Relics Description

As a lyrical work consisting of 10 volumes in 5 books, Yongbieocheonga (龍飛御天歌) or Songs of the Dragon Flying to Heaven was written to consolidate the authenticity of the foundation of Joseon. This work features 125 cantos written in Korean. At the order of King Sejong in 1445, Jeong In-ji (鄭麟趾), Gwon Je (權踶), and An Ji (安止) wrote these poems to record the lives and achievements of six ancestral kings of the Joseon Dynasty: Mokjo (穆祖), Ikjo (翼祖), Dojo (度祖), Hwanjo (桓祖), Taejo (太祖), and Taejong (太宗). The Korean lyrics were translated later into Chinese and published in 1447. Many books published in the Joseon era were first written in Chinese and then translated into Korean, but Yongbieocheonga is different: it was first written in Korean and then translated into Chinese. With the successful publication of Yongbieocheonga, Sejong was convinced that Hangeul is a suitable orthographic system to represent the Korean language; he then proceeded with the publication of Hunminjeongeum (haerye-bon) the following year, 1446.