뉴스레터

This 91.5-centimeter tall, 91-centimeter long, 36-centimeter wide ridge-end tile called chimi (鴟尾) was uncovered during a large-scale investigation done in China's Heilongjiang province by a Chinese and North Korean joint archaeological excavation team between 1963 and 1964 on Sanggyeong Castle (上京城) of the ancient Korean kingdom Balhae.

Shaped like a bird's tail and placed at both ends of a roof's ridge, the purpose of a chimi was to create an ornamental effect for a building. It was also meant to keep demons away (辟邪) and bring good luck (吉祥). Aside from Sanggyeong Castle, chimis from the times of Balhae have also been discovered at Seogo Castle (西古城) and the Abrikos temple site in Primorsky Krai. The chimi featured in the photo has no pattern on its body and the details of its shape are identical to the chimi excavated from temple site no. 1 of Sanggyeong Castle. There are sixteen feathers on each of the two wings and seven beaded shapes are lined as decoration between the wings and the body. Each beaded shape is surrounded by sixteen smaller beads called yeonju (連珠), which makes their ensemble look like flowers.

Nokyu (綠釉) is a type of glaze coated to add shades such as blue, green, and yellowish brown on earthenware, which represent the three traditional colors of Balhae (渤海三彩). The three-color nokyu enhances the splendor of relief decoration featured on the chimi and is considered as one of the highlights of Balhae architecture.

Reference: "Bohai sancai" (渤海三彩), Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (黑龙江省文物考古研究所), 2013