Bell of King Seongdeok#Legend

{{Infobox artwork

|title=Bell of King Seongdeok

|image=National Museum-Emile Bell - Gyeongju 3781-06.JPG

|caption=The bell (2006)

|coordinates={{coord|35|49|46.47|N|129|13|40.54|E|display=title,inline}}

|italic title=no

|designation={{Infobox designation list

|embed=yes

|designation1=National Treasures of South Korea

|designation1_date=1962-12-20

|designation1_offname=Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok

|designation1_number=29

}}

|module={{Infobox Korean name

|hangul=성덕대왕신종

|hanja=聖德大王神鍾

|rr=Seongdeok Daewang Sinjong

|mr=Sŏngdŏk Taewang Sinjong

|othername1=Other name

|hangul1=에밀레종

|hanja1=에밀레鍾

|rr1=Emille Jong

|mr1=Emille Chong

|child=yes

}}

The Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok ({{Korean|hangul=성덕대왕신종|hanja=聖德大王神鍾}}) is the largest extant bronze bell in Korea. It is also known as the Emille Bell ({{Korean|hangul=에밀레종|labels=no}}), after a legend about its casting, and as the Bell of Bongdeoksa, where it was first housed.{{Citation |title=성덕대왕신종 (聖德大王神鐘) |work=한국민족문화대백과사전 [Encyclopedia of Korean Culture] |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0029268 |access-date=2025-02-04 |publisher=Academy of Korean Studies |language=ko}} The bell was also previously housed at Gyeongjueupseong.{{Cite web |last=Administration |first=Cultural Heritage |title=Gyeongjueupseong Walled Town - Heritage Search |url=https://english.khs.go.kr/chaen/search/selectGeneralSearchDetail.do?mn=EN_02_02&sCcebKdcd=13&ccebAsno=00960000&sCcebCtcd=37&pageIndex=1®ion=&canAsset=&ccebPcd1=&searchWrd=GYEONGJUEUPSEONG+WALLED+TOWN&startNum=&endNum=&stCcebAsdt=&enCcebAsdt=&canceled=&ccebKdcd=&ccebCtcd= |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Cultural Heritage Administration - English Site |language=en}}

The bell was commissioned by King Gyeongdeok to honor his father, King Seongdeok. However, King Gyeongdeok never lived to see the casting of the bell, as he died in 765 A.D. The bell was finally cast in 771 A.D., during the reign of Gyeongdeok's son, King Hyegong.

Now housed in the Gyeongju National Museum, the bell was designated as the 29th national treasure of Korea on December 12, 1962. It measures {{Convert|3.75|m|ft|abbr=|sp=us}} high, {{Convert|2.27|m|ft|abbr=|sp=us}} in diameter at the lip, and {{Convert|12 to 25|cm|in|abbr=|sp=us}} in wall thickness. The Gyeongju National Museum weighed it in 1997, and found that its weight was 18.9 tons.{{cite web |author=Korea Tourism Organization |website=Visit Korea |url=http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=804389 |title=The Divine Bell of King Seongdeok |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305163056/http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=804389 |archive-date=2012-03-05 |access-date=2021-03-28 |language=en}}

Artistic characteristics

The bell is considered a masterpiece of Unified Silla art. It is unique among Korean bronze bells because of the presence of delicate designs and the title text, written in an elegant literary language. The whole structure, including its decorative elements, produces a wide range of sound frequencies; the sound tube absorbs high frequency waves, contributing to a distinctive beat.{{citation |author=Kim Seock Hyun |title=Beat Maps of King Song-Dok Bell, Beat Map Drawing Method of Bell Type Structures and Beat Maps of the King Seong-deok Divine Bell |url=http://www.ndsl.kr/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127102123/http://www.ndsl.kr/ |archive-date=2019-11-27 }} {{cite journal |first1=Seock-Hyun |last1=Kim |last2=Lee |first2=Chi-Wook |last3=Lee |first3=Jang-Moo |title=Beat characteristics and beat maps of the King Seong-deok Divine Bell |journal=Journal of Sound and Vibration |volume=281 |issue=1-2 |pages=21-44 |date=March 2005 |doi=10.1016/j.jsv.2004.01.038}}

The hook of the bell is in the shape of a dragon's head. There are many relief patterns on the bell, including flower patterns along the rim and shoulder. There are also reliefs of lotus flowers, grass, and a pair of two apsaras (heavenly maidens). The striking point of the bell (dangjwa) is also in the shape of a lotus and sits between two of the apsara reliefs. The bottom of the bell is in a rhombic shape, designed to augment the sound reverberation.

