Silla – Gold and the Sacred
Guided tour of the exhibition at the MNAA – GUIMET.
This exhibition, like others in various museums, commemorates the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Korea.
The exhibition follows the history of the Silla kingdom, which, according to local chronicles, existed between 57 BC and 935 AD. The territory of Korea was initially divided between three kingdoms: Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, and a confederation of small states, Gaya. In the Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk sagi) written on the 12thrd century, the kingdom of Silla is said to have been created in 57 BC.
Game of Thrones
According to the Han chronicles (206 BC–220 AD), proto-Silla was called Saroguk. Between the second and first centuries BC, Saroguk experienced remarkable growth thanks to the iron industry. The city of Gyeongju (which would remain the center of power for nine centuries) was located at a strategic crossroads of land and sea trade routes. Saroguk's rise to power is directly linked to the improvement of forging techniques, as confirmed by archaeological discoveries. Molds for the manufacture of weapons, tools, and implements have been found in large numbers. Deposits found in tombs include military equipment, ceramics, and ornaments made of various materials (jade, jasper, agate, rock crystal, glass). Certain comma-shaped pieces are very common; called gogok In Korea, they are found in Japan under the name of magatamaIn addition to numerous iron axes and halberds, two daggers are on display, one entirely bronze and the other with an iron blade, although the rest of the weapon is bronze. The pottery benefited from Chinese influences, such as the potter's wheel and firing in tunnel kilns. A set of bird-shaped vessels, likely used at funerals, were placed in tombs. The base on which they rest is often openwork, a feature also found on Silla pottery, which was exported to the Japanese archipelago. It so happens that in the 4thrd In the 19th century, a Saroguk chief sent a representative to China to be recognized as sovereign, and he called himself Maripgan(Marip = great, and gan = king), a title that his successors would retain until the 6thrd century. Power, both political and undoubtedly religious, is embodied by the Maripgan, within a universe where gold, horses, the steppe and the tomb compose a single imaginary world.
 The Korean Peninsula in the 1st century. The Three Kingdoms |
 Bronze daggers, but the one on the right has an iron blade. 1st-2nd century. Gyeongju. Sara-ri. Tomb 130. |
 Axe head. Iron. 3rd-4th century. Gyeongju. Guero-ri. |
 Bird-shaped vessel. Terracotta. 3rd-4th century. Gyeongju. Deokcheon-ri. |
The Golden Throne
At the heart of this early Silla period, royalty and the aristocracy were buried in immense tombs surmounted by tumuli. Generally, the tomb consisted of two compartments arranged in a T-shape. There was a pit in which the coffin containing the deceased was placed, along with a large number of objects, such as a gold crown, etc. A second pit was dug at the rear specifically for accumulating precious objects. The gold crowns, of which six examples are known today for the 5th century, come from these tombs.rd century and the beginning of the 6rd century. The one on display, unearthed in 1918 in the "Golden Crown Tomb," stands as one of the pinnacles of this art. Its gold band extends into upright branches reminiscent of trees, with leaf- or flower-shaped finials so characteristic of Silla. At the back, more sinuous branches suggest deer antlers. The symbolic interpretation is almost self-evident: the tree connects heaven and earth, in a perspective akin to the shamanic world, while the deer represents vitality, fertility, and rebirth. These crowns were not static objects. Suspended elements, made of gold sheet and finely twisted wire, were hung from them, so that the whole piece shimmered and shimmered with the slightest movement. In addition, there were small, comma-shaped stones, sometimes made of bright green jadeite, whose exact meaning eludes us, but which clearly belonged to a symbol of power. Similar shapes also appear on belt pendants, associated with objects, some of which undoubtedly had a protective or magical function.
 Crown. Gold, jade. 5th century. Gyeongju. Tomb of the Golden Crown. |
 Belt. Gold, jade, glass. 5th century. Gyeongju. Tomb of the Golden Crown. |
 Footed cup with two handles. Terracotta. 5th century. Gyeongju. Great tomb of Hwangnam. |
 Foot cup. Gold. 5th century. Gyeongju. Hwangnam Great Tomb |
The abundance of gold was not limited to the crown. It extended to separate headdresses, probably conical caps adorned with intricately carved, openwork, and layered gold sheets, sometimes featuring wing-like elements. Here again, the idea of a passage to the afterlife, a flight to the spirit world, emerges. The ensemble irresistibly evokes certain funerary practices of Siberia or the steppes, even down to the goldsmithing techniques, which invite distant comparisons with the treasures discovered at Tilia Tepe. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings were worn by both sexes.
