Bronze Gong of Okcheonsa Temple, Goseong

Bronze gongs were used at Buddhist temples to gather people for rituals and to notify of an emergency.

This bronze gong of Okcheonsa Temple has an inscription along its edge which consists of 187 characters and contains information about when and by whom the gong was made, as well as the name of the temple for which it was made and the names of the people who made donations to cast it. According to this inscription, the gong was made in 1252 by the artisan Han Jung-seo and was kept at Anyangsa Temple of Jirisan Mountain. There is no available information about how and when the gong came into the possession of Okcheonsa Temple, but it is presumed that it was used at Anyangsa Temple for over 200 years before the temple shut down, at which time the gong was moved to Okcheonsa Temple.

The gong measures 55 cm in diameter and 14 cm in depth. The front side of the gong has four concentric circles cast in relief at 5 cm intervals. There are six round raised points in the center where the gong was struck, lotus designs between the first and second circles, and scroll and cloud designs around the edge. The back of the gong has a concave surface which improves its acoustics.

Source: Korea Heritage Service signboard ↗ · collected 2026-10-08