The inscriptions on the bell (the title text), over a thousand Hanja, are a fine example of Korean calligraphy and carving. They provide detailed information about the bell and why it was cast.

The column the bell hangs on is quite firm. Even a column of the same diameter, made of a modern alloy, might bend under the weight of the bell, yet the bell still hangs on an ancient column that has lasted for several centuries.{{cite book |script-title=ko:나의 문화유산답사기 |trans-title=My Cultural Heritage Exploration |volume=Book 3 |chapter=Chapter 9 |author=Yu HengJun}}

File:Apsara relief. Bell of King Seongdeok.National Museum of Gyeongju.Korea.2018.P1410600.jpg|Apsara relief

File:Text relief. Bell of King Seongdeok.National Museum of Gyeongju.Korea.2018.P1410605.jpg|Carved Korean calligraphy

Legend

The bell is commonly known as the Emile Bell in both Korean and English. Emile, pronounced /em-ee-leh/, is an ancient Silla term for "mommy".{{Cn|date=August 2023}}

According to legend, the first bell that was cast produced no sound when it was struck. The bell was recast many times but with no success. The king that had commissioned the bell died thereafter and his young son took over the project with the help of the queen. The son carried out what his father had started but he too had little success. Later, a monk dreamed that if a child was cast into the metal, the bell would ring. The monk then took a child from the village and had her cast into the metal. When the bell was complete, the bell made the most beautiful sound when struck.{{Cn|date=August 2023}}

However, some believe the legend may actually be a modern invention and that the story and name originated in the 1920s. A story that was published about the "Eomilne bell" or "Earmilne bell" (어밀네 종) may have been distorted in its retelling.[https://archive.today/20120710000132/http://cha.korea.kr/gonews/branch.do?act=detailView&type=news§ionId=co_sec_1&categoryId=&dataId=155312736] (Korean), also fiction section of the '매일신보(Official newspaper of the Governor-General of Korea, published by the Japanese colonial government). One picture of the link is original text of Earmilne bell. Opponents reference {{harvtxt|Hulbert|1906|p=326}}, a story about other bell in Seoul and Japanese records about 1920. Recent arguments suggest that the legend about bell above may have been confused with the legend of the Emile bell.{{cite book |title=The Passing of Korea |first=Homer B. |last=Hulbert |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday, Page & Co |year=1906 |url=https://archive.org/details/passingofkorea00hulbuoft |via=Internet Archive |page=326}}{{cite journal |script-journal=ko:별건곤 |trans-journal=Byeolgeon-gun |issue=23 |date=1929-09-27 |script-title=ko:오래인 벙어리 종로鍾路인경의 신세타령 |author=송작생/松雀生}} cited in {{cite web |url=http://orumi.egloos.com/4061904 |language=ko |author=초록불 |script-title=ko:에밀레 종의 비밀을 찾아서 |trans-title=In search of the secret of the Emile Bell |script-work=ko:초록불의 잡학다식 |date=2009-02-10}}

References

External links

{{commons category-inline|Bell of King Seongdeok}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20111107024724/http://english.cha.go.kr/ Cultural Heritage Administration]

King Seongdeok

Category:National Treasures of South Korea

Category:Buildings and structures in Gyeongju

Category:Korean art

Category:Tourist attractions in Gyeongju

Category:8th-century works

Category:771

Category:8th century in Korea

Category:Arts in Silla

Bell of King Seongdeok#Legend

Artistic characteristics

Legend

See also

References

Further reading

External links