• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.35-47
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• 2009

The deteriorations of stone monuments located in Gyeongju area are predicted in a modeling study. Artificial rain and accelerated weathering test are here applied to the Gyeongju Namsan granite and cement mortar. They are reacted with pH 4.0, pH 8.0 and pH 5.6 rain, respectively. The two former values are the limited acidity values in the Gyeongju (the acidity of rain of the Gyeongju were pH $4.93{\sim}6.39$ in 2005) and the latter is the limited acidity of acid rain. The rains of pH 5.6 and pH 8.0 reach close to a value of pH 7.0 after the reaction with the Gyeongju Namsan granite. After application of the artificial rain and weathering test, the weight of specimens were reduced and the contents of soluble ions in the specimens were increased. These results are attributable to solution of minerals in the specimens. At first, the microlithic have dissolved in ground from the reaction with acid rain. And then mainly quartz, plagioclase and orthoclase bound by the microlithic are disintegrated. The cement mortars are dissolved after the reaction with not only acid but alkali rain. The concentrations of ions in the dissolved cement mortar are higher than those in granite.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.150-169
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• 2020

Surveys of Buddhist ruins at Namsan in Gyeongju began in earnest during the Japanese colonial era, undertaken by Japanese scholars. These surveys of Buddhist remains in Namsan made during the colonial period should be seen as previous research which cannot be ignored in any in-depth study of Buddhist ruins in Gyeongju. Full-scale surveys of Buddhist ruins at Namsan began in the 1920s. Previous surveys conducted around the time of the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 are generally viewed as only representing preliminary investigations and, thus, have not received much attention. However, these early surveys are significant in that they led to the Buddhist ruins on Namsan becoming widely known in the 1910s and served as the foundations for later studies. The removal of the Seated Medicine Buddha from Samneung Valley in Gyeongju in 1915 and its subsequent exhibition at the Joseon Local Products Expo, which marked the fifth anniversary of the Japanese administration of Korea, was especially important in garnering attention for Namsan's wealth of Buddhist artifacts, as the statue was placed in the main hall of the art museum and attracted a great deal of interest from visitors. It is typically thought that this Seated Medicine Buddha was exhibited in 1915 because it was the most beautiful and well-preserved statue from Namsan. However, the removal of this statue was closely related to the proposed move of the Seokguram statue to Seoul around the time of Korea's annexation. The plan to move Seokguram to Seoul was primarily devised by Terauchi Masatake, and the plan, based on Ilseontongjo-ron ('日鮮同祖論'), a historical theory that prehistoric Korean and Japanese people were of the same blood, and Joseon Jeongcheasoeng-ron ('朝鮮停滯性論'), a historical theory arguing that development had stagnated in Korea, was intended to be a visual demonstration of a new era for Korea. This new era was to proceed under the rule of the Japanese Empire through the dissolution of Gyeongbokgung, the symbol of the Joseon Dynasty, which would be replaced with past glories as symbolized by the statue of Buddha. However, as the plan floundered, the replacement for Seokguram in Seoul ended up being none other than the Seated Medicine Buddha of Samneung Valley. Surveys of the Seated Medicine Buddha began in 1911, administered by Sekino Tadashi, but he likely learned of the statue's location from Moroga Hideo or Kodaira Ryozo, Japanese residents of Gyeongju. It is also probable that these Japanese residents received a request from the Japanese Government General of Korea to find a Buddha statue that was worthy of being displayed at exhibitions. In this way, we can say that the transfer of the Seated Medicine Buddha to Seoul was the result of close cooperation between the Government General, Sekino Tadashi, and Japanese residents of Gyeongju. This also had the effect of removing the magical veil which had shrouded the Buddhist ruins of Namsan. In other words, while the early surveys of Buddhist ruins on Namsan are significant, it is difficult to argue that the surveys were undertaken for purely academic purposes, as they were deeply related to the imperial ambitions of Governor-General Terauchi which encompassed the plans to move Seokguram to Seoul and the successful hosting of the 1915 Expo. It should also be pointed out that the failure of the plan to move Seokguram to Seoul and the preservation of the Seated Stone Buddha of Mireuggok at Namsan was in no small part due to resistance from Korean residents in Gyeongju. Although it is not described in detail in the paper, research is needed which shows that the Korean residents of Gyeongju were not simple bystanders, but agents of history.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.440-452
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• 2005

