Journey to Korea’s Ancient Silla Kingdom

Hello and welcome to a virtual tour entitled Journey to Korea's Ancient Silla Kingdom. This special program is inspired by the current exhibition, Once Upon a Roof, Vanished Korean Architecture at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. The primary focus of the exhibition is ceramic elements made for the roofs of important Korean buildings created more than a thousand years ago. Although those ancient buildings from the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods are long gone, the ceramic tiles from their roofs have survived, in some cases reassembled from fragments, to give us an understanding of the beauty, engineering, and scale of a vanished architectural tradition. In this program, we'll introduce our exhibition, Once Upon a Roof, and take you on a journey to a time and place associated with some of the objects featured in the show. I'm Keith Wilson, Curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art. And I'm Seonwoo Hwang, Korean Program Associate at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art. We worked together to create this exhibition with our colleagues at the National Museum of Korea. In fact, one of our partners, Yoon Sang Deok, a specialist in Silla art and archaeology and Senior Curator at the National Museum of Korea, will be our guide today. He joins us from Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom. The ancient city of Gyeongju is situated in southeastern Korea. It served as the capital of the Silla Kingdom for over 1,000 years. But before we take our journey to the ancient Silla capital, Keith and I would like to introduce you to the current exhibition that inspired this program. Ceramic roof tiles are prominent aspects of East Asian architecture. The kiln-fired interlocking pieces created a waterproof cover to protect less durable structural materials like wooden columns, beams, roof ridges, and rafters. Our exhibition features the three types of ornamental roof tiles that are the most important. The first is monumental upright tiles called chimi in Korean. These crown important buildings. The other two are round roof and rafter tile ends that add beauty through form, color, and pattern. These types and practices began in China and came to Korea by the 4th century with Buddhism. As elsewhere in East Asia, similar building principles were used for both religious and secular structures. The tiles featured in our show come from two 7th century temple sites associated with the kingdom of Baekje and one royal palace constructed later during the unified Silla Kingdom. Before we delve into the exhibition or travel to Gyeongju, it might make sense to consider geography as well as chronology. In this program, we will be concentrating on Korea's three kingdoms and the unified Silla period. During the three kingdoms, which spanned the first 700 years of the common era, the Korean peninsula was ruled by three different kingdoms. Goguryeo held power in the north, while the south was divided between Baekje in the west and Silla in the east. Eventually, Silla succeeded in unifying the peninsula in the 7th century, ruling it until 935 CE. Now, we're chiefly interested in the 7th and 9th centuries in Korea, which roughly correspond with the Six Dynasties and Tang in China and the Asuka, Nara, and early Heian periods in Japan. During this era, Buddhism was flourishing throughout East Asia. Reaching China in the 1st century CE, it was introduced to Korea in the 4th century and reached Japan in the 6th century. Chinese architectural traditions no doubt traveled along with the Buddhist faith. This cutaway model of a Korean building dating from the three kingdoms period replicates in great detail fundamental elements of a traditional timber frame building of the time, a ceramic tile roof, wooden supporting framework, and a foundation consisting of stone pillar bases, compacted earth, and a stone facing. This reconstruction is based on the remains of a large-scale building in Ikseon that is believed to have been a main palace hall of the Baekje kings. The actual construction measured over 115 feet wide and enclosed an area of almost 7,000 square feet. The wooden structural materials of buildings like this do not survive, and thus these monuments only exist as archaeological sites, as shown in this amazing photograph of the Baekje temple called Miruksa in Ikseon. Taken in 1917, this image shows all that was left of one of the largest ancient Buddhist temples in East Asia. Attempts to imagine these vanished ancient buildings and reconstruct them rely on a few surviving ancient images like the structure shown in a stylized landscape setting in this amazing ceramic tile. The late 6th or 7th century molded image is decorated with a landscape scene featuring a boulder-filled stream and groups of three peak mountains covered in pine trees. A closer examination of the lower central mountain reveals a building with two standing ridge ornaments on its roof. This pictorial evidence suggests the use of roof ridge ornaments in their time. Now, I'd like to ask Sunwoo to introduce some