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Seokguram
Seokguram () is a hermitage and part of the Bulguksa temple complex in Gyeongju, South Korea. It and Bulguksa are both on the mountain Tohamsan, although the two are separated by distance of around . The grotto overlooks the East Sea and rests 750 meters above sea level. In 1962, it was designated the 24th National Treasure of South Korea. In 1995, Seokguram was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Bulguksa Temple. It exemplifies some of the best Buddhist sculptures in the world. The Seokguram Grotto is said to have been built by Kim Daeseong and originally called Seokbulsa (). Construction began in either 742 or 751, during the cultural peak of the kingdom Unified Silla. The grotto was completed by the Silla court in 774, shortly after Kim's death. The grotto is currently one of the best known cultural destinations in South Korea. A viewing of the sunrise over the sea, which is visible from near the seated Buddha's perch, is especially popular. Archit ...
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Gyeongju
Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of 264,091 people . Gyeongju is southeast of Seoul, and east of Daegu. The city borders Cheongdo and Yeongcheon to the west, Ulsan to the south and Pohang to the north, while to the east lies the coast of the Sea of Japan. Numerous low mountains—outliers of the Taebaek Mountains, Taebaek range—are scattered around the city. Gyeongju was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla (57 BC – 935 AD), which ruled about two-thirds of the Korean peninsula at its height between the 7th and 9th centuries, for close to one thousand years. Later Silla was a prosperous and wealthy country, and Gyeongju was the fourth largest city in the world. A vast number of archaeological sites and cultural properties from this period remain in the city. Gye ...
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National Treasure (South Korea)
National Treasure () is a national-level designation within the heritage preservation system of South Korea for tangible objects of significant artistic, cultural and historical value. Examples of objects include art, artifacts, sites, or buildings. It is administered by the Korea Heritage Service (KHS). Additions to the list are decided by the Cultural Heritage Committee. Many of the registered items are popular tourist attractions for South Korea. Examples include Jongmyo, Bulguksa, Seokguram, and the Tripitaka Koreana at Haeinsa. As of May 2020, there are 327 distinct entries on the list, some composed of a large number of sub-entries. The treasures are numbered according to the order in which they were designated, not according to their individual value. History The first list of Korean cultural treasures was designated by Governor-General of Korea in 1938 during the Japanese occupation with "The Act of Treasures of the Joseon dynasty". In 1955, the South Korean govern ...
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Korean Buddhism
Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, they developed a new holistic approach to Buddhism that became a distinct form, an approach characteristic of virtually all major Korean thinkers. The resulting variation is called '' Tongbulgyo'' ("interpenetrated Buddhism"), a form that sought to harmonize previously arising disputes among scholars (a principle called ''hwajaeng'' 和諍). Centuries after Buddhism originated in India, the Mahayana tradition arrived in China through the Silk Road in the 1st century CE via Tibet; it then entered the Korean peninsula in the 4th century during the Three Kingdoms Period, from where it was transmitted to Japan. In Korea, it was adopted as the state religion of 3 constituent polities of the Three Kingdoms Period, first by the Goguryeo (also kno ...
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Bulguksa
Bulguksa () is a Buddhist temple on Tohamsan, in Jinhyeon-dong, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and contains six National Treasures, including the Dabotap and Seokgatap stone pagodas, Cheongun-gyo (Blue Cloud Bridge), and two gilt-bronze statues of Buddha. The temple is classified as ''Historic and Scenic Site No. 1'' by the South Korean government. In 1995, Bulguksa and the nearby Seokguram Grotto were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The temple is considered as a masterpiece of the golden age of Buddhist art in the Silla kingdom. It is currently the head temple of the 11th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Among the earliest woodblock prints in the world, a version of the Dharani sutra dated between 704 and 751 was found there in 1966. Its Buddhist text was printed on a mulberry paper scroll. History The temple's records state that a small temple was built on this site unde ...
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Buddhist Art
Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes Buddha in art, depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and physical objects associated with Buddhist practice, such as vajras, bells, stupas and Buddhist architecture, Buddhist temple architecture. Buddhist art originated in the north of the Indian subcontinent, in modern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the earliest survivals dating from a few centuries after the historical life of Gautama Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama from the 6th to 5th century BCE. As Buddhism spread and evolved in each new host country, Buddhist art followed in its footsteps. It developed to the north through Central Asia and into Eastern Asia to form the Northern branch of Buddhist art, and to the east as far as Southeast Asia to form the Southern branch of Buddhist art. In ...
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The Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but Great Renunciation, renounced his Householder (Buddhism), home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained Nirvana (Buddhism), nirvana at Bodh Gaya, Bodh Gayā in what is now India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a Sangha, monastic order. Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached ''parinirvana'' ("final release from conditioned existence"). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Vimutti, freedom from Avidyā (Buddhism), ignora ...
