• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to conduct the species identification and tree-ring dating of Lotus Pedestal of the Amitabha Statue at Ssangbong-Temple in Hwasun. The six wood blocks used for the Lotus Pedestal were hard pines (Pinus spp.; diploxilon) except one piece which was ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.). The lotus leaves surrounding the pedestal body were also made of ginkgo. Tree-ring patterns of 3 blocks were synchronized and a 133 years chronology was made. The chronology was crossdated well with the master chronology of Japanese red pine in South Korea. It dated back to A. D. 1551~1683, i.e. the last ring dated A. D. 1683. Through the estimation of the number of sapwood rings removed during carving, the felling year was calculated A. D. $1704{\pm}10$. The calligraphic writing on the Pedestal indicated that this statue was made in A. D. 1694. Therefore, the accuracy of the tree-ring dating has been proven.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.24
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• pp.215-227
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• 2003

The gilt-bronze Sarira Reliquary was discovered when repairing three-stories east stone pagoda (Treasure No. 395) at Seungju-eup in Suncheon city in Jeollanam-do Province in August, 1986. Then it was appointed as Treasure in 1988. The Sarira Reliquary had been held in Seonamsa temple, but deterioration on the surface and corrosion had appeared affecting its surface detail. Consequently, the conservation treatment was carried out from November 2002 to March 2003.The corrosion and dirt on the surface of the Sarira Reliquary were cleaned with ethyl alcohol and Benzotriazole was applied to prevent further corrosion. Finally, NAD-10(Paraloid NAD-10), acrylic resin, was used to consolidate the structure. Moreover, after non-destructive analysis to confirm element of alloy, copper, gold, silver and mercury were discovered and this result tells us that it was plated with gold by amalgam. Fibers at the pedestal were examined under the microscope and identified as silk. The total height of this Sarira Reliquary is 6.0cm, the height of lotus pedestal and the roof is 2.7cm and 1.8cm, respectively. The roof and body are joined together, and the lotus pedestal can be separated, on which the octagonal reliquary is impaled. The pedestal consists of 3layers of petals and the surface is decorated with flower pattern. The reliquary is presumed to be created in the 14th century, and it becomes valuable historical material to reveal the secret of metal work in the late Goryeo Dynasty.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.56-77
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• 2010

The tortoise pedestal for the memorial monument of Choe Jin-rip(an army officer in the mid-Joseon Period) in Ijo-ri, Naenam-myeon, Gyeongju is known to have been made in 1740. As such, it was originally understood to be a Joseon imitation of a tortoise pedestal made in the Unified Silla Period. The style of the Ijori Tortoise Pedestal differs from other tortoise pedestals dating back to the same period, and bears no resemblance to the Unified Silla pedestals of which it is a copy. Mullu ilgi, a record of the production of the pedestal, explains that the monument was made before the pedestal. Traces show that the two sides of the bottom of the monument were cut off so that it would fit into the smaller space made on the pedestal. It is scarcely conceivable that they made the pedestal and the platform without considering the bottom size of the monument. The record only states that the monument was made at a temple site named Baegundae, without explaining the details of the production process. This leaves some doubt as to whether its production was undertaken systematically. The cloud patterns engraved on this pedestal look similar to the temporal seriation found on the Tortoise Pedestal of the Royal Tomb of King Muyeol and the Seoangni Tortoise Pedestal of Gyeongju. The lotus pattern decorating the square pedestal on the back of the tortoise is one of a number of patterns that were widely used on roof-tiles in the 8th century, the heyday of the Unified Silla Kingdom. The Ijori Tortoise Pedestal, which represents a tortoise moving forward, displays a liveliness the like of which is rarely found in its cousins remaining in Gyeongju. The layout of the patterns in a queue on the tortoise-shell looks much better schematized than those made at an earlier date. It also looks like a more developed form, with the use of space taken into account. Such factors as the style of the patterns, the incongruity between the monument and its pedestal, and what is stated in the historical record indicate that the Ijori Tortoise Pedestal of Gyeongju was made in the mid-8th century(i.e. during the Unified Silla Period), rather than in the Joseon Period(i.e. the 18th century), as an imitation of earlier ones, including changes in the style unique to the Silla Period.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Costume Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.30-31
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• 2002

