Bronze Bell Excavated from Yeoju

This bell was made during the Goryeo period and was discovered by chance in 1967 at Sangpum-ri, Geumsa-myeon, Yeoju-gun, Gyeonggi-do; it measures 84 cm in length and 55 cm in mouth diameter. The hanging loop is shaped as a single dragon with its head raised, and the sound tube beside it is divided into six sections, each decorated with a raised vine-scroll pattern. Around the top and bottom of the bell, and around the square frames enclosing nine raised, bud-shaped bosses, runs a band of fine linked bead ornament enclosing a peony scrollwork design; the bosses inside the frames are shaped as raised flowers. Unlike the Cheonheungsa Temple Bell (National Treasure), which bears images of flying apsaras, the body of this bell is carved in relief with alternating images of buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the four striking panels on the body likewise alternate between buddha and bodhisattva images. On one side of the upper part of the lower band of the bell body, a section is marked off with an incised inscription recording the date of casting and the weight, showing that the bell was made in the twelfth year of King Munjong of Goryeo (1058).

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Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물