The Study on the Style and Value of Stone Buddha Statue of Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju

This study focus on the characteristics and of the Fragment of Stone Buddha of Hoeamsa Temple(檜巖寺). As is well known, this temple had been developed rebuilding by supporting of the royal family from the late of Korea Dynasty to the early of Joseon Dynasty(朝鮮). The Hoeamsa Temple Site in Yangju(陽州) is believed to have been destroyed in a fire in the late 16th century, and various artifacts have been excavated after several excavations since 1999. This Temple has been excavated a variety of Fragment of Stone Buddha statues. The Buddha statue of Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju has a hole on top of high usnisa(肉髻), and special folds in the left arm and a thick clothing style. It was reflects the sculptural Joseon style modified by the Tibet-Chinese style. This style is very similar to that of Buddha statues produced in the 15th century, supported by the royal family of Joseon. In particular, these statues were believed to have been produced around the first half of the 15th century when the temple was heavily fortified with the support of Prince Hyo-ryeong(孝寧大君). It is also interesting to note that these statues show the sculptural features of the early Joseon Dynasty, reflecting the Tibetan-Chinese sculptures style, compared to those of the Buddhist sculptures in the first half of the 15th century during the year of Yeongrak (1403~1424) and Seondeok (1426~1435), the kings of the Ming Dynasty. This reflects the development of Buddhist sculptures in the early Joseon Dynasty in line with the trend of Buddhist art in East Asia.

Scientific Analysis for Furnace Walls of the Joseon Dynasty Excavated in Southern Region of the Korean Peninsula

A study on the Joseon Dynasty’s furnace walls, excavated from south Korea, was conducted to identify the correlations and differences of the furnace walls found in Jeolla and Gyeongsang regions. Three ruins in the Jeolla region and two in the Gyeongsang region were selected for the analysis. The results showed a layer change depending on the degree of plasticity and difference in the number of layers and particle phase. Furthermore, although the temperature to be subjected to heat was divided into 1300°C and 1100°C, it was not a phenomenon that appeared according to the region. Additionally, analysis result of major components revealed that the TiO2 content of most samples does not exceed 1wt%, This means that the furnace did not smelt iron sand or smelted it into low-titanium sand. This study indicated a slight similarity between the furnace walls found in the two regions, and the correlation was determined based on the nature of the ruins, raw materials of the metals ores, and composition of the raw materials constituting the furnace walls.