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.23
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• pp.1-16
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• 2020

In this paper, Gilt-bronze Standing Avaolkiteshvara (National Treasure No. 293, M355) excavated at Gyuam-ri in Buyeo was observed with a microscope to identify the production technique applied to it. It was also analyzed with XRF and hard X-ray to identify the composition and the surface treatment techniques and casting method applied. In this statue, Avalokiteshvara is standing upright on a lotus pedestal. The lotus designs on the pedestal and those on the shawl flowing down on both sides of the statue are characteristic of Buddhist statues from the seventh century or later. The use of supports to affix the outer and inner molds and traces of injected cast were observed in the interior of the pedestal. The blisters on the arms and pedestal created during the bronze casting indicate the use of lost-wax casting, which was popularly employed for the production of mid- or small-sized gilt-bronze Buddhist statues in ancient times. The composition analysis identified a copper-tin-lead ternary alloy in the interior of the statue that was conventional used in the sixth and seventh centuries. It is likely that this simple alloy was used to facilitate casting and produce clearer expressions of designs and ornaments on the statue. Mercury (Hg) was detected on the surface of the statue, indicating the use of amalgam-plating with gold (Au) dissolved in mercury. This plating method is a common surface treatment technique used for small gilt-bronze statutes in ancient Korea.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.242-261
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• 2021

Sangjeong was a sculptor-monk who was active in the mid-to-late 18th Century, and the current study established the overall chronology of Sangjeong's Buddhist statues and their styles based on the six sculptures of Sangjeong already known and the Wooden Seated Buddha of 1767 in Songgyesa Temple, Geochang, which was found to be his last work. All of the Buddhist statues of Sangjeong have commonalities in terms of the appearance of the ears, wrinkles on clothing on the upper and lower body, position of hands, and expression of the lower body. The expression of the lower body, in particular, is classified into three types: Type A, where the clothing drapes through the lotus leaves on the bottom; Type B, with an 'S-shaped' drape over the lower body but no lotus leaves or pedestal; and Type C, with the Buddha and pedestal as a single unit, and the clothing draping through the lotus leaves on the pedestal. It appears that Sangjeong faithfully succeeded the style of Taewon, who was his only instructor for sculpture. This is verified based on the records of his participation in the creation of the Wooden Seated Sakyamuni Buddha Triad and Statue of Arhat in Bongeunsa Temple, Seoul, as the third sculptor-monk out of twelve sculptor-monks, and the reflection of the S-shaped drape on the lower body found on the statue of Buddha in Bongeunsa Temple on all of the statues created by Sangjeong. Not only that, but it was assumed that the expression of the pedestal and hair was also inherited by Sangjeong from Taewon and Jinyeol, who was a sculptor-monk from the early 18th Century. The work of Sangjeong and Taewon showed differences in the volume and thickness of statues, strength of unevenness on the wrinkles of clothing, drapes on the right side of chest, and details of the ears. The current study identified the original styles of each individual sculptor and attempted to categorize the fourteen pieces of ten Buddhist statues reflecting the styles of Sangjeong into Sangjeong-style or Taewon-style.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.54-71
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• 2012