The granites in the Gyeongju area are represented by the Namsan granites and the Tohamsan granodiorites. In this study I examined the geomorphological and geological characteristics of the granite landforms in the Gyeongju area. Joint, tor and corestones are most identifiable geomorphological and geological structure in the study areas. Tor in the Namsan granites is well developed and mainly composed of cubic corestones. Petrographical features of the stones used for the stone-built cultural properties are compared with those of the granites cropped out nearby. Additionally radiogenic element contents (K, Th, U) were acquired for comparison by gamma-ray spectrometer analysis. Most stones from the stone-built cultural properties in the Bulguksa Temple are very similar to the Namsan granites in terms of petrography, radiogenic elements. On the contrary almost all stones from the Seokguram Grotto share common petrographical, physical and chemical characteristics with the Tohamsan granodiorites. Therefore it can be suggested that the stones in the Bulguksa Temple were supplied from Namsan, and that the stones in the Seokgurarn Grotto were collected at nearby Tohamsan.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2015

In this study, the stone used for three storied pagoda of Bulguksa Temple, which is easy to access due to works for dismantle and restore will be analyzed on the basis of petrographic study, magnetic susceptibility, and ${\gamma}$-ray spectrometer, and identify petrographic characteristics. Also we will select candidate areas of fresh rock to change the stone used for three storied stone pagoda as from its provenance is presumed. According to the results of visual inspection, the stones used for the three storied stone pagoda are similar to the features of Namsan granite, which is distributed around Gyeongju-si, and when it comes to the section of the stupa finial, the features of all the parts from the stupa finial is similar to Namsan granite except for the section of Jeweled cover. On the other hand, the color, the composition, and the mineral size of the stones in the section from the part of jeweled cover are similar to Tohamsan granite. As a result of none-destruction inspection, it seems that the stones used for the three stories stone pagoda except for the section of jeweled cover are similar to the values for the magnetic susceptibility and the ${\gamma}$-ray spectrometer. On the other hand, Jeweled cover and the values of Tohamsan granite are alike. Namsan granite is appropriate in case that the stone used for three storied stone pagoda must be replaced to fresh rock because of damage by weathering. Meanwhile, Namsan granite is seperated from Yangsan fault. Due to this fact, Namsan granite appears to not only Mt. Namsan in Gyeongju, but also Dongcheon-dong, Gyeongju, and Huenggok-ri, Pohang. As a result, these two areas are suitable to the candidate area to change the stone used for three storied stone pagoda.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to present the fundamental data for conservation and management of wetland ecosystem by surveying and analysing the vascular plants distributed in major wetlands, Gyeongju National Park. The study sites were Tohamsan wetland, Amgok wetland and Namsan wetland. The numbers of vascular plants were summarized as 200 taxa including 70 families, 145 genera, 171 species, 2 subspecies, 23 varieties and 4 forms. The threatened species designated by Ministry of Environment was Utricularia yakusimensis, and the rare plants were 7 taxa including Utricularia yakusimensis, Drosera rotundifolia, Mosla japonica, Utricularia bifida, Pogonia japonica, Utricularia racemosa and Iris ensata var. spontanea. The Korean endemic plants were Lespedeza maritima and Weigela subsessilis. The specific plants by floristic region were 12 taxa including 3 taxa of grade V, 1 taxa of grade IV, 1 taxa of grade III, 2 taxa of grade II and 5 taxa of grade I. The plants with approval for delivering oversea were 9 taxa including Glycine soja, Saussurea pulchella, Habenaria linearifolia and so forth. The naturalized platns were 5 taxa including Rumex obtusifolius, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Bidens frondosa, Erigeron annuus and Erigeron strigosus, the invasive alien plant was Ambrosia artemisiifolia.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.567-578
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• 2018

