Art@Site www.artatsite.com Philip Ahn Korean Bell of Friendship
Artist:

Philip Ahn

Title:

Korean Bell of Friendship

Year:
1976
Adress:
3601 San Gaffey Street
Website:
www.wikipedia.org:
he Korean Bell of Friendship (more commonly called Korean Friendship Bell) is a massive bronze bell housed in a stone pavilion in Angel's Gate Park, in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Located at the corner of Gaffey and 37th Streets, the section of the park is alternatively called the "Korean-American Peace Park" and occupies part of the former Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur.
It is modeled after the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok the Great of Silla (also known as the Emille Bell), cast in 771 for Bongdeok Temple and now located at the National Museum of Gyeongju. The Emille Bell is the largest bell ever cast in Korean history; both are among the largest bells in the world. The bell is made of over seventeen tons of copper and tin, with gold, nickel, lead, and phosphorus added to the alloy for tone quality. It has a diameter of 7½ feet, average thickness of 8 inches, and a height of 12 feet. The exterior surface is richly decorated in relief, featuring four pairs of figures. Each pair includes a "Goddess of Liberty" (bearing some resemblance to the Statue of Liberty) and a Seonnyeo, or Korean spirit figure, holding the South Korean national symbol: a Taegeuk symbol, a branch of rose of Sharon, a branch of laurel, and a dove.

www.roadtrippers.com:
The Korean Bell of Friendship is a massive bronze bell housed in a stone pavilion in Angel's Gate Park, in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Located at the corner of Gaffey and 37th Streets, the section of the park is alternatively called the "Korean-American Peace Park," and occupies part of the former Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur. The "Belfry of Friendship" (Ujeong-ui Jonggak), which houses the bell The bell was presented by the Republic of Korea to the American people to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States and to symbolize friendship between the two nations.

www.wikipedia.org:
Beginning in 2010, the bell has been ceremonially struck five times a year: on New Year's Eve, Korean American Day (January 13), the Fourth of July, Korean Liberation Day (August 15), and Constitution Day (September 17). It was also rung on September 11, 2002, to commemorate the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The bell is also rung without specific ceremony on the first Saturday of each month at noon, 13 times for the public to enjoy. The bell does not have a clapper; instead, it is sounded by striking it with a large wooden log.
The pavilion that houses the bell, known as the Belfry of Friendship, was built by South Korean craftsmen over a period of ten months. Its design is traditional. It is axially symmetric, consisting of a hipped (a.k.a. "pyramidal") roof supported by twelve columns representing the Korean zodiac, each column guarded by a carved animal. The color patterning along the bell's pavilion is known in Korean as dancheong.

www.wikipedia.org:
Philip Ahn (born Pil Lip Ahn (안필립), March 29, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was an American actor and activist of Korean descent. With over 180 film and television credits between 1935 and 1978, he was one of the most recognizable and prolific Asian-American character actors of his time. He is widely-regarded as the first Korean American film actor in Hollywood.
The son of Korean independence activist Dosan Ahn Chang-ho, Ahn was a longtime advocate for his father’s legacy and the Korean-American community, helping to establish memorials to his father in his native Seoul and later arranging for his remains to be buried there.

www.wikipedia.org:
Seongdeok Daewang (reigned 702–737) was the thirty-third king of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the second son of King Sinmun, and the younger brother of King Hyoso. In 704 Seongdeok married Lady Baeso 陪昭夫人 (Queen Seongjeong 成貞), the daughter of Gim Wontae. In 715 their son, Junggyeong 重慶, was named Crown Prince and heir presumptive. Shortly thereafter, and for reasons unclear but quite likely having to do with a power struggle at court between the king and the clan of the queen, Queen Seongjeong was evicted from the palace in 716. As further evidence of a possible power struggle, the next year Junggyeong died under circumstances that remain unknown. Following the fall from favor of his first wife, King Seongdeog married Sodeok in 720, the daughter of the minister Gim Sun-won. Kings Hyoseong and Gyeongdeok were among the children of Seongdeok and Sodeok.