Jo Hyun Jae

Last thing on our schedule of the day was the Buyeo National Museum.  The Buyeo National Museum has 10,000 relics that were discovered from various historic sites.  There is a historic exhibit of Baekje relics (what we’re primarily interested in — all photos below are from this exhibit – from Row 2), a prehistoric exhibit centering on the Bronze Age, Buddhism and art exhibit, and outdoor exhibit area.

The centre-piece of the Buyeo National Museum is of course the Gilt Bronze Incense-Burner of Baekje which plays such a prominent part in “Seo Dong Yo”.

This gilt bronze incense-burner, unearthed on a temple site of Buyeo in December 1993, is a masterpiece 64 cm in height , 19 cm in girth, and 11.8 kg in weight, consisting of the base, body, lid, and knob.  In the base part, a dragon raises its head, supporting the main body.  The main body of the incense-burner closely resembles a blossoming lotus flower.  On the lateral surface 26 different animals are depicted.

The gilt bronze incense-burner from two different angles

On the lid there is scenery of 23 mountains shaping 4 to 5 layers of deep-mountain ranges.  5 musicians with various instruments and 16 other characters are also illustrated.  39 animals including the Chinese phoenix, dragon, tiger, and deer are depicted.  6 different trees, 12 boulders, trails, creeks, waterfalls, lakes, and other land features compose the changing scenery.  On top of the lid, a separate Chinese phoenix is mounted, standing up with its wings folded and tail raised.  Five holes are drilled on the lid to naturally ventilate the incense flow.

This cultural treasure shows the mental world of Baekje people comprising of Buddhism, Taoism, principles of Yin and Yang, etc.  This beautiful incense-burner testifies to the artistic perfection and technological achievement of the period.

This is an 11-time enlarged model of 8.3m in height, reproduced in Oct.2002, which stands on the grounds of the museum.  But on the day of our visit, it was travelling for an exhibition elsewhere.

This concludes our account of our tour of Buyeo.  We had a wonderful time, thanks to EVER!  Seeing some of the locations of the drama made us appreciate “Seo Dong Yo” and Jo Hyun-Jae all the more.  We were resolved to watch SDY again (for the Nth time) when we got home.

(THE END)

(Credit: Description of incense-burner and last photo from Official Korea Tourism Guide Site – “Into the Kingdom of Baekje – Travelling Buyeo”.  Thanks!)