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This miniature bell was once used as part of Buddhist indoor rituals. Likely suspended in a Buddhist temple, it features a cast dragon and a vertical tube to amplify the sound on top, and is decorated with Buddhist figures seated on lotuses. The echoing sound of the bell was thought to help Buddhist believers understand the significance of transience and impermanence; the sound instantly fades away as soon as one hears it. This sensory experience creates a striking conceptual parallel with Buddhist teachings, including the idea that all things and beings exist merely in our perception or imagination. An inscription indicates it was cast in the year of the dragon and took three years to make.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
0f667b103697d68a
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
156281
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "156281",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Bronze Ritual Bell",
    "description": "This miniature bell was once used as part of Buddhist indoor rituals. Likely suspended in a Buddhist temple, it features a cast dragon and a vertical tube to amplify the sound on top, and is decorated with Buddhist figures seated on lotuses. The echoing sound of the bell was thought to help Buddhist believers understand the significance of transience and impermanence; the sound instantly fades away as soon as one hears it. This sensory experience creates a striking conceptual parallel with Buddhist teachings, including the idea that all things and beings exist merely in our perception or imagination. An inscription indicates it was cast in the year of the dragon and took three years to make.",
    "date": "1226",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.118",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60761459"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Metalwork"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Diameter: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.); Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)"
    ],
    "accession": "1992.118"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "156281",
    "label": "Bronze Ritual Bell",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "156281",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Bronze Ritual Bell",
    "description": "This miniature bell was once used as part of Buddhist indoor rituals. Likely suspended in a Buddhist temple, it features a cast dragon and a vertical tube to amplify the sound on top, and is decorated with Buddhist figures seated on lotuses. The echoing sound of the bell was thought to help Buddhist believers understand the significance of transience and impermanence; the sound instantly fades away as soon as one hears it. This sensory experience creates a striking conceptual parallel with Buddhist teachings, including the idea that all things and beings exist merely in our perception or imagination. An inscription indicates it was cast in the year of the dragon and took three years to make.",
    "date": "1226",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.118",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60761459"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Metalwork"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Diameter: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.); Overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392)"
    ],
    "accession": "1992.118"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "cast bronze with incised inscription",
    "tombstone": "Bronze Ritual Bell (청동 범종 [靑銅梵鐘]), 1226. Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). Cast bronze with incised inscription; diameter: 14 cm (5 1/2 in.); overall: 22.6 cm (8 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1992.118",
    "titleInOriginalLanguage": "청동 범종 [靑銅梵鐘]",
    "collection": "Korean Art",
    "didYouKnow": "The inscription informs us that this miniature indoor bell was produced in 1226.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p.45, fig. 414; Mentioned: p. 78",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161388"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, and Michael R. Cunningham. <em>Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art</em>, Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art; New York: Thames and Hudson, 1998.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 235"
        },
        {
            "citation": "<em>Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392</em>. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 188, no. 56; p. 191, no. 57, Mentioned: p. 168"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Choi, Eung-chon. “Metal Arts in the Late Goryeo Period [고려후기의 금속공예].” <em>Kangjwa misulsa</em> (2004): 125-156.",
            "url": "http://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE09054886"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Choi, Eung-chon. “Craftsmen in Metal Arts in the Goryeo Dynasty [고려시대 金屬工藝의 匠人].” <em>Misulsahak yeongu</em> (2004): 171-192.",
            "url": "http://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE00996932"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Kim, Eunae. \"A Study of Repoussé Works of Goryeo [고려시대 타출 공예 연구].\" <em>Korean Journal of Art History </em>(March 2007): 31-72.",
            "url": "http://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE00997073"
        },
        {
            "citation": "<em>The spirit of Goryeo in metalcrafts</em> [금속공예에깃든고려인의삶]. Seoul: Jeju National Museum and National Cheongju Museum, 2011."
        },
        {
            "citation": "<em>Bronze in Life and Art</em> [삶과 예술 속. 청동 靑銅 이야기] National Cheongju Museum (2016)."
        },
        {
            "citation": "<em>Goryeo: The Glory of Korea </em>[대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018."
        },
        {
            "citation": "Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. <em>The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 130–131, no. 93"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.118",
    "creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
    "sketchfabId": "b487349bf0ff4690adebb301edeaa179",
    "sketchfabUrl": "https://sketchfab.com/models/b487349bf0ff4690adebb301edeaa179",
    "updatedAt": "2026-06-18 21:16:09.144000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1992.118/1992.118_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 156281,
    "dept": "Korean Art",
    "coll": "Korean Art",
    "med": "cast bronze with incised inscription",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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