Life of Daehan’s royals is revealed through exhibition

Princess Deokhye and her husband Count So Takeyuki pose in this photo taken in 1931

The ups and downs of the royal family from the Daehan Empire, which existed from 1897 to 1910 at the end of Joseon Kingdom, is revealed through photographs in an exhibition.

Titled “Photographs of the Daehan Imperial Family: 1880-1989,” the exhibit is currently under way at the National Museum of Art, Deoksu Palace in downtown Seoul.

The history of the Daehan Empire interlocks with the time when photography was first introduced to Korea. “Previously, the history only existed as text, but photography opened a new era,” said Lee Sa-bine, curator of the exhibit.

Works on display are borrowed from some 18 organizations and individuals, including the Smithsonian Institute and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Though the royal family “didn’t live a happy life,” it is interesting enough to see how they reacted to the new culture from the West, introduced by Japan. There were no designated royal photographers, but Westerners such as Percival Lowell as well as Korean and Japanese photographers took pictures of the royal family.

King Gojong (1852-1919) actually liked to be photographed. Most of his pictures are in royal robes, but he just looks like a commoner in some photos. He even made postcards of his photo and distributed the image to guests of the state as a diplomatic gesture.

King Gojong, left, and the Crown Prince, who later becomes King Sunjong, are seen in this photo dating back to the 1880s. / Courtesy of Museum of Photography, Seoul and NMOCA

A photo of King Gojong, gifted to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of President Roosevelt, is also on public view for the first time in Korea in 107 years. Gojong welcomed her cordially and gave the photo with the purpose of being in amity with America, but he didn’t know that in fact she was visiting Korea after going to Japan as part of an American mission to sign the Taft-Katsura Agreement over Japanese protectorate of Korea and the States’ rule of the Philippines.

“The Emperor and his son, who became the last Emperor, led a furtive existence in their palace alongside our Legation. … At a farewell audience, the Emperor and Crown Prince each gave me his photograph. They were two rather pathetic, stolid figures with very little imperial existence ahead of them,” she wrote in her autobiography “Crowded Hours” (1933).

King Gojong’s wife Empress Myeongseong is one of the well-known royal figures from the Daehan Empire for her political influence. However, no photos of the empress exist. There are several pictures suspected to be her, but none of them were confirmed.

Choi Bong-rim of the Museum of Photography, Seoul, said Empress Myeongseong might not have been photographed due to safety reasons. “Photography was introduced in Seoul in 1880 and a military riot called Imo Rebellion broke out in 1882. The empress must have felt political danger and curiosity around her and did not leave any photographs,” Choi said.

The life of the descendants of the imperial family is more diverse, but mostly tragic.

King Yeongchin Yi Eun, son of King Sungjong, was forced to study abroad in Japan and married a Japanese woman Masako Nashimoto, who later was renamed Yi Bang-ja. His life as the last crown prince of the Daehan Empire is captured in photographs.

King Euichin Yi Gang was the fifth son of King Gojong and he is said to have supported Korean independence fighters under the Japanese colonial rule. The lives of two of his sons — Yi Geon and Yi Wu — show the turn of the wheel of fate the royal family faced. Yi Geon married a Japanese woman and later became a naturalized Japanese citizen after being degraded to a commoner, while his younger brother Yi Wu married a Korean woman Park Chan-ju and died during the atomic bombing in Hiroshima in 1945.

The exhibit — co-hosted by the National Museum of Contemporary Arts, Korea and Museum of Photography, Seoul — runs through Jan. 13, 2013. Admission is 4,000 won for adults and free for students. For more information, visit www.moca.go.kr/engN or call (02) 2188-6114. <The Korea Times/Kwon Mee-yoo>