Stone Basin in Jung-dong, Gongju

A Baekje stone basin in the garden of Gongju National Museum, used in a temple to hold lotus as decoration. It stood with the stone basin in Banjuk-dong, Gongju (a treasure) at the site of Daetongsa in Banjuk-dong, but under Japanese rule the Japanese army took it away for a horse trough. When it was brought here in 1940 it was being kept at Jungdong Primary School, and from then on it was called the Jungdong basin. It is only slightly smaller than the Banjuk-dong basin and identical in style and carving, so the two are believed to have been made together as a pair to stand before a single building. The pillar that supported it was broken and lost by the Japanese army, and a new one was later made after the Banjuk-dong basin's: a round pillar carved round with lotus. The basin is shaped like a high-footed bowl, with a thick raised band round the rim. Two small bands are carved round the outside, with lotus decorating them at regular intervals; much less worn than the Banjuk-dong basin, its pattern is far clearer. According to the Samguk sagi, Daetongsa was founded in 529, the seventh year of King Seong of Baekje, so the basin is an important Baekje object whose date can be estimated. Its form and lotus are also precious for the study of Baekje Buddhist art, and it is valued highly together with the Banjuk-dong basin.

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Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물