1954 Busan Yongdusan fires
The Busan Yongdusan fires, also known as the Yongdusan Park Great Fire (Korean: 용두산 공원 대화재; Hanja: 龍頭山公園大火災),[1] was a series of two fires that happened on 10 and 26 December 1954, around Yongdusan Park, Busan, South Korea. The fires resulted in the destruction of hundreds of shanty buildings, along with the evacuation of around 7,420 refugees in total.[1]
The 26 December fire, in particular, caused the loss of more than 3,400 historic relics, including historic portraits of kings of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897). The relics, many of which were considered National Treasures, had been brought to the area for safekeeping during the 1950–1953 Korean War and were kept in a local warehouse owned by the Busan National Music Center. Of the 48 royal portraits kept in the warehouse, 30 were completely destroyed in the fire. The others were recovered in varying conditions, with most being heavily damaged.[2]
Background
[edit]
During the Korean War, around 1 million refugees arrived in Busan. As the city was previously built to accommodate around 300,000 people, the refugees put a severe strain on the city's resources. Numerous shacks were constructed in close proximity. The shacks were often made from highly flammable materials, including plywood and cardboard boxes. Other factors also contributed to risk of fire, including poor access to water and the use of fire for keeping warm in the winter.[1]
A number of significant fires occurred in Busan before the 1954 Yongdusan fire. For example, cases of great fires occurred on 5 December 1951, 2 January 1952,[1] and 30 January 1953.[3]
Relocation of relics
[edit]
On 28 September 1950, after Seoul was recaptured during the Second Battle of Seoul,[4] the South Korean government began moving around 4,000 historical relics from the Korean royal family to a storage facility for the Busan National Music Center (부산국악원) in Donggwang-dong (near Yongdusan[5]), Busan. Busan, which was made the provisional capital of South Korea, was further away from the border with North Korea, and thus thought to be safer for the artifacts.[2]
Among these relics were royal portraits from the Changdeokgung Seonwonjeon,[2] items from the National Museum of Korea, items from the Deoksugung Art Museum, volumes of the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty stored at Seoul National University, the Seungjeongwon ilgi, the Records of the Border Defense Council, and the Ilseongnok.[4] Other items included crafts and instruments.[4][2]
These items were protected even through the signing of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, which froze the conflict. Amidst continued uncertainty about the resilience of the ceasefire, costs of again relocating the artifacts, and the repair efforts underway in Seoul, they continued to keep the artifacts in Busan.[4] In October 1954, National Museum of Korea director Kim Jae-won (김재원; 1909–1990) sent a letter to the Ministry of Education in which he expressed his concerns about the safety of the artifacts from fire, but little was reportedly done in response.[4]
10 December fire
[edit]| First Busan Yongdusan fire | |
|---|---|
 Shanty houses burning in the fire | |
| Date(s) | 10 December 1954 3:57 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. |
| Location | Donggwang-dong, Jung District, Busan, South Korea |
| Coordinates | 35°06′04.9″N 129°02′01.5″E / 35.101361°N 129.033750°E |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 4 |
| Evacuated | 6,000 |
| Structures destroyed | 448 buildings, 435 shacks |
On 10 December 1954, a fire began in Donggwang-dong, Jung District, at 3:57 a.m., when Yun Dong-geun (윤동근; 尹東根), a local clothing vendor, mishandled a brick of honeycomb briquette. The fire destroyed around 448 buildings and 435 shacks in the Yongdusan area. Four people died, and 6,000 people were affected by the fire. The fire completely burned down a local church, a hotel, a YMCA center, and a provisional facility belonging to Donggwang Elementary School. The fire went out by 6:30 a.m.[1]
In 2006, several photos of the fire were revealed in an exhibition in Busan, along with historic photos of refugees and shanty houses. The photos, which were originally taken by a U.S. soldier, were purchased by Kim Han-geun, director of the Busan Buddhist History Research Institute (부산불교역사연구소), from a U.S. auction.[6]
26 December fire
[edit]| Second Busan Yongdusan fire | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | 26 December 1954 6:20 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. |
| Location | Donggwang-dong, Jung District, Busan, South Korea |