of the other objects on display. Thank you, Keith. I'd like to begin with roof ridge ornaments known as chimi in Korean. Literally meaning owl's tail, chimi represent a special type of roof tile that adorned both ends of the main roof ridge of prominent buildings. In addition to protecting and adorning building peaks, chimi were believed to ward off evil. Although the exact origin of the form remains unclear, some say it evokes a bird as its name suggests, while others relate it to a fish based on written records. As only a handful of chimi have been restored from fragments to reveal their original forms, and each of these objects comes from a different region, it is difficult even in Korea to view all three works together. So we feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to showcase all three for the first time in the United States. The chimi shown to your right was excavated at a Buddhist temple site in the capital of the Baekje Kingdom, and is believed to have crowned the main hall where images of Buddhist deities were installed. The body marked by a step pattern and pointed extensions closely resemble the wings of a bird. On the other hand, the chimi shown to your left was unearthed from a palace complex in Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom. Dating later than the two other examples shown here, its undecorated body and then the round spine protruding dramatically in front of the wings are characteristics of chimi dating to the unified Silla period. The difference in the size of chimi also helps us estimate the scale of lost buildings. In addition to the three main objects featured in the center, ornamented roof tiles excavated at the same archaeological sites are also included in the exhibition. As Soon-Woo just mentioned, the smallest chimi of the three, also the darkest in color, was excavated in Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. This offers a great springboard to the subject of our journey today. The city of Gyeongju is a well-known tourist destination which is rich with history and culture. Our tour today will explore the surviving legacy of the ancient kingdom through temples and royal tombs that have been excavated, as well as the treasures that were discovered in and around the city. Among the major archaeological remains in Gyeongju, we'd like to place special emphasis on the moon pond, called ulji in Korean, that occupied the center of a royal garden at a palace complex built for the princes of the Silla Kingdom. This is where more than 33,000 artifacts were unearthed in 1975, including the ornamented roof tiles featured in our exhibition. Sang-guk, who will give us an overview of the Silla capital, is joining us from the remains of a moat that surrounded the palace Sang-guk, can you give us a brief introduction to some of the most famous sites in the ancient Silla capital? The Silla kingdom was a large, mountainous region with a large plain in the center, and a river flowing through the middle of the plain. These conditions made it easy to grow crops, and the river was also used as an important road. The center of Gyeongju is the plain, so the palace, which is the most important facility, was built at the top of a low cloud. In addition, the walls were built using the terrain with cliffs and rivers, and the surrounding areas were built to protect them. In Gyeongju, traces of the history and culture of the Silla Dynasty remain on the ground and underground. In many places in the city, there are buildings such as small mountains, fortresses, and fortresses, and excavations are still being carried out in the city of Gyeongju for these relics and relics. Today, we will focus on the royal culture and meet the brilliant cultural heritage of the Silla. Behind me, what looks like a mountain is Hwangnamdaechong, the tomb of the king and queen of Silla. This Hwangnamdaechong has two tombs. The height is over 20 meters and the total length is 120 meters. Like this, in the 4th to 6th centuries, the kings and nobles of Silla built huge tombs, buried various treasures, including gold accessories such as gold crowns, for the dead. In the National Museum of Gyeongju, this is reproduced and exhibited, and you can see that there were a lot of treasures. Cheonmachong was excavated in 1973, just before Hwangnamdaechong was excavated, and the diameter is about 50 meters, which is a little smaller than Hwangnamdaechong, but quite large. These tombs are called Dolmuji Dunneol Tombs. As you can see here, the body was placed in a coffin made of wood, and the stone and clay were mined to make a large coffin. Since the structure of the cave was impossible, many relics could be excavated. A hundred years ago, after the first discovery of gold crowns in Geumgwanchong, a total of six gold crowns were excavated or discovered. In the National Museum of Gyeongju, gold crowns excavated from Cheonmachong and Geumgwanchong are on display. Among the gold crowns, the shape in front is a tree, and the back is said to symbolize a deer horn. It is estimated that the people who owned the gold crowns were probably kings or queens and their