Jungguk Iron Temple Bell (1982-1)

This is a Chinese iron temple bell that Lee Kyung-sung, the first director of the Incheon Municipal Museum, acquired in 1946 from among items stored at the Incheon Army Arsenal. Based on its inscription, it appears to have been cast in Xinzheng County, Henan Province, China. The bell displays the typical form of a Chinese bell: raised lines encircle the entire body in kasa-patterned bands (representing the folds of a monk's robe), and it has a twin-dragon hanger. The top plate and the body are joined in a rounded contour, decorated with the eight trigrams and lotus-petal designs, below which further petals are arranged at even intervals. The upper and lower parts of the body each carry kasa-patterned bands divided into four sections; in the upper sections, characters arranged vertically read, in translation, "Long live the Emperor, may his high ministers flourish for a thousand autumns, may the wind and rain be seasonable, may the Wheel of the Law turn forever." On either side of these characters are recorded the names of the casting craftsmen and donors, and the weight of iron used to make the bell. The lower section is likewise decorated with a kasa-patterned band, within which further inscription appears. The mouth of the bell has a wave-shaped rim, the form typical of Chinese bell mouths. The dragon hanger, inscriptions and decorative patterns overall lack sharp definition, likely because the raised details were not well captured during the iron-casting process.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeonsu-gu, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산