Gong held at Onyangminsokbangmulgwan

A geumgo (bronze gong) is a type of percussion instrument, also called banja, geumgu or jeonggo, used in Buddhist rites. It is one of the ritual implements of a temple, hung under the eaves of the bell pavilion or in front of a hall and struck to produce sound. The bronze gong held at Onyangminsokbangmulgwan is said to have been excavated at Sinsu-ri in Asan. It bears no inscription. The front face is divided into three zones — the central striking area, the middle zone and the outer zone — and the gong measures 36.7 by 9.2 cm. At the centre of the striking area, the section bearing the lotus seed pods is 8 cm in diameter, and the lotus petals measure 4 cm. The middle zone measures 4 cm and the outer zone 3 cm. The circular decorative bands dividing each zone are 1 cm wide. The side wall is 9.2 cm thick, with the broad central band 3 cm on each side, and the decorative bands at centre and edge each 1 cm. On the back, the opening is wide, 27.8 cm in diameter; the raised inner rim is 0.7 cm, and the thickness of the rim is 7 cm. In the striking area there are six lotus seed pods at the centre, surrounded by a thick circular band, around which twelve layers of double lotus petals wrap like a skirt. The petals measure 2.4 cm at the inner edge and 3.7 cm where they spread at the outer edge. In the middle zone, eight beaded-circle motifs are arranged in a triangular pattern, four to a face; the triangle measures 4.5 cm at the base and 3.5 cm in height. The arrangement of the decoration on the front of the bronze gong held at Onyangminsokbangmulgwan, and the width of the rim on the back, show a tendency towards the standardised forms seen in bronze gongs of the twelfth to thirteenth centuries.

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Where it is

Region

Asan, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산