families. Silla made dolls out of soil and put them in graves. They made people, animals, houses, boats, etc., and it is very realistic, so you can guess the daily life of the time through this. There are also many interesting works, so you can feel the unique aesthetics and harmony of the Silla people. In the grave, there are cases where several black dolls are decorated, which means an actor or a servant. You can find dolls representing people around you in graves in ancient cultures all over the world. This must have been the mind of the Silla people who wanted to live comfortably even at the age of four. After the 6th century, the graves were not made in the plains of the center of Gyeongju, but moved to the surrounding mountains. I think this was to secure more farmland or residential space. And the structure of the grave has changed, so they made rooms and doors like a house. So you can continue to bury several bodies in one grave. This would have reduced the cost of funeral. However, in many cases, the structure of these graves has become vulnerable to poison, so there are almost no artifacts left. This grave is a Guerreng. After the unification of Silla, the Wangneung was also introduced in some forms of the emperor of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. The stones, stone railings, grave statues, and animal statues erected in front of the grave show the influence of the Tang Dynasty. Among them, the unmanned statue depicting a West Asian is unique. And it is a culture brought from China to decorate graves on the 12th floor, but it is a unique tradition of Silla to engrave it on the outside like this. According to Silla's Buddhist tradition, in the funeral customs of creating a huge grave and burying a body, a large-scale procession of burning the body and selling it becomes popular. To preserve the remaining ashes, they dug a small hole in the top of the mountain or the cloud and buried the ashes in a jar. Sometimes the jar is not used alone, but a small jar containing the remains is put in a large jar and stored. In the early days, the bone jar was just a little decoration on the pottery. Then, as the size of the pottery gradually increased and became eight-colored, it was decorated with colorful patterns all over the surface. Silla established Buddhism in 527 and paved the way for the blossoming of brilliant Buddhist culture. The place where I am standing now is the headquarters of Hwangryongsa, the greatest temple of Silla. There is only a large temple that has been dedicated to Buddha, but you can guess that this Buddha statue was the largest Buddha statue in Silla through its size. Imagine the magnificent size of the Buddha statue. Hwangryongsa is a place where the story of the dragon appearing to build a temple in 553 to expand the palace has been passed down. There were three palaces, the largest Buddha statue in Silla, a bell, and a nine-story wooden tower here. There is a large pedestal to support a huge building. There must have been the largest palace building in Silla, and there must have been a huge chimney on the roof. The chimney excavated at Hwangryongsa is the largest chimney in Korea. It's 1.8 meters high. Unfortunately, it was difficult to exhibit this exhibition because it was difficult to transport, but you can see it in the video. It was so big that it was divided into two. These holes are to tie the upper and lower structures together so that they are not separated. It's fun to express a person's face next to it. Bulguksa and Seokguram are comprehensive works of art that show the pinnacle of Silla culture. Bulguksa was first built in 751, but it went through wars for a long time, and the early buildings are not left. Most of the current buildings are newly built after the end of the 16th century, but most of the stairs made of stones behind me were made by Silla people, so they are well preserved the appearance of the time when Bulguksa was built for the first time. Cheongwungyo and Baegungyo, the bridge to the Geumdang, and Seokgatap and Dabotap are located in front of the Geumdang. The skill of the Silla craftsman who deals with stones is amazing. Seokguram was built in 751 by an artificial stone-piler who sculpted the stone and then shaped it. On both sides of the entrance, there is a statue of Geumgang, a hidden master, and a statue of Sacheon Hwang, who protects the east, west, and north. In the main room of Seokgur, Buddha Seokgamon, who is 3.4 meters high, is looking at the east sea. It is a beautiful sculpture that represents Korea. Wolseong, the palace where the king lived, looks like a crescent moon from above. He built a wall around it to protect the palace, and the perimeter of the wall is about 1,800 meters. The south side of Wolseong is a cliff, so he left it as it is, and the other three sides were trimmed with a large stone to build a wall. The stones used in the wall are still left on the ground like this, and there are about 10 places in the middle of the wall, and this is where the gate of the castle was. Outside the castle wall, a water-flowing sea is placed to protect the castle. Outside the castle, two