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Kim Daeseong
Kim Daeseong (; 700–774) was a chief minister of Silla during the reign of King Seongdeok in the Unified Silla period. He was the son of a previous chief minister, Kim Mullyang (김문량, 金文亮). He is credited with the establishment of the famed Bulguksa temple and Seokguram shrine in Gyeongju. The ''Samguk Yusa'' relates a tale that Kim Daeseong was the reincarnation of the child of a pious but poor woman who offered up a field which she had worked long and hard to buy. He is said to have built Bulguksa in memory of his parents of the current life, and Seokguram in memory of his parents in the former life. See also *History of Korea The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825. The earl ... 700 births 774 deaths Silla Buddhists Silla people {{Korea-reli-bi ...
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Tohamsan
Tohamsan () is a mountain with a height of in Gyeongju in southeastern South Korea. It is part of the minor Dongdae Mountains range. The mountain lies within Gyeongju National Park and is the site of a large number of historic relics. The Silla-era Buddhist shrines of Bulguksa and Seokguram are on its slopes. The mountain stands at the intersection of three subdivisions of Gyeongju: Bulguk-dong, Bodeok-dong, and Yangbuk-myeon. The Sea of Japan can be seen from the peak, as can Gyeongju Basin, which includes the city center.(in Korean토함산 吐含山 (Tohamsan) Nate / Encyclopedia of Korean Culture During the Silla period, Toham mountain was referred to as ''Dongak'' (東嶽), literally meaning "East Big Mountain", and considered a guardian mountain of the country, so that major rituals were held. Gallery See also *Geography of South Korea *Korean peninsula *List of mountains in Korea The following is a list of mountains in Korea: List of mountains in North Korea Pyong ...
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Unified Silla
Unified Silla, or Late Silla, is the name often applied to the historical period of the Korean kingdom of Silla after its conquest of Goguryeo in 668 AD, which marked the end of the Three Kingdoms period. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alliance conquered Baekje in the Baekje–Tang War. Following the Goguryeo–Tang War and Silla–Tang War in the 7th century, Silla annexed the southern part of Goguryeo, unifying the central and southern regions of the Korean peninsula. Unified Silla existed during the Northern and Southern States period at a time when Balhae controlled the north of the peninsula. Unified Silla lasted for 267 years until it fell to Goryeo in 935 during the reign of King Gyeongsun. Terminology The people of the Unified Silla period considered themselves to be of a kingdom of unified Koreans, which they called "三韓一統", (Modern Hangul: , ) meaning the unity of three kingdoms (the three kingdoms being Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje). The term was used ...
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Korea Under Japanese Rule
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under policies of isolationism, with Joseon being a Tributary system of China, tributary state of Qing China. However, in 1854, Perry Expedition, Japan was forcibly opened by the United States. It then rapidly modernized under the Meiji Restoration, while Joseon continued to resist foreign attempts to open it up. Japan eventually succeeded in opening Joseon with the unequal Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876. Afterwards, Japan embarked on a decades-long process of defeating its local rivals, securing alliances with Western powers, and asserting its influence in Korea. Japan Assassination of Empress Myeongseong, assassinated the defiant Korean queen and intervened in the Donghak Peasant Revolution.Donald Keene, ''Emperor of Japan: Meiji and his World, 1852� ...
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Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius in the Hundred Schools of Thought era (c. 500 BCE), Confucianism integrates philosophy, ethics, and social governance, with a core focus on virtue, Harmonious Society, social harmony, and Filial piety, familial responsibility. Confucianism emphasizes virtue through self-cultivation and communal effort. Key virtues include ''Ren (philosophy), ren'' (benevolence), ''Yi (philosophy), yi'' (righteousness), ''Li (Confucianism), li'' (propriety), ''Wisdom, zhi'' (wisdom), and ''Xin (virtue), xin'' (sincerity). These values, deeply tied to the notion of ''tian'' (heaven), present a worldview where human relationships and social order are manifestations of sacred moral principles.. While Confucianism does not emphasize an ...
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Bitumen
Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American English, the material is commonly referred to as asphalt or tar. Whether found in natural deposits or refined from petroleum, the substance is classed as a pitch (resin), pitch. Prior to the 20th century, the term asphaltum was in general use. The word derives from the Ancient Greek word (), which referred to natural bitumen or pitch. The largest natural deposit of bitumen in the world is the Pitch Lake of southwest Trinidad, which is estimated to contain 10 million tons. About 70% of annual bitumen production is destined for road surface, road construction, its primary use. In this application, bitumen is used to bind construction aggregate, aggregate particles like gravel and forms a substance referred to as asphalt concrete, which is collo ...
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