Ceramics held a prominent place in tombs. These high-fired stoneware pieces, hard, resonant, and almost vitrified, seem to have been perceived as the equivalent, in a different register, of metal itself. Some tall, openwork stemmed cups exist in gold, silver, or ceramic, indicating a true equivalence of form and prestige between the materials.
Among the most fascinating works are these large, wheel-thrown vases, later embellished with hand-modeled and applied elements: animals, birds, turtles, fish, human figures, sometimes a pregnant woman playing the gayageum, sometimes even a sexual scene. The composition seems to unfold all around the vessel like a circular narrative. It is clearly a very dense symbolic repertoire, linked to creation, death, fertility, and transformation, but whose precise meaning remains inaccessible due to the lack of contemporary texts.
The role of women is still poorly understood for this period, but it is nevertheless noted that there were three queens who reigned without simply being the wife of the sovereign.
Ear ornaments, belts, weapons, harness or saddle ornaments compose the image of a ruling group that asserts its rank through the brilliance of precious metals as well as through mastery of the horse.
Horsemen and conquerors
While the majority of the population is agricultural, the Maripgan They are, in reality, conquerors on horseback who will benefit from the innovations that have been made in the steppe region. And when you depict a horse, you do it in every detail.
Social order was based on a strict hierarchy of birth. The elite were recruited from specific categories within the aristocracy, according to a logic of blood and rank. Silla's wealth also stemmed from iron metallurgy, which underpinned the kingdom's military power. Armor, stirrups, harness plates, and protective gear for rider and mount all attest to a high level of craftsmanship.
From 5rd In particular, during the 1st century AD, Silla appears to have been integrated into increasingly extensive trade networks. Glass provides one of the most eloquent indicators of this. Initially local or regional, it gradually gave way to imported blown glass, which analysis has shown to have originated in the Roman Empire, probably from Egypt or the Levant. Some pieces found in Korea have been compared to glass from the Begram hoard in Afghanistan, revealing the scale of these networks.
 Vase with a high neck and decorated with figurines. Terracotta. 5th century. Gyeongju. Tomb of King Michu. Hwangnam-dong. |
 Rhyton on a base. Terracotta. 5th century. Gyeongju. Tomb of King Michu. Hwangnam-dong. |
 Dagger and scabbard ornaments. Gold, garnets, glass, precious stones. 6th century. Gyeongju. Gyerim-ro. |
 Helmet and armor. Iron. 5th century. Gyeongju. Sara-ri. Tomb 65. |
This openness is also manifested in foreign forms reinterpreted locally, such as a rhyton-type cup evoking the Middle East while resting on a typically Korean support, or a silver cup adorned with animal decoration reminiscent of Sassanid traditions nourished by elements from the steppes.
Even more striking is this dagger with a gold-covered sheath, decorated with granulation and cloisonné work set with garnets. The object has no direct equivalent in Korea, China, or Japan. Analysis has shown that the garnets originated in India, Ceylon, and Rajasthan, as with certain Merovingian pieces from the West. We must therefore imagine an object originating in an intermediate zone, perhaps Byzantine, perhaps connected to the Persian and Sasanian worlds, and then transported along the routes of Central Asia. Thus, Silla, however remote it may seem, is linked to a vast space where forms, techniques, and materials circulated.
The rest of the exhibition focuses on the harness of the warrior and his mount. A protective iron helmet for a horse's head is displayed opposite a full suit of armor, complete with its helmet, also made of iron. Two stirrups, damascened in gold and silver, depict horses. A saddle back ornament demonstrates the virtuosity of the metalworkers with its gilded bronze sheets, cut like lace and layered.
Unified Silla
To assert his dominance over other kingdoms, Silla did not rely solely on his military power. He undertook profound administrative reforms under Chinese influence. The sovereign ceased to be designated as Maripgan and now appears in Chinese chronicles under the title of Wangthat is to say, king. The adoption of legal and institutional models from China accompanies this change.
In the military sphere, the kingdom relies on the hwarang, an aristocratic elite selected for its qualities and mobilized in the service of conquest. The alliance with Tang China (618-907) allowed Silla to successively subdue Gaya, Baekje, and then Goguryeo. But once victory was achieved, it would still be necessary to resist Chinese influence. King Munmu played a decisive role here: supported by the hwarangHe imposed a distancing, even if diplomatic relations were later restored by his successors.
Thus began the period of the unified Silla in 676. The unification did not encompass the entire peninsula, as the north remained under the rule of Balhae, near Manchuria. But a new political order had indeed emerged.
