Largest Buddha Statue From The Unified Silla Period (668―935) – Discovered

MessageToEagle.com – A Buddha statue, presumed to date back to the ninth century, has been found in Korea in what archeologists say may be an important new discovery to understanding ancient Buddhist art.

The gilt bronze statue, measuring over 50 centimeters in height, was discovered at a temple site in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, where a stone pagoda and other Buddhist relics had earlier been uncovered.

“According to experts who were called upon to check the new discovery at the excavation site this afternoon, the relic seems to be the largest of such kind from the Unified Silla period (668―935) and hold high value both artistically and historically,” an official at the Cultural Heritage Administration was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

The Unified Silla period (668―935) played a key role in Korea, in regards to cultural, intellectual and religious traditions.

Through exchanges with the Tang Dynasty it managed to introduce advanced Chinese culture to Silla and also to Japan.

Silla boosted both Buddhism and Confucianism and some of its Buddhist monks traveled to China and even to India to study.

The Yangyang county is proud to unite the five major religious influences in South Korea: Confucianism, Buddhism, Shamanism, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. There are sites for all these movements in Yangyang.

Woodblock printings from this period are famous and an ancient print of a Buddhist sutra written in the 8th century was found at one of its pagoda towers located in its capital, the oldest discovered printed material in the world.

Recently discovered statue of Buddha is preserved in relatively good condition compared to other statues from the period, the statue will have to be examined by researchers in the coming months, but experts predicted it could become a national treasure.

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Source: The Korea Herald