bridges called Woljeonggyo and Iljeonggyo were placed. The bridge you see now is Woljeonggyo, which has recently been restored. All the palace buildings inside Wolseong are now gone, and only the main stone remains in the ground. After the Silla unified the three kingdoms, they built a palace where the prince lived in the northeast of Wolseong, and that is Wolji Palace. Thank you, Sungduk, for giving us a tour of Gyeongju. It brings back memories of my first visit to the city. I was struck by the geography of the place, a huge flat plain ringed by mountains on the horizon. I also remember the large open areas in the Silla Historic District where new constructions prohibited. You can almost imagine those areas filled with imposing wooden buildings and residents going to and fro. Sunwoo, do you have a favorite place in Gyeongju? What I like most about Gyeongju is the royal tombs that are scattered throughout the heart of the city. This is a unique feature that you can't see in any other regions in Korea. Also, two stone pagodas from Bulguksa that closely imitate timber structure show the remarkable architectural tradition of the Silla kingdom. As Sungduk just showed us, the entire city is like a living museum. It's not surprising that Gyeongju was designated a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. Sungduk, can you take us to the palace site built for the Silla princes, where the ornamented roof tiles, including chimni, shown in our exhibition, were excavated back in 1975? Wolji is a pond formed in the palace where the prince lives. It's usually called Anapji, but this name has been used since the Joseon Dynasty, and the name originally used in Silla is Wolji. If you look at the history of the Three Kingdoms, it is the 14th year of King Munmu, 674. He dug a well, made a mountain, planted flowering plants, and raised rare birds and animals. It's also the 19th year, 679. There is a record that he built a bronze palace. Data related to this has been excavated, and it is the memory of the Ghetto of the 4th year of Euibong, In the 2nd year of Joro, Hanji, Beolbu, Gunhyak, Sosa, and on March 3rd, Jaggang, Boseong, Hamun, and Jeondo were also excavated together. The 4th year of Eubong is the 679th year of Dangnara, and the 2nd year of Joro is the 680th year. The bronze palace is the lock of the bronze palace. This is also a clue that the records of the excavation data and the Three Kingdoms are consistent. Silla built a pond and a bronze palace in 679, 680, At this time, Silla was trying to expand his territory and expand his territory, and he defeated Baekje and Goguryeo, the neighboring countries that were constantly at war, in 660 and 668, and finally unified the Three Kingdoms. After that, in 676, when China's Dangnara revealed its intention to invade the Korean Peninsula, Silla fought and defeated the invaders. Immediately after that, Silla organized the capital, and the first business was to expand the palace. The excavation of Wolji continues since 1975. In 1974, the government plans to develop Gyeongju as a representative tourist destination in Korea, and conducts a construction called Junseo Pond. In the process, a lot of relics were excavated. At first, the construction of Junseo Pond was accompanied by an investigation, and as a large number of relics were excavated, Junseo Pond was suspended and the excavation investigation was carried out in earnest. First, the pond was investigated, and then 26 surrounding buildings, 8 dam sites, wells, drainage facilities, and infill facilities were excavated in turn. The limestone water seen here could enter the pond through this road as an infill facility. From the bottom of the pond to the 3-meter-high point, we were able to confirm that it fell like a waterfall in two stages, and confirmed an infill facility about 73 meters long. Here, about 33,000 relics such as wooden boats used for sailing, were excavated. It is assumed that these were dropped into the moat during sailing or during use, or that they were swept into the moat after the fall of the palace after the destruction of Silla. Thanks to this, we can see a lot of relics of the time now. You can check this relic at the National Gyeongju Museum to be visited soon. In the record of Samguksa Temple, it is said that three islands were made in the moat, precious flowers and trees were planted here, and animals such as deer and roe deer were bred. It can also be said that it was the first zoo. The total size was 200 meters east-west and 180 meters north-south. It is made up of straight and curved lines, and pillars were built around the pond, and a large rock was placed at the bottom to prevent the pillars from collapsing. The bottom of the pond is 50 cm thick, and clay and gravel were mined to prevent water from leaking, and sand and black stones were laid on top to prevent muddy water from occurring. This building was restored after the excavation, and it is assumed that it was a building attached to the East Palace. The surrounding area distributed to the west side has been excavated to this day, and buildings surround the pond. Among the five pavilions