Attention to Details

The bell in this picture is the largest one in all of Asia. It is also very old, over 1000 years. It was the bell for King Seongdeok. The pit under the bell is to help resonate the sound it makes when stuck on the outside. There is a sound pipe that comes out of the top of the bell that also helps make a clear, resonating sound when it is rung. The sound from this huge bell can travel more than three kilometers.
The image on the side is that of a goddess holding a water lilly. Four of these figures are on the each side of the bell.
This 25 ton bell hangs from a cable that was used ever since the bell was first used. Recent engineers tried to make a cable that would bear the weight of the bell when it was moved, however when they made the cable it was so large that it wouldn't go through the hole at the top. The old, original cable had to put back in to hold the bell in place!









Roof Tiles From the Silla Kingdom (Silla is pronounced as Shil -la)






Attention to detail in every way, the Silla Kingdom is more than 1000 years old. Many of the engineering feats accomplished then can't be replicated today. What secrets did these people keep from us?














As I look at the huge palaces and temples created by the Korean people of so long ago I am held spellbound by their splendors.


But sometimes I stop and look at the small details that were attended to as the buildings were put together and the importance of beauty was kept in every respect of the process.









The aesthetic for this palace tile was not one of beauty, but it's function was to frighten evil spirits away from the buildings. It is the same concept that people had in the medieval times when they put gargoyles on their cathedrals. The point is in the details, the perfection, and the quality attained by these people of so long ago.

Besides being taken on a trip to Gyeongju National Museum today I also had a chance to try a new art form. I learned a new technique on how to do a relief print of a roof tile. Always happy to learn something new. We will try this same technique next fall when I get my students back in session again!