Taegeukgi, Hanging Board, and Official Document of Myeongsin School for Girls

This is a set of three relics — a Taegeukgi (national flag), a hanging board, and an official document — that served as the earliest teaching materials at Myeongsin School for Girls, founded in May 1906 by Sunheon Hwanggwibi (Lady Eom), and the set holds great value for the history of education. The Taegeukgi bears the ink inscription "Myeongsin School for Girls" (明新女學校) and was made by stamping the four trigrams and the taegeuk (yin-yang) design using carved blocks. It is of great value as a historical source because it is an unusual example of a Taegeukgi produced with paint for its period, because the arrangement of its four trigrams is distinctive, and because it is the first Taegeukgi ever discovered at an educational site. The hanging board has the characters "Myeongsin School for Girls" (明新女學校) carved in relief. Its four edges are fitted with a frame in the style generally used for royal court hanging boards of the Joseon period, and it is decorated in colour with floral and cloud-head motifs. The official document (wanmun) was issued in May 1907 by the household of Crown Prince Yeong, granting land to provide operating funds for Myeongsin School for Girls. It is an imperial household document proving that the imperial family of the Korean Empire supported the finances of a school founded in the early days of modern education.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Designation

Registered Cultural Heritage · 국가등록문화유산