The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty begin with the Veritable Records of King Taejo, the initial compilation of which was completed in 1413, in the 13th year of Taejong’s reign. Next, the Veritable Records of King Jeongjong were finished in 1426 (8th year of Sejong’s reign) followed by the Veritable Records of King Taejong in 1431. The need for facilities to preserve the Sillok became immediately apparent to the government as soon as the Veritable Records of King Taejong were produced. These annals of the first three Joseon kings’ reigns were placed in the archive at Chungju (Chungcheong Province), where the historical records of the preceding Goryeo Dynasty had been kept. However, the Chungju archive was located near a town where commoners’ houses were clustered together, raising concerns over fire danger. Therefore, on the recommendation of the Office of Inspector-General, new archives were completed near Jeonju (Jeolla Province) and Seongju (Gyeongsang Province) in the sixth month of 1439. Three additional copies of the Veritable Records were made by the eleventh month of 1445, resulting in four sets. These were distributed for preservation in the Bureau of State Records as well as in the archives at Chungju, Jeonju, and Seongju. From the Veritable Records of King Sejong, the compilation project would produce one handwritten version of the final draft along with three copies printed with moveable metallic type, and these four sets would be preserved in archives at four different locations. Therefore, the copies of the Veritable Records of King Taejo, Veritable Records of King Jeongjong and Veritable Records of King Taejong that are now kept at the Seoul National University were all transcribed by hand during Sejong’s reign and then stored at the Jeonju archive. No printed versions of these documents ever existed.

The Imjin War with Japan erupted in 1592 (25th year of Seonjo’s reign), and the archives inside the Bureau of State Records (in the capital) as well as in the archives at Chungju and Seongju were all destroyed by fire that same year. Fortunately, the sets safeguarded at Jeonju were saved thanks to the heroic efforts of local scholars An Ui (安義 ?-?) and Son Hongrok (孫弘祿 ?-?). They heard the news that the invading Japanese troops had reached Geumsan in the sixth month of 1592 and used their own funds to move 804 fascicles of Sillok texts, covering the reigns from Taejo to Myeongjong, as well as other documents stored in the Jeonju archive, to Eunbong-am, a Buddhist hermitage on Mt. Naejang, in Jeong-eup (Township). The two scholars took turns guarding the precious documents for more than a year, until they could be handed over to the government authorities in the seventh month of 1593. The government officials who received the texts first transported them to the coast and then by sea to Haeju (Hwanghae Province). They were subsequently relocated to Ganghwa Island in the mouth of the Han River and then to Mt. Myohang (Pyeong’an Province). The Imjin War ended in 1598, leaving a devastated country and a government bereft of funds and material resources. Despite the difficulties, a 33-month-long project was launched in the seventh month in 1603 to reproduce three printed sets of the first thirteen Veritable Records (from Taejo to Myeongjong). The project ended in the third month of 1606 with five complete sets of the Joseon Sillok up to that time (the original set from Jeonju, a handwritten revised version used as the master for printing, plus the three printed sets).

One of these five sets was returned to the Bureau of State Records in the capital and referred to as needed by the government. Each of the other four was safeguarded at one of the archives newly built in remote locations deemed to be less vulnerable to destruction in the event of a war: Mt. Mani on Ganghwa Island; Mt. Taebaek in Gyeongsang Province; Mt. Myohyang in Pyeong’an Province; and Mt. Odae in Gangwon Province. The newly printed sets were stored at the Bureau of State Records, on Mt. Taebaek and on Mt. Myohyang. The original set from Jeonju ended up at Mt. Mani, while the revised master set went to Mt. Odae. The precedent was thus set for five copies to be produced each time the annals for a ruler’s reign was compiled. The Veritable Records of King Seonjo were produced in five sets during the reign of Gwanghaegun (r. 1608-23) and each was stored in one of the five archives. However, all the annals inside the Bureau of State Records in the capital were burned during a rebellion by General Yi Gwal (李适 ?-1624) in 1624 (second year of Injo’s reign). The set that was lost was never reproduced, and the Sillok was no longer maintained at the Bureau of State Records. Subsequent annals were produced in four sets only, and these were preserved in the four archives outside the capital. The Later Jin arose in Manchuria in 1633, and diplomatic relations between Joseon and the Manchus soured, prompting the government to relocated the archives at Mt. Myohyang to a new archive on Mt. Jeoksang, in Jeolla Province. The Sillok at Mt. Mani (on Ganghwa-do) suffered extensive damage during the Manchu invasion of Joseon in 1636. Numerous pages and even entire fascicles were lost, but the missing parts were fully restored during the reign of Hyeonjong (r. 1659-75). A new archive was on Ganghwa-do, this time on Mt. Jeongjok, in 1678 (fourth year of Sukjong’s reign), and the restored set was moved there. Thereafter, the four sets of annals produced for each reign through Cheoljong (r. 1849-63) were preserved at the four archives on Mt. Jeongjok, Mt. Taebaek, Mt. Jeoksang, and Mt. Odae. These were kept intact at these locations until the end of Joseon in the early 20th century.

However, the country lost her sovereignty to Japan in 1910, and the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty were once again put into great peril. The archives at Mt. Jeongjok and Mt. Taebaek, along with the collection from the Palace Library came under the control of the Japanese Government-General of Korea, while the Sillok from the Mt. Jeoksang archive was entrusted to the Jangseogak Library on the grounds of the old Imperial Palace (known as Deoksu-gung today) and the set from Mt. Odae was sent to Tokyo Imperial University in Japan.
The Sillok from the Mt. Odae archive shipped to Tokyo Imperial University was then mainly lost during the Great Kanto Earthquake that struck Japan on September 1, 1923. Twenty-seven (20 from the Veritable Records of King Jungjong and 7 from the Veritable Records of King Seonjo) of the 74 books that escaped destruction in the earthquake were transferred to Seoul and put in the Keijo Imperial University Library on May 28, 1932. The other 47 books (9 from the Veritable Records of King Seongjong, 30 from the Veritable Records of King Jungjong, and 8 from the Veritable Records of King Seonjo) were returned from the University of Tokyo to the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University on July 7, 2006. All 74 books are currently kept at the National Palace Museum of Korea. On March 22, 1985, meanwhile, responsibility for the 848 books that were once stored in the Mt. Taebaek archive was assumed by the National Archives of Korea under an agreement among the National Archives of Korea, Cultural Properties Administration and Seoul National University. The Historical Repository in Busan was subsequently designated as the official guardian of the Sillok from Mt. Taebaek.
In addition, the Mt. Jeonksang version was maintained at the Jangseogak Library, but a lot of books were stolen and lost immediately after Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule in 1945. The rest of the collection was is said to have been moved to North Korea while the North Korean forces occupied the capital during the Korean War, and now kept at the Kim Il Sung University Library in Pyeongyang; this has not been officially confirmed yet.

The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty represent a valuable historical resource, the likes of which is hard to find anywhere else in the entire world. The collection is massive in terms of sheer volumes. At the same time the Sillok provides a high diverse range of contemporary data from Joseon covering governance, diplomacy, military affairs, government systems, laws, the economy, industry, transportation, communication, society, customs, astronomy, geography, the principles of Yin and Yang, science, medicine, literature, music, visual arts, handicrafts, scholarship, ideology, ethics, morality and religion.