King Jungjong of Yongjusa Temple, Hwaseong

This bronze bell, 86.8cm in height, is a work of the late Joseon period. According to the inscription cast into its body, it was made in 1790, the fourteenth year of King Jeongjo. At the top, the dragon-shaped hanging loop (yongnyu) is formed of a pair of dragons standing on a gently rising crown plate (cheonpan), their mouths opened wide as they gaze straight ahead. It is distinctive that, around the claws of both feet, circular lotus-flower medallions similar to the bell's striking point (dangjwa) are used as decoration. In addition, running around the edge of the crown plate is a band of upright lotus-petal ornament (ipsanghwamundae) — a motif of raised, standing lotus leaves arranged in a circle that first appeared on late Goryeo bells — followed by a saw-toothed border, showing that the bell carries on the traditional Korean bell form. The body of the bell is narrow at the top and widens toward the bottom; instead of forming the upper band (sangdae) at top and bottom from two parallel bands as usual, the lower band (hadae) has instead been made narrower. In this blank space are arranged Sanskrit-character motifs (beomjamun) and lotus panels (yeongwak), with standing bodhisattva figures and spirit-tablet-shaped (wipae) motifs placed between the panels, together with an inscription set on irregular square plaques attached to the surface. The bell was made by the artisans Yun Deok-ching, Yun Deok-heung and Yun Gye-won, while the supervisor overseeing the casting as a whole (gamyeok) was the monk Sail, who played the leading role in the contemporary reconstruction of Yongjusa Temple. These Yun family makers were a group of private bell-casters (sajang) who had been active mainly in the Jeolla region since the first half of the eighteenth century. Features such as the paired-dragon hanging loop and the spirit-tablet-shaped decoration follow the foreign style of Chinese bells, showing a tendency toward a mixture of several styles. The casting is also relatively good, and through its recorded inscription the bell is valued as a work that allows the bell-casting activities and lineage of the artisans of the time to be traced.

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Where it is

Region

Hwaseong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산