 Saddle back ornament. Gilt bronze, wood, black lacquer, leather, silk. 5th-6th century. Gyeongju. Tomb of the Heavenly Horse |
 Korean Peninsula in the 7th century. Unified Silla Kingdom. |
 Anthropomorphic statue of a monkey in armor. Granite. 8th century. Gyeongju. Joyang-dong. Tomb of King Seongdeok. |
The official adoption of Buddhism in 527 by Silla, the last of the Three Kingdoms to embrace this religion, remains a major event. Funeral rituals were profoundly transformed: the immense burial mounds under artificial tumuli entered a slow decline, while cremation became more widespread. This spiritual shift was accompanied by the adoption of Chinese writing, inkstones, and the entire world of the scholar. It is also reflected in funerary statuary. The ancient practices of human and animal sacrifice were gradually abandoned under the combined influence of Chinese practices and Buddhism, in favor of accompanying statuettes comparable to... mingqi Chinese. The theme of the Chinese zodiac became central in the ornamentation of tombs as well as in that of Buddhist monuments. Guardians with animal heads protected the burial sites; later, the zodiac signs appeared at the base of pagodas, a specifically Korean innovation.
A large sculpture, probably a funerary guardian, depicts a warrior with a monkey's head and wearing Chinese armor.
 Representation of the twelve animals of the zodiac: the pig. Algamatolite. 7th-8th century. Gyeongju. General Kim Yu-sin tumulus. |
 Female figurine. Terracotta. 7th century. Gyeongju. Hwangseong-dong. |
 Front tile decorated with a goblin mask. Terracotta. Unified Silla period, 7th-10th centuries. Gyeongju. Donggung Palace and Woiji Pond |
 Seated Bodhisattva. Gilded bronze. Late 7th century. Gyeongju. Donggung Palace and Woiji Pond. |
Chinese influence extended beyond rituals and the ideology of power; it also reshaped the urban landscape. Gyeongju was reorganized on the model of Chang'an, with its network of straight streets intersecting at right angles, its Chinese-style palaces, its wooden architecture set upon stone foundations, and its terracotta tiles decorated with lotus motifs. Buddhism increasingly left its mark, even in courtly objects.
Silla Korea was fully integrated into the vast Buddhist sphere of East Asia. Korean monks trained in China before continuing on to India, following the example of great Chinese pilgrims. One of them, Hyecho (704?-787?), is even said to have traveled as far as Persia before returning via the caravan routes. His memoirs, written in Chinese, attest to this connection with the Sinicized literate world as well as to the enduring link with India, the birthplace of Buddhism.
 Seated Amitabha Buddha. Gilt bronze. 706. Hwangboksa Monastery. Guhwang-dong Pagoda. |
 Bas-relief depicting one of the Four Heavenly Guardian Kings. Terracotta. Circa 679. Gyeongju. Monastery of the Four Heavenly Guardian Kings. |
 Hyecho (704?-787?). Wang wu tian zhu guo zhuan (Memoirs of the pilgrimage to the five regions of India). Ink on paper. 8th century. China. |
This written culture is also reflected in the major Korean chronicles. Samguk Sagi, composed on the 12thrd century, and the Samguk Yusawritten on the 13thrd century by a monk, recount the origins of Silla by mixing history and legend.
The Buddhism adopted by Silla was not a simple or elementary form. It arrived already rich with a complex pantheon, relayed by China and nourished by India and Central Asia. The worship of lokapalaThe four guardian kings of the realm hold a major place. Martial, armored, and armed deities, they protect the kingdom as much as the doctrine. Their representations on bricks, reliefs, or reliquaries show how this Buddhism is also a Buddhism of power, readily ritualistic, where the D'HaransSacred formulas, imbued with efficacy, play an essential role.
Reliquaries, sometimes nested one inside the other, small stupas containing texts, and offerings of images multiplied to increase merit—all these reveal a devotional world of great intensity. Figures of the meditating Bodhisattva, often identified with Maitreya, as well as those of Avalokiteshvara, demonstrate the importance of statuary in this spiritual economy. Tang aesthetics are very present, but certain materials, such as granite, give Korean works a unique character.
The tour concludes with a visit to the Seokguram Grotto, nestled in the mountains surrounding Gyeongju. More than just a grotto, it is a granite structure connected to a monastic complex and designed to protect the capital. Gatekeepers lead visitors into a space filled with reliefs and sacred figures, culminating in the central circular hall where a colossal Buddha, over three meters tall, once stood, making the gesture of calling the earth to witness.
 Reliquary decorated on all four sides with the celestial guardian kings. Gilded bronze. 8th-10th century. Gyeongju. Nawon-ri Pagoda. |
 Reliquary jar (amalgatolite), reliquary flask (glass and bronze), set of miniature three-tiered pagodas (terracotta, white chalk and wood). 9th century. Bonghwa. Seodong-ri Pagoda. |
 Holographic evocation of the Buddha of the Seokguram cave |
