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In Gyeongju there are dozens if not hundreds of grassy knolls, the tombs of Silla royalty and aristocracy. Coffins were constructed with wood, sealed with clay and then covered with a mound made from earth and stones.
They were buried with treasure. Thin gold crowns, jewels, ornaments fashioned from silver, bronze and glass beads have been unearthed from the tombs. The higher a person was in social rank, the more opulent were the treasures with which they were buried.
State Buddhism was introduced to Korea in 538AD. With its introduction cremation gradually replaced the practice of burying nobility in large moulds with treasure. The cremated ashes would be placed in an urn and buried. By the end of the century gold and other precious metals would not be buried with the deceased but donoted to a Buddhist temple.
Many of the treasures unearthed from Silla tombs are on display in this museum and to a lesser extent the Silla Art and Science Museum.
The Gyeongju National Museum has over 80,000 relics from the Silla period. At any given time only 2500 are on display, housed in a number of halls(separate buildings).
Each hall has a specific theme. However the themes overlap. The four broad themes are archaeology, art, outdoor exhibits and relics extracted from the nearby Woljii Pond. Relics from the Woljii Ponds, unlike the ones from the royal tombs, are predominately common everyday items.
The Art Hall has many stone and gilt bronze Buddhas on display. An example of a gilt bronze casting, with pigments, is a casting of a Bhaisajyaguru(medicine) Buddha. Cast in the 8th century it is 179 cms high. Devotees believed that the medicine required to relieve their suffering was the teachings of the Bhaisayjyagura.
Many Buddhist stone objects such as pagodas, steles, lanterns and sculptures are displayed outdoors. They were unearthed from temple and palace sites. Also near to the entrance of the museum grounds is a bell, the Sacred Bell of King Songdak.
Featured in the Archaeology Hall are relics from the royal tombs and pre-historic items such as the Banguda Petroglyphs.
The image below is a montage of some of the artifacts that can be seen the above mentioned musuems.
Amongst the artifacts is the thin Silla golden crown. Made in the 5th - 7th centuries they were found in the burial mounds. Fabricated by cutting thin sheet gold, some have suggested that they were too delicate to wear and may have been made specifically for burial.
Petroglyphs are found in the verticle rock face of the Daegokcheon stream, a tributary of the Taekwa River.
Believed to date from 3500 to 7000 years ago the figures depicted are human, fish and animals including deer. Some even depict the activity of whaling, some of the earliest recordings of this activity.
Casting the bell was started by his son and completed by his grandson. Cast in 771AD it is a bronze bell. Weighing 18.9 tons, 3.78 metres high and 2.24 metres in diameter, it is largest of its type in the Orient and is commonly called the Emily Bell.
According to legend the first cast bell did not ring so it was melted down. A priest threw a child into the molten metal and a new bell was cast. When it was first struck it emitted an "em-ee-lah" sound, the sound of the child as it hit the molten metal.
Legends aside, the sound from the bell, if lightly struck, is said to carry for three kilometers.
The Silla Art and Science Museum is in the Gyeongju Folk Craft Village, located in the hills on Gyeongju's outskirts. Established in 1988, it is a small private museum constructed to educate about the history of Korean science during the Silla period.
Exhibits and models in the museum are displayed over two floors and the basement. Most of the accompanying description is in Korean with English being limited to the headings. In spite of this I manage to gain some knowledge from the exhibits.
In the museum basement is a series or models describing how the Seokguram Grotto, a part of the nearby Bulguksa Temple was built.
Its construction began in 742AD and the Buddha within is considered to be one of the finest examples of Buddhist sculpture.
Another large exhibit is a model of the Cheomseongdoe. The Cheomseongdoe is the oldest existing astronomical observatory in Asia. The actual Cheomseongdoe is located in Gyeongju within 10 kms of the museum.
A cylindrical structure standing 9.17 metres high with a base of 5.35 metres, it was build in the reign of Queen Seon-doek (632 - 647) for the purposes of astronomical observations. The information was to be used to aid weather predictions.
Built with 362 pieces of cut granite, supposely one brick for each day of the lunar year, the stones were placed to make 27 levels. Inside it is filled with soil to the 12th level, roughly 4.2 metres from the base. At that level there is a 1 sq metre opening providing acess to the interior. This is connected to the ground by a ladder. The 19th, 20th, 25th and 26th levels have long rocks jutting from them forming the chinese symbol for Jeong. I have no idea of its significance.
Observations from the Cheomseongdoe allowed accurate prediction of the equinoxs and the summer and winter solstices.
There are a number of exhibits of relics and figurines which had been unearthed from the tombs of some of the Silla royalty. While I can appreciate their beauty I can not place them in any historical context because descriptions are written in Korean.
However, one I could place in historical context was a plate containing movable metal type. It is not from the Silla period but 14th or 15th century. Though historically significant, it is not as historically significant as it could have been if the culture was different. Movable metal type was first used in Korea in 1377, more than 60 years before Gutenberg. However Korea used Chinese writing at the time.
In 1446 King Sejong created the Korean alphabet. In 1447 he printed a book, "Worin-chongang-chigoki" using movable metal type. His alphabet was not widely taught in that period because the aristocrats preferred to use Chinese. And that is why historical impact of movable type was far less in Korea than in Europe.
Another large exhibit features a full sized replica of the bronze bell from the Sangwonsa Temple, located in Pyeongchang County. Pyeongchang is where the 2018 Winter Olympics was staged. The exhibit describes the process, in Korean, of how the bell was made.
It is worthwhile visit to the little museum whose existence I was not aware before I came to Gyeongju. Even though the target audience are Koreans, perhaps audio guides could be provided for us foreigners.
The final major area I visited in the vicinity of Gyeongju was Bulguksa Temple, the lead temple of Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Located on the slopes of Tohamsan it is accessible by local bus.
Building of the current temple began in 680s. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries. The last major restoration was conducted between 1969 and 1973. Stone structures are preserved from the original Silla temple.
Daeungjeon, originally built in 681, houses the Sakyamuni (teacher) Buddha whereas the Gwaneumjeon houses an image of the Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Perfect Compassion.
Unfortunately photographs were not allowed in interior spaces.
Dabotap, in front of the Main Hall, is an ornate 10.2 metre high pagoda dedicated to the many treasures Buddha. Its image is on the 10 won coin.
The Yeonhwagyo (Lotus Flower Bridge,) and Chilbogyo (Seven Treasures Bridge) are a pair of bridges at Bulguksa.
Even though I could not take photos of interiors in was nice to visit the temple while it was bathed in beautiful autumn colours.
I also visited, by hiking up the hill, the Seokguram Grotto. Inside a man made cave, noted for its dome architecture, is said to be one of the finest examples of Buddhist art in the world. Internal photographs were not allowed.
To walk amongst the grassy knolls of Gyeongju, is to be surrounded by kings, queens and princes whose voices have been silent for more than a thousand years. What remains of their 989 year Kingdom? Burial mounds, thin gold crowns, ornamental swords, Buddhist temples, bells and other art. Yes!