encountered in the pond, the most important building is assumed to be Imhaejeon. For your information, this building was restored after the excavation. According to the record, Imhaejeon, where the kings of Silla celebrated with the gods, is close to the sea, so you can see that it was designed to feel the sea when you look at the pond from here. This is an outdoor facility to maintain the appropriate water level and water quality of the pond. The water level is about 1.6 meters. The waterway is made up of several layers of structure using wood and stones, and the part that connects directly from the pond is made of stone and designed to check the water level and adjust it. At the time of excavation, it was excavated with a wooden anchor. This anchor is now on display at the National Museum of Gyeongju. And a fairly large wooden boat was excavated, so you can guess that the people of the royal family of Silla enjoyed sailing. A wooden dice was also excavated, so you can see the play culture at the time. These relics are now on display at the National Museum of Gyeongju. Shall we go to the museum together? Thank you for taking us to the beautiful moon pond at the East Palace site in the Silla capital. The discovery of the long forgotten palace must have been a truly astonishing archaeological find. I'd love to take a walk along the pond again one day. I've been to the moon pond site many times, but with the pandemic, it's been a few years since my last visit. It's also interesting that important dates relating to the construction were found inscribed on some of the ceramic roof tiles and bricks. This written evidence helped archaeologists date the palace complex and shows how important roof tiles are in the study of ancient Korean architecture that no longer stands. Three pavilions built along the edges of the pond must have been reconstructed based on archaeological finds, including roof tiles discovered at the site. Although the restoration of architectural heritage can be controversial, I think this partial reconstruction helps visitors better understand how the palace might have looked more than 1,000 years ago. Seong Deuk, can you please tell us a little more about what kinds of treasures were discovered in the area of the Royal Garden Pond? I was surprised by the sheer number of artifacts found within the pond and in the nearby building remains. I think I read it was over 33,000 objects were recovered there? Let's take a look at the first floor. If you look at this roof model, you can see male, female, male and female. There is a representative special tile with an animal face pattern. This is a brick that was laid on the floor. Let's take a look at it one by one. The male and female were decorated with a variety of patterns with the end of the male and female. There are many lotus patterns among them. This is influenced by Buddhist culture. There are animal patterns such as the Ssangjomun and Sajamun and also patterns that were popular in West Asia such as the Bosangamun. This is the Uibong 4-year-old Amkhiwa. I told you earlier that Uibong 4-year-old means 679 years. This means the time when the Kihwa was made. It is believed that this Kihwa was excavated a lot in Gyeongju, and a lot of buildings were built at this time. This is the Joro 2-year-old Jeondol. As a Bosangamun brick that was laid on the floor of the building, if you imagine the Bosangamun being laid on the floor continuously, you can guess how fancy the building was at that time. In particular, it is engraved that it was made in Joro 2 years, that is, 680 years, on the side of the brick. It was engraved just before it was baked with a sharp tool. This became a critical clue to reveal the time when the Wolji was made. You can also see Kihwa with a scary monster shape such as an animal-shaped Kihwa. This is to prevent bad ghosts or energy from entering the building. I guess it was fixed with a nail or made a ring on the back to fix it. It was attached to the end of the nail, the protruding part, and the eye-catching part. Like this Kihwa, the one that was baked with a sharp tool was found in a large temple such as a palace or a royal temple, and it is estimated that it was used only in important buildings. The Chimmy, which would have decorated both ends of the Yongmaru, is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum in the United States, and a total of four items have been excavated. Now let's take a look at the items used in the palace life. You can see that they are very colorful and carefully made. This is a golden scissor used to cut ultra-thin paper. It is a scissor decorated with the shape of a scissor handle applied to a knuckle pattern and the method of engraving a line engraving and a marble pattern. It is a very sophisticated design of metal craftsmanship, such as erecting a semicircular border so that the cut core does not fall to the floor. It is a very sophisticated design of metal craftsmanship, This is a lion statue used as a window cover. It's made of copper, and there's a hole in it for smoke to come out of the mouth. This is what was decorated in front of the chair