| Coordinates | 35°05′58.7″N 129°01′55.4″E / 35.099639°N 129.032056°E |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Evacuated | 1,420 |
| Structures destroyed | 298 shacks |
| Damage | 3.97 million hwan[1] |
At around 6:20 a.m. on 26 December 1954, a fire began spreading from an unattended candle lit by a housekeeper on the second floor of a shanty building in Yongdusan. The fire destroyed 298 shanty buildings, affecting 1,420 people and killing one person. It was extinguished by 11 a.m. After these two fires, most of the shacks on Yongdusan were destroyed.[1]
After the 26 December fire, a fact-finding team was dispatched to Busan. On 6 January 1955, they announced that of about 4,000 relics, more than 3,400 were lost. Around 546 relics in varying conditions were salvaged.[4] Of the 48 royal portraits, 30 were lost completely, and 18 were recovered in varying conditions.[2] On 8 January 1955, Minister of Home Affairs Baek Han-seong denied the reports, claiming that only 400 relics, all of which were not national treasures, were lost in the fire. He further assured that nobody would be held responsible for the fires.[7]
It is still not known with certainty everything that was lost in the fire; there was a list documenting the items in the collection, but it was destroyed in an arson incident on 6 June 1960, at Changdeokgung, and no copies of it had been made.[8][4] Some portraits were recovered in such poor condition that it is uncertain who they are of.[8]
Legacy
[edit]The fires are now considered among Busan's largest. The loss of the cultural relics has since been evaluated as a tragedy.[4][5] While other portraits had been previously lost due to Korea's wars, such as the 1592–1598 Japanese invasions of Korea, the 1627 Later Jin invasion of Joseon, the 1636–1637 Qing invasion of Joseon, many had still survived until the time of the fire.[5] At the end of the Joseon dynasty, among the 19 Joseon monarchs whose royal portraits were created, the portraits of Taejo, Sejo, Sukjong, Yeongjo, Jeongjo, Sunjo, Heonjong, Cheoljong, Gojong, and Sunjong were left. After the fire, only the royal portraits of four monarchs: Taejo, Sejo, Yeongjo, and Cheoljong, have survived with recognizable faces.[a][9][5]
-
Portrait of Sunjo of Joseon, 1808 -
Portrait of Cheoljong of Joseon, 1861 -
Portrait of Wonjong of Joseon, 1935 -
Portrait of Prince Yeoning, 1714 -
Portrait of Crown Prince Hyomyeong, 1826
Sejo of Joseon's face was originally deemed lost when two of his last remaining portraits were destroyed in the fire. However, in November 2016, a sketch of his portrait "miraculously"[9] emerged in an auction, which was subsequently purchased by the National Palace Museum of Korea. The sketch was drawn by painter Kim Eun-ho when he was commissioned a portrait of Sejo in 1935.[10][5]
In 1955, a stone tablet was installed in Yongdusan Park with an inscription of a bujeok. The bujeok was in the form of four Chinese characters meaning "water" (水) surrounding "fire" (火), with text written below which described a yearning for protection from fire.[11]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Other than Gojong and Sunjong, whose portraits also remain along with their photographs
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g 차철욱. 용두산 공원 대화재(龍頭山公園大火災) - 부산역사문화대전. Encyclopedia of Korean Local Culture. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f 김석 (24 June 2020). 화마에 쓸려간 '왕의 얼굴'…전쟁이 남긴 상처. KBS News (in Korean). Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ 장병윤. 부산 국제 시장 대화재 - 부산역사문화대전. Encyclopedia of Korean Local Culture. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h 이, 재준 (October 2021). 장서각도서의 성립 과정과 전래 경위. 장서각 (in Korean). 46: 186–187. ISSN 1229-7755 – via DBpia.
- ^ a b c d e 유, 석재 (11 October 2023). [신문은 선생님] [뉴스 속의 한국사] 초상화로 진짜 얼굴 알 수 있는 조선 임금은 4명뿐이죠. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ 조해훈 (22 June 2006). 부산 6·25 피란민 모습과 1954년 화재사진 첫 공개. The Kookje Daily News. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ "國寶燒失 안했다". Busan Ilbo (in Korean). 11 January 1955. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ a b 어기선 (17 June 2024). [작품속 경제리뷰] 조선 숙종 어진. Financial Review. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ a b 김규원 (12 December 2020). [역사속 공간] 조선 왕들의 얼굴, 한 줌 재가 되다. Hankyoreh 21 (in Korean). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ 김현민 (18 October 2018). '피의 군주' 세조 얼굴이 선량하게 생겼다니…. 오피니언뉴스 (in Korean).
- ^ 이상헌 (2 June 2010). 용두산공원 비석에 '화재 막아달라'부적이…. Busan Ilbo (in Korean).
External links
[edit]- Photos of conditions before and after the fire (in Korean)
- Photos (in Korean)