Mokjang jido (Maps of Ranches) (2008-1)

A hand-drawn, coloured atlas from 1678 depicting the ranches distributed across the country. Consisting of one volume of 42 pages, the atlas is made up of three sections: the first contains the Jinheonma jeongsaekdo, a chart classifying tribute horses by coat colour; the second contains pictorial maps showing the state of ranches by province and county; and the third contains a commemorative essay by Heo Mok recording the motive for, and date of, the atlas's production. Heo Mok was at the time superintendent of the Sabok-si, the office in charge of the royal stables, and he had an earlier atlas of ranches revised and recompiled to produce this Mokjang jido. In the pictorial map section, the locations of ranches throughout the country are drawn on the maps, together with statistics on cattle, horses and herdsmen, the area of each ranch, and the state of ranches that had been closed down. As King Hyojong pursued his plan for a northern military expedition, ranches were expanded across the country's grasslands, islands and wastelands as sites for raising military horses, and this atlas visually records their locations, sizes and conditions. With the name of each county and a distance table entered on every sheet and page, this atlas, held in the National Library of Korea, is a valuable source for understanding contemporary policy on horse administration and ranches.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seocho-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물