ABSTRACT

William Griffis, who taught at the Imperial University of Japan in the nineteenth century, but never visited Korea, describes Gyeongju as depicted in ancient documents from the vantage point of Japan across the Tsushima Strait. In 1920, decades after both of the descriptions of Gyeongju were written, a remarkable excavation enhanced Silla's reputation still further and also the world's understanding of the Silla polity in a new and unanticipated way. In addition to the imposing tomb mounds, Buddhist monuments large and small are scattered seemingly randomly around the city of Gyeongju, some of them remnants of bygone buildings. Even with its golden crowns, shimmering with golden leaves and jade jewels, its majestic Buddhas, and its Silk Road treasures, Gyeongju is not well known as a tourist destination outside of Asia. Among the Three Kingdoms of Korea, the Silla state was the farthest from China and, therefore, the most distant from central Chinese influence.