit. The armor that Emperor Gojong sent as a gift to the Austrian royal family is prominently displayed near the exit. This piece, which had been kept in an Austrian museum after crossing over from Korea, has been invited back to Korea.

It suddenly makes me curious. What kind of items will be exhibited as representative artifacts of 2022 at the National Museum hundreds of years from now? The face guard worn by Son Heung-min at the World Cup? Personal belongings of the victims of the Itaewon tragedy? If, at the end of the year, you feel a hollow sense of time passing without much accomplished, I recommend a visit to the National Museum. There is no better experience to gauge your existence within time and history. To all readers, thank you for your hard work this year!

Lee Jae-ik, Novelist

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.