The Divine Bell of King Seongdeok (Emille Bell)
771
Under its own roofed pavilion, hanging from a massive beam, is a bronze bell taller than two people and heavier than a bus. It was cast in the year 771 by order of King Hyegong in memory of his grandfather King Seongdeok, and it is the largest bell that survives from ancient Korea. Walk around it. The surface is covered in relief: bands of lotus and vine ornament at the top and bottom, four square panels of nine lotus bosses, and on two sides a pair of flying celestial figures kneeling on clouds with incense burners, their scarves streaming upward. Between them is a long inscription in Chinese characters that records the bell's dedication and the hope that its sound would carry the Buddha's teaching to all beings.
The bell was made to be struck from the outside with a wooden log, in the Korean manner, against the lotus boss that is worn smooth near the rim. Its sound is famous. Korean bells have a hollow tube at the top, next to the dragon-shaped hook, which is thought to shape the tone, and a bowl-shaped depression in the ground beneath, which reflects it. The result is a deep note that swells and fades in slow pulses, lasting well over a minute. Recordings are played beside the pavilion; the real bell is rung only on rare ceremonial occasions to protect the metal.
The legend attached to it explains the nickname. The first casting failed, and a monk was told that the bell required a child to be thrown into the molten bronze. A mother gave up her daughter, the casting succeeded, and the bell is said to cry Emille, an old word for mother, each time it is struck. There is no evidence for the story, but stand close when the recording plays and you will understand why people believed it.
Did You Know? The bell has moved at least four times since its temple was abandoned, and reached the museum only in 1975, more than twelve centuries after it was cast.
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