Seoksu (

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...

: 석수,

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 石獸) is a stone animal statue in the image of a beast, placed at or within a tomb or palace. This kind of protective stone animal originated from the funeral customs of the

Eastern Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a w ...

. Seoksu could also be placed in the pile of the stone and rubble used to surround the tomb and can be found carved on the bases of

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoi ...

Types

Stone animal statues, named ''seongmul'' (석물, 石物) came in various forms, including but not limited to lions, horses, oxen, elephants, pigs, tigers or the mythical animal haetae.

King Muryong's tomb

One such figure was found in the center aisle of the

tomb of King Muryeong The Tomb of King Muryeong, also known as Songsan-ri Tomb No. 7 (), is the ancient tumulus of King Muryeong, who ruled the Baekje from 501 to 523, and his queen. The rarity of intact Baekje tombs makes this one of the major archaeological discoveri ...

. It is 30.8 centimeres in height, 48 centimeters in length, and 22 centimeters in width. The animal is somewhat realistic, depicting a tail and anus. However, a steel horn shaped like a leaf and flame patterns depicting wings which run from the left and right of the body and on the legs show that it is not based on a real creature. The Seoksu has a blunt mouth and a big nose without nostrils. The mouth has remnants of red paint on it, suggesting that the figure was once brightly painted. Although this Seoksu is of a lower quality than some of the other treasures found within the tomb, it is especially valuable because it is the first stone figure excavated buried with

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo of Baekje, Onjo, the third son of Gogurye ...

kings. The figure is the 162nd National Treasure of Korea and was designated by the South Korean government on July 9, 1974. It is currently held in the

Gongju National Museum Gongju National Museum is a national museum in Gongju, South Korea. The Gongju National Museum holds 10,000 artifacts including 19 national treasures and 3 treasures excavated in Daejeon and Chungcheongnam-do areas, especially artifacts from To ...

References

{{reflist Baekje National Treasures of South Korea Sculptures in South Korea Gongju

Types

King Muryong's tomb

See also

References