Crown of Gaya | |
![]() A Gaya crown on display at the National Museum of Korea. | |
Korean name | |
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Hangul | 금관및부속금구 |
Hanja | 金冠및附屬金具 |
Revised Romanization | Geumgwan mit Busok Geumgu |
McCune–Reischauer | Kŭmgwan mit Pusok Kŭmgu |
The crowns of Gaya refers to two excavated pieces that are believed to be the headgear of the elite of the Gaya Confederacy. These crowns share the general traditions of Korean crowns,such as the use of diadems,which follows the tradition of the Baekje and the use of headbands with uprights,most notably used in the crowns of Silla. However,the Gaya crowns are obviously distinctive from the traditions of the Silla and Baekje and shows that the Gaya people enjoyed an independent culture.
The Geumgwan mit busok geumgu refers to a collection of artifacts including a gold crown and its accompanying accessories,finger rings,and earrings. The crown is currently housed at the Hoam Art Museum. This artifact,along with its accompanying accessories,was designated as a national treasure of Korea on December 21,1971. The crown is believed to be from the fifth or sixth century CE and the crown measures 11.5 centimetres (4+1⁄2 inches) in height, 3.6 centimetres (1+1⁄2 inches) in width, and 20.7 centimetres (8+1⁄6 inches) in diameter.
The crown has three distinctive parts. The headband is made of gold. It is decorated with tiny gold mirrors which are attached to the band. The band itself is incised with dotted decorations running on the top and bottom in a diamond motif. Attached to the band are jade gogok. However, whether these beads were supposed to be on the headband is still debated because they were apparently not found on the crown when it was excavated.
The appendages of the crown are placed equidistant from each other on the circular headband. These appendages look similar to fleur de lis symbol but are more often described as grass-shaped or floral-shaped. Each appendage is identical and has three sets of prongs flowing downward at a right angle and is topped with a jewel-shaped finial. These appendages resemble a crown of Baekje which also had flowing floral-like patterns instead of the stylistic crowns of Silla.
Finally, the crown came with four floral-shaped ornaments which were probably used as diadems. Jade gogok were attached to the gold ornaments as well as tiny gold disks. It is believed that these ornaments follow Silla styles and are also incised with dots in a diamond motif like the headband of the crown.
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Gobeunok or Gogok are comma-shaped or curved beads and jewels that appeared from middle age of Mumun Period through the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The Gogok is posited by researchers to have been a symbol of prestige among Mumun culture community leaders as the tombs of presumably powerful figures were oftentimes accompanied by bronze daggers, stone daggers, and comma-shaped jewels. The Gogok's role as a symbol of prestige would carry onto the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea (as Gogok would remain a salient feature of Korean royal paraphernalia. They range in size range from 1 to 10 centimetres, and are oftentimes fashioned with a hole to be attached or threaded to another object. The origin of these comma-shaped jewels are posited by some to originate from the dragon-shaped jadeite ornament of the Hongshan culture of the Liao River Basin. However due to the spatial and temporal distance, most researchers have been skeptical of their genealogical relationship. The generally accepted interpretation in academia is that the form of the comma-shaped jewel originated from the canine teeth of predator animals as Magatama which first appeared in Japan in the Final Jōmon period or as a symbol of a half-moon sacred to moon worshippers, or as a symbol of fetus and or fertility.
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Gaya was a Korean confederacy of territorial polities in the Nakdong River basin of southern Korea, growing out of the Byeonhan confederacy of the Samhan period.
A National Treasure is a tangible treasure, artifact, site, or building which is recognized by the South Korean government as having exceptional artistic, cultural and historical value to the country. The title is one of the eight State-designated heritage classifications assigned by the administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Protection Act after deliberation by the Cultural Heritage Committee.
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Korean arts include traditions in calligraphy, music, painting and pottery, often marked by the use of natural forms, surface decoration and bold colors or sounds.
The tradition of Korean jade carving dates back to neolithic finds along the Namgang river basin in Gyeongju. Jade rings and accessories made from both nephrite and jadeite were worn by the higher classes of society, especially women, from the three kingdoms period and reached their peak in the Joseon dynasty, the golden age of jadework. Carved jade artifacts found in Silla dynasty tombs appear to be made from jade originating from Japan and Taiwan, suggested sea trade of jade existed prior to the 5th century AD. Korean jadework often includes Buddhist motifs, cicadas, and small peanut-shaped or comma-shaped good luck talismans, as well as larger-scale architectural pieces. A gold crown featuring 58 hanging jade pendants and a gold girdle with 13 jade pendants were both found in the Silla-era tomb of an unknown king, called Cheonmachong, first excavated in 1973.
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The Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation is a gilt-bronze statue of what is believed to be the Maitreya, the future Buddha, in a semi-seated contemplative pose. It is commonly referred to as the Contemplative Bodhisattva, Pensive Bodhisattva, or Gilt-Bronze Seated Maitreya in English. In Korean it is frequently referred to as pan'gasayusang. It is the National Treasure of Korea No. 83.
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The Gold Crown Tomb (Geumgwanchong), is a Silla tumulus located in modern-day Gyeongju, South Korea, the former capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom. Believed to date from the fifth or sixth century CE, the tomb was excavated in 1921. It was the first tomb that was found to contain a gold crown of the Silla royalty, and is still the largest crown excavated thus far. The tomb takes its name from the crown. Over 40,000 other artifacts were recovered from the tomb, including "gold, silver, and bronze vessels, gold and silver weapons, gilt-bronze plate armor, stoneware vessels, 20,000 mainly blue Indo-Pacific beads, and horse fittings."
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Yamato Japan and the Gaya Confederacy, which were located directly across the Korea Strait from one another, had very close diplomatic and commercial ties since prehistory until the conquest of Gaya by Silla in 562 AD.
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