Gyeongju National Museum to unveil 32 relics excavated from Silla Hwangboksa site

▲ This photo, provided by Gyeongju National Museum, shows dubbed Shinjangsang found at the site of Hwangboksa. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- 32 pieces of relics found during an excavation investigation in the Gyeongju Hwangboksa, known as the Silla royal temple are to be unveiled to the public by Gyeongju National Museum.

A small exhibition "'Newly Excavated Artifacts from a Temple Site Known as Hwangboksa" which features cultural heritages from the history storage of Yongnma region from the 27th to the 24th of October, according to the museum Wednesday.

The relics have been introduced to the public at the site for some time, but never have been on display.

The temple, located near Nangsan which is in the east of Silla Dynasty's Wolseong, is known as the place where the great monk Uisang, during the Silla Dynasty, left his house and settled on to become a monk in 654. There are legends that great monk Uisang circled around the pagoda stepping on thin air.

There is little remains of the temple site except for the Three-Story Stone Pagoda designated as the national treasure. The words dubbed "Jongmyo Sungryeong Seonwon Garam (宗廟聖靈禪院伽藍)" meaning that the pagoda is a "seonwon garam constructed for the sacred ryeongs in the jongmyo, a place where people set tablets for the late kings" was found on the lid of a glit-bronze box discovered while dismantling the construction in 1942. Experts have been assuming the site as temple because of the words.

Since 2016 to April 2021, 5 excavation investigations took place at the temple site and around 2,700 pieces of relics wee discovered by Sunglim Cultural Property Research Center.

The artifacts to be on display are largely divided into buddhist sculptures, pieces of inscriptions and crafts.

▲ This photo, provided by Gyeongju National Museum, shows glit-bronze buddhist sculptures found at the site of Hwangboksa. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

The found buddhist sculptures include glit-bronze ones. Most of them have their right hand up and the left down with U-shaped or Y-shaped creases on the clothes. A statue assumed to be Avalokitesvara

was holding a long-neck water bottle with its left hand.

Shinjangsang (translated) carved on the stone is a soldier in armors. Critics say that it three dimensional and so realistic that it can be regraded as the essence of the United Silla Dynasty's buddhist sculptures.

▲ This photo, provided by Gyeongju National Museum, shows pieces of tombstones found at the site of Hwangboksa.

▲ This photo, provided by Gyeongju National Museum, shows Mokkan found at the site of Hwangboksa. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

For inscriptions, the museum will put our Mokkans, wood pieces with engraved writings and tombstone pieces with (dubbed) 'bong(奉)', gyo(敎)', 'shin(神)', 'gung(窮)', 'jin(眞)' carved on each fragments.

Infrared image of a piece of pine tree wood found in a pond showed "sangjosayeongjosamiisib-ilnyeon

(上早寺迎詔沙弥卄一年)" written on it.

But there are views that the dubbed character, first and second 'jo'(早)s could be read dubbed 'gun'(軍) and dubbed 'dam'(談) respectively.

"Various interpretations are possible. As there is a hole at the end, it could have been an identification showing that the bearer of it is a monk or could have been a tag for goods," explained the museum about the mokkan.

▲ This photo, provided by Gyeongju National Museum, shows a bronze bottle and plate. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

As for crafts, hemisphere-shaped and flame-shaped glit-bronze ornaments, three-legged bronze pot, bronze bottle and plate and dubbed noggyubyeoru are to be on display.

"Nangsan where the temple exited used to be a sacred and royal place. We hope for the exhibition which was prepared to reveal the accomplishments of the excavation to the public can take us one step closer to the history of Hwangboksa," said an official of Gyeonju National Museum.

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