Conserving the Creation Records of Korean Braille Hunmaengjeongeum
A wish for one person’s words to be read even in the dark—Hunmaengjeongeum was a compassionate science born from the desire to give everyone the gift of literacy.
Jeong Hee-won
Researcher, Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center
The Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center in the NRICH has completed conservation treatment for the “Ilji” and “Maengsa Ilji”, which are part of “Creation and Dissemination of Korean Braille Hunmaengjeongeum.”, National Registered Cultural Heritage. These documents are invaluable historical records left by Park Du-seong, who led the development and spread of the Korean Braille, including a loan certificate for a braille typewriter, a membership recruitment notice for the Blind Association, newspaper articles, and other documents compiled in the form of a scrapbook.
Damaged covers, metal bindings, and missing pages were treated using scientific analysis, deacidification, and other conservation techniques. After treatment, the artifacts were returned to their original repository, the Songam Braille Library, where they will be used for exhibition.
The effort toward “writings that everyone can read” continues today through the conservation of these historic records.