Yongin City Museum Heunghwa School Artifacts Designated as 'Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage'

Authentic Artifacts from Private School Founded by Min Young-hwan
First Registered Cultural Property in Yongin City

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 25th that the 'Heunghwa School Accounting Books and Certificates' held by the Yongin City Museum have been designated as Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage.

The city explained that these cultural assets were approved at the Gyeonggi-do Cultural Heritage Committee's final review on the 22nd of last month and registered as Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage No. 19.

'Heunghwa School' was a private national school established in Seoul in 1898 by Min Yeonghwan, who died for the country opposing the Eulsa Treaty, to promote the dissemination of advanced technology from developed countries. This is the first time that cultural assets held by Yongin City have been registered as Gyeonggi-do Registered Cultural Heritage.

The ‘Heunghwa School Accounting Books’ are documents recording the school's income, expenditure amounts, and their uses. They are evaluated as materials that allow understanding of the school's operational status at the time. The documents record that after Min Yeonghwan's death, to help Heunghwa School which was facing closure, King Gojong and the royal family donated 60 naetanggeum (private royal funds) monthly, revealing that Heunghwa School received state support.

The registered cultural heritage also includes certificates of promotion, advancement, and graduation of Yoon Heegyeom, a student of Heunghwa School. These contain information on changes in school faculty, differences in curriculum, and variations in era notation, reflecting historical changes after the Gyeongsul National Humiliation. It is also possible to identify the teaching activities of intellectuals of the time, including Ju Sigyeong, a graduate of Heunghwa School and a scholar of Korean language and literature.

A Yongin City official stated, "We plan to hold academic conferences in the future and re-evaluate the value of the cultural heritage, and also consider applying for its promotion to national registered cultural heritage."

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