PersonAD 774

Kim Dae-seong

Chief minister under King Gyeongdeok who, according to the Samguk yusa, began Bulguksa and Seokguram

The Samguk yusa says he built Bulguksa for his parents in this life and Seokguram (Seokbulsa) for his parents in a former life. Work began around 751, and the state completed both after his death in 774. Bulguksa has the Seokgatap (three-storey pagoda), the Dabotap and the Cheongun and Baegun stairways. The Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra, regarded as the oldest surviving woodblock print in the world, was found inside the Seokgatap. Bulguksa and Seokguram became a World Heritage Site in 1995.

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AD 751 – AD 774Building of Bulguksa and Seokguramleader
Kim Dae-seong, chief minister under King Gyeongdeok, began Bulguksa and the Seokguram grotto on Mount Toham — the summit of unified Silla’s Buddhist art.

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King GyeongdeokAD 765
35th king of Silla, who sinicized official titles and place names but restored the nogeup stipend villages; Bulguksa and Seokguram were begun in his reign

Themes this person appears in

Changes in PagodasAD 634 – 1467
From Baekje stone pagodas copying timber ones and Silla pagodas copying brick ones, to Unified Silla three-story pagodas and stupas, Goryeo multi-sided pagodas and Yuan-influenced marble towers
Changes in Buddhist StatuesAD 539 – 1100
From a Goguryeo gilt-bronze Buddha in Northern Wei style and "the smile of Baekje" to the Seokguram Buddha, Balhae’s twin Buddhas, early Goryeo iron Buddhas and colossal regional stone figures
Intangible and World Heritage2000 BC – 1850
From the dolmens to Namhansanseong on the World Heritage List, from Jongmyo ritual music to ssireum on the Intangible Heritage lists — where each came from and when it was inscribed
Gyeongju57 BC – 1860
Silla’s capital for a thousand years — tombs, pagodas, temples and bells from every age of Silla, and the birthplace of Donghak