일제강점 전후 도쿄제국대학 세키노 타다시의 강원도 문화재 조사와 식민성 - 1912년 원주 지역 고적 조사 활동을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This article reviewed the Gangwon-do Cultural Heritage Survey, focusing on the Wonju area, by Sekino Tadashi(關野貞), an architectural, archaeological, and art historian at Tokyo Imperial University before and after the Japanese colonial era. He began investigating Joseon’s cultural properties and monuments in 1902 and valued preservation by rating the condition of various cultural properties once a year from 1909 to 1915. In particular, in the fall of 1912, a survey was conducted on historical sites in Gangwon-do, and cultural assets in Chuncheon, Gangneung, Odaesan, and Wonju were investigated. Wonju deemed that valuable cultural assets such as an iron Buddha, stone objects, and stone pagodas in the late Silla period were concentrated and comparable to the Buddhist ruins in Gyeongju. He especially considered large temples, stone pagodas, stupas, and inscriptions made in the late Goryeo Dynasty, such as the Heungbeopsaji, Geodonjashi, and Beopcheonsa Temple sites. However, the research records of cultural assets in Gangwon-do remain at the Tokyo University Museum in Japan as Sekino Tadashi's "field card.” Among them, 47 field cards for 36 relics of Wonju Cultural Heritage recorded the details of the discovery and the preservation status, rating, and value of the cultural heritage. The field card was a notebook that recorded the details of the photographs and investigations of relics as the preservation of the cultural properties was improperly performed at that time. The contents of these records were systematically organized into the Joseon Historical Survey Table, the Historical Survey Report, and the Joseon Historical Archives. Meanwhile, cultural properties in Wonju were transferred from the original location without permission, such as the discovery of a vacuum monument at Heungbeop Temple Site and the removal of the Stupa of State Preceptor Jigwang from Beopcheonsa Temple Site, and were used as an exhibition in 1915. Moreover, scholars such as An-hwak and Jeong In-bo, who value Joseon’s academic and cultural development, were critical of Sekino's investigation of Joseon’s historical sites, while those such as Choi Nam-sun also recognized their contributions. Therefore, Sekino Tadashi's survey on Joseon cultural properties in 1912 in Gangwon-do and Wonju can be evaluated as follows. First, through systematic survey activities, it was possible to reevaluate the preservation value of cultural properties in various parts of Joseon. Second, it can be said to represent the colonial nature of the Japanese Empire in that it led the Japanese to loot cultural properties and caused the historical justification of colonial rule.