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New Cultural Heritage Designations for the New Year 2026: Two Items Including the Dongnaebu Sacheon-myeon Ancient Documents

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□ Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that, as of today (the 28th), it will officially designate and announce the Dongnaebu Sacheon-myeon Ancient Documents and the Stone Seated Buddha at Cheongnyeonam of Beomeosa Temple as Busan Metropolitan City Tangible Cultural Heritage and Busan Metropolitan City Cultural Heritage Material, respectively.
○ The city designated two items as the first new cultural heritage designations of 2026, following deliberation and approval by the Busan Metropolitan City Cultural Heritage Committee (Tangible Heritage Subcommittee), as part of efforts to discover valuable cultural heritage in Busan.

□ The Dongnaebu Sacheon-myeon Ancient Documents are records that concretely illustrate the local community of Sacheon-myeon in Dongnaebu, the financial management of the local society, and local administration from the Joseon period through the modern and contemporary eras.
○ These materials consist of 24 volumes of handwritten ancient documents, including various community registers and regulations, donated to the Busan Sasang Life History Museum. They were originally kept by the Sasang Nine Righteous Martyrs Research Ancestral Rite Preservation Society, which traces its origins to a nine-member mutual-aid association organized in Sacheon-myeon, Dongnaebu, in the late Joseon period, and include materials related to the Yeongu-gye association. In addition, five volumes, including draft household registers, were kept by the Haman Jo Clan, Dongeun Gong Branch.

○ Major documents include the Sacheon-myeon Old Village Association Member Register, the Jusa Regulations, and the Sasang-myeon Old Currency Exchange Regulations. In particular, the Sasang-myeon Draft Household Register held at Sacheonjae Hall of the Haman Jo Clan, Dongeun Gong Branch is an important source for clarifying the social conditions of the local community in the late Joseon period, as it allows examination of the total number of households across Sasang-myeon in Dongnaebu in the 19th century, the male-to-female ratio, age distribution, assigned duties and obligations, and household composition.

□ The Stone Seated Buddha at Cheongnyeonam of Beomeosa Temple is a work by Wanho, who produced Buddhist statues and paintings in Busan and across the Gyeongsang region in the modern period. It is a statue of high scholarly value for understanding the status of Buddhist artisans and temples during the modern era.
○ This stone seated Buddha is dated to 1918, following the 1917 stone seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue at Sijeoksa Temple in Ulju, and is the second-earliest known among Wanho’s Buddhist statues. It was created earlier than the stone seated Sakyamuni Buddha and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva statues at Bokcheonsa Temple and the stone seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue at Yeondeungsa Temple, both designated as Busan Metropolitan City Cultural Heritage Materials.

○ The statue presents a dignified impression and a well-balanced body, and it clearly displays Wanho’s characteristic sculptural techniques while retaining traditional elements, notably in features such as the right thumb bent inward.

□ Jo Yu-jang, Director General of the Culture Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “With the two new cultural heritage designations approved through the Cultural Heritage Committee (Tangible Heritage Subcommittee) in January 2026, the total number of cultural heritage items held by the city has reached 581 as of January 28,” adding, “Busan Metropolitan City will continue to identify cultural heritage of high historical value as documentary sources, and will also manage and preserve local cultural heritage in a systematic manner so that everyone can enjoy it.”

○ Further details on these designations can be found in Busan Metropolitan City Public Notice No. 23 (Jan. 28, 2026). As of January 28, 2026, the city holds a total of 581 state-designated and city-designated heritage items, an increase of two items compared to last year.

• ●State-designated and registered: 118; City-designated and registered: 463