This paper investigates Buddhist sculptures of the Gulsan-sa School of Seon Buddhism, which was established by the priest Beomil(梵日) at Myeongju(溟州), present-day Gangneung(江陵) area, and prospered until the late Goryeo period. There are very few surviving Buddhist images at Gulsan2 temple-site showing the Buddhist art when Beomil or his disciples, Gaecheong(開淸) and Haengjeok(行寂), were active, except a set of huge stone pillars for temple-banners and a stone monk stupa. It is therefore necessary to focus on pieces of artworks in Gangneung and nearby areas to explore the characteristics of Buddhist art of Gulsan-sa from the late Silla to early Goryeo period. For example, the stone relief seated Buddha image, one of Four Buddhas of Four Directions, and a stone relief of standing Guardian King both from the stone pagoda at Mujin temple-site(無盡寺址) can be compared with stupa reliefs at the capital Gyeongju area in their high quality of carving. The stone octagonal base showing seven lions on each of seven sides at Boheon-sa(普賢寺) demonstrates that it was made as a part of an octagonal lotus pedestal for a Vairocana Buddha now lost. Since Boheon-sa was erected by Gaechung, a disciple of Beomil as a branch of Gulsan-sa, it is fair to assume that the Vairocana image at Boheon-sa might have been closely related to the Buddhist images at Gulsan-sa in its style and iconography. The stone seated Bodhisattva from Hansong temple-site(寒松寺址) displays a benign face, exquisite necklace, and exotic iconography in its hand gesture and high cylindrical crown. The stone seated Buddha at Cheonghak-sa(靑鶴寺), brought from a temple-site where fragments of roof-tiles with the inscription of Heukam-sa(黑岩寺) were discovered, displays the late Silla and early Goryeo period. Heukam-sa seems to have been related to Gulsan-sa or have been one of the branches of Gulsan-sa. Extant fragments of artworks at Myeongju implicate the high quality of Buddhist art of Gulsan-sa in its iconography and style as well as unique features of Gulsan-sa Seon School.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.39
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• pp.863-901
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• 2019

This paper deals with the process of developing a traditional culture content based on the historical spread of Jajimu, an ethnic dance of ancient Tashkent(Chach), to Tang China and then to Goryeo in Korean peninsula. Jajimu as a solo dance form was a very enegetic dance form that reflects the dynamic nature of namadic life, and it enjoyed high popularity in Tang China due to its exotic style after the 8th century A.D. Later, it gave a birth to a derivative duet dance form called Ssangjaji or Guljaji, an highly sophisticated elegant court dance item that reflects the aesthetic taste of Tang China. Further, the Ssangjaji was flowed into Georyeo around in the 11th century or earlier, and was transformed into a Korean court dance while renaming it as Yeonhwadae that means 'lotus pedestal'. I tried the production of a special performance which displys those three dance forms on same stage to demonstrate the historical connection of ancient Asian dance. It was not easy to restore the music, dance and costume of Jajimu and Ssangjaji because of limited historical materials whereas those of Korean Yeonhwadae have been well preserved and transmitted owing to old dance and music notation system. A large amount of audio, visual materials were collected and analysed to overcome those limits, and its result was utilized efficiently for the production. The final performance was the culmination of long preparation process for 11 months in 2015. In spite of some limits, this project has a historical meaning in the point that it was the first trial of same kind in the world.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.246-263
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• 2019

The stone Buddha statue of Sangunsa Temple at Bukhansan in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, is an excellent example of stone Buddha statues created in the late 15th century. On the base of the figure, there is an inscription, which informs that it was produced in 1497. In recognition of this significance, it was recently designated as a tangible cultural asset in Gyeonggi-do. Thus, this paper tried to evaluate the value of the statue by analyzing iconography and style. The characteristics of a typical 15th-century style that the Buddha statue of Sangunsa Temple shows are the form of ushnisha, the way clothes are worn, the form of a w-shaped chest muscle, and the simple lotus pedestal. On the other hand, the elongation of the waist and the disappearance of the waistband on undergarments are new forms of Buddha statues in the 16th century. Besides, parting the hair in the middle of the head and leaf-shaped short ribbon draped on undergarments are unique features that only appear on the statue of Sangunsa Temple. Sangunsa has been known to be built in the early 18th century based on Bukanji compiled by Seongneung in 1745, and Bongeunbonmalsaji composed in 1943. However, the statue was created in the late 15th century, before the establishment of the temple in the early 18th century. Therefore, this paper briefly reviewed the history of Sangunsa Temple, focusing on the initial period, referring to the historical sites and the relics that were passed on to the temple, as well as the literature records. The data newly referred to in the study are as follows: Sangunsa Stone Pagoda, presumed to be from the Goryeo Dynasty; the Stone Buddha Statue of Sangunsa; Wooden Amita Triad Buddha Statue of Sangunsa. According to the data and contrary to previously-held beliefs, Sangunsa Temple is believed to have been operating since the Goryeo Dynasty. It can be inferred through analysis of the stone Buddha statue of Sangunsa Temple that the size of the Temple before the 18th century was not very large.