handle. It's made of gold, and it's in the shape of a dragon. There is a small neck hole left so that it can be fixed to a wooden chair. This is a hanger made of gold. It's discolored now, but you can imagine how fancy it was at the time. More than a thousand pottery pieces have been excavated at the palace. Most of them were used to store food or as a meal, but items such as lanterns and wind chimes were also excavated. This pottery is a stamp pattern pottery. When decorating the pattern on the outside of the pottery, I used to draw one by one with my hands. When it becomes the 7th century, I engrave the pattern on the stamp and decorate it by stamping the surface. If you work like this, you can decorate the uniform shape more fancily and quickly, making it more economical. A lot of pottery patterns like this have been excavated at the palace. This is a wind chute. It is estimated that it was probably used for portable or outdoor use. The wind chute is estimated to have been made in the 8th century. How do you know the connection? You can find out by looking at the pattern on the stamp. As time goes by, the pattern on the stamp changes. So if you look at the shape of the pattern, you can estimate the connection. In Wolji, 157 lanterns were excavated. Lanterns are like lanterns now. You put oil in a bowl, soak the core with cloth, and turn on the fire there. So you can see the inside is blackly browned and you can see the oil residue. Since it was a palace, there must have been a lot of work to turn on the fire at night. This relic is a cauldron. When melting metal or glass, I put it in this cauldron and heated the outside. You can see that there were small workshops. This is a bucket for making ink. A lot of buckets were excavated in Wolji. You can see traces of grinding ink on the surface. Of course, they must have lived in the palace. The wooden surface was smoothly trimmed and used as ink. This is called a wooden pipe. Wooden pipes have a lot of grooves on the top. This is to tie a string and hang it on a pot. Wooden pipes are used for simple notes, but there are many records related to food. You can see records such as when food was made, when it started to be stored. This is a cauldron for storing water or grains. It's 1.5 meters high. I guess it was buried in the ground and used. It says 19 Pal Ong on the neck. There are opinions that if 10 families want to have a winter, there should be 8 cauldrons. There are also opinions that the cauldron capacity was marked. The cauldron was found in the pond in front of the building on the west side. Each of the 14 sides has a specific order engraved. For example, drinking 3 glasses of alcohol at once, dancing without sound, etc. You can see a fun penalty. I think it was used when playing in the royal palace. This is a three-point fire in Geumdong. It was made very delicately by using wax. There was a wooden hole around it, so they made a small fire in the room, fixed it with a nail, and made an offering. They expressed the Buddha in the middle, and placed two Bodhisattvas on both sides. This fire table has a candle at the bottom, so you can see that it was put somewhere unlike the three-point fire I saw earlier. These fire tables are evidence that Buddhism was promoted in the royal palace. Martial arts such as fighting or sword, horse, etc. were also excavated. It was probably the work of the soldiers who guarded the royal palace. So far, we have seen the ancient country Silla, which has been flourishing with brilliant culture and ruled the Korean Peninsula for a long time. I think the exhibition held at the Smithsonian Museum is a good opportunity to show some of the ancient culture of the Korean Peninsula. I hope you don't miss this opportunity. Also, in Gyeongju, there are many beautiful places and meaningful relics that have not been introduced in the video, And there are many great relics. I hope you can visit Gyeongju and experience it yourself. Lastly, Kiss and Hwang Sun-ho, Thank you, Sung-duk, for introducing these rare treasures unearthed from the moon pond and the site of the East Palace Complex. I really enjoyed learning about the variety of objects discovered from a single location. Unlike treasures discovered in tombs, these artifacts help us imagine not only the architecture above ground, but also the everyday life of Silla royals. If you get a chance to visit Gyeongju in person, I'd recommend a visit to the museum as well as all the other places that Sung-duk introduced us today. Before we end, I would be remiss if I didn't thank our colleagues at the National Museum of Korea for making today's program, as well as the current exhibition, Once Upon a Roof, possible. Both the exhibition and this program were generously supported by I would like to thank you for taking the time to travel with us today on this wonderful journey to Korea's ancient Silla kingdom. I hope you've enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about the ancient capital of Gyeongju through archaeological remains and experience a number of Silla artworks discovered at these sites. We hope to see you again soon on our next journey.