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This is an incense burner of Baekjae founded with about 450 relics
in a hole in the west part of a temple site between Baekjae Naseong
and Neungsanri old tombs group.
It is a great incense burner of 64-centimer-tall and 11.8-kilogram-heavy,
which is largely divided into a body and a lid, and divided into
4 parts when the phoenix attached to the top and the stand are included.
 In
the lid, 23 mountains are folded and folded in 4¡5 layers
and 5 musicians who play the flute, small bipa, geomungo and drums
and 16 persons' figures of various warriors, the figure of horse
riding and hunting etc. and imaginary winged animals including phoenix
and dragon, and 39 realistic animals such as tigers and deer etc.
are expressed in the incense burner.
Besides, 6 trees, 12 rocks, mountain paths in the side of the
mountain, brook water flowing through the mountains, waterfalls
and lakes are expressed kaleidoscopically. On the top of the lid,
a separately attached phoenix conceals cint mani with a neck and
a beak spreading wings powerfully, the tenderness of a long upward
tail is said as the characteristic of Baekjae style.
In the front chest of phoenix and in front of and behind the
musicians' figures, 5 holes are pierced so that the incense can
go up naturally from the body.
 The
body suggests full-blown lotus. On the surface of lotus leaves,
26 animals including phoenix, fish, deer and cranes are arranged.
The stand is a dragon supporting it with the head up like rising
into the sky with biting the bottom of lotus of the body.
This incense burner seems to have been affected by Baksan incense
burner in vogue in Han Dynasty in China, however the mountains are
expressed independently, sterically and realistically unlike those
of China. Its creativity and formation are excellent, and it shows
the complexity of religions and ideologies where Buddhism and Taoism
are mixed, which is a precious work to make us comprehend the crafts,
art culture, and even religions, ideologies and manufacturing technology
of Baekjae period.
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