A nondestructive petrological investigation was carried out to identify the original location and form of the Gyeongju Seated Stone Buddha with Square Pedestals in the Blue House (so-called Stone Buddha in the Blue House). The Statue is a representative stone Buddha statue of Silla (9th century) but its original location is controversial and some parts were missing. Based on the petrological observation, magnetic susceptibility and gamma spectrometry, its stone material was identified as medium-grained alkali feldspar granite. This kind of granites are widely found in the Namsan, Gyeongju. It is very likely that the Namsan granites are the source of rock of the Stone Buddha. The Yudeoksa (Igeosaji temple site) and Namsan are possible to be the original home of the Buddha Statue since there are petrologically identical alkali feldspar granite outcrop distributed in Namsan and stone heritage made of the same stone type in both places. An investigation on the square middle stone base in the Chuncheon National Museum reveals that it is less likely to be the missing part of the Buddha statue as the stone base is fine- to medium-grained pink feldspar granite and has different magnetic susceptibility from the Buddha statue. This study confirmed the contribution and significance of petrological investigation to identification of stone heritage in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2011

The purpose of this paper is to examine their degree of housing satisfaction in Gyeongju, focused on indoor environment of urban traditional houses. Mostly built during time period from 1930's to 1980's in Seoak-dong, Bomun-dong, Namsan-dong, Sajeong-dong, and Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongju' Hanok reveals the evolutionary development to fit into the urban settlement. Urban traditional house has important meaning as a type of residence maintaining tradition of Korean residential culture, and it is the study's first goal to derive developable element by analyzing the characteristics of urban traditional house focusing on such a feature. Residents in 5 districts in Gyeongju were classified and the self-administered questionnaires were provided to them. 187 papers were used for final analysis. The data for general trend of satisfaction was seek for after its average and standard variation were calculated.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.79-88
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• 2016

A derelict bridge called WoljungGyo is being restored in Gyeongju, the capital city of ancient Silla. WoljungGyo was originally built in 760AD, and later rebuilt in 1280AD during the Goryeo Kingdom. The bridge lasted in working condition for at least 520 years. The bridge was uncovered to the remains of both abutments and four piers, with only one or two steps remaining. The provenance of the WoljungGyo stone relics was investigated to decide the type of stone for the restoration works. Field survey were carried out in the whole area of Gyeongju-Si with petrological investigation for the stone relics. Results of the study present that Namsan granite was used in those days for building of the WoljungGyo. It is seems that the used stones were obtained from tor or core stone around the Tongil-jeon and Tap-gok area in the east side of Mt. Namsan.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.28
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• pp.39-58
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• 2007

The Seated Buddha image carved on rock surface of Yuneulgok in Bae-ri, Gyeongju constituted of alkali feldspar granite. There is surface weathering by abrasion, exfoliation and break out. As a result various experiment was carried out testing rock material property to quantitatively grade weathering. Besides, this study is focused on properties of rock and correlation between things. Additionally, comparison of chemical properties to nondestructive weathering grade in the buddha image carved on rock. This result utilized on important resource for scientific conservation system compared with weathering appearance.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.183-192
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• 2008

Stone cultural heritages in Korea are mostly situated out door without any notable protection thus there are severe damage from chemical and biological weathering. This in turn, causes deformation and structural damage. To counter act this problem and to increase durability, various kinds of conservation materials are used in the conservation and restoration treatment. However, there are not many practical and technological experiment done on this subject. This paper attempts quantitative evaluation of effectiveness of ethylsilicate based resin for Namsan granite in Gyeongju. When two different materials with different ethylsilicate concentration were compared, the result indicated decrease of absorption and porosity with increase of ultrasonic velocities, uniaxial compressive strength, elastic constant, tensile strength and Poisson's ratio. In addition, comparison of physical characteristic of the conservation material resulted favorably toward ones with higher concentration of ethylsilicate. This is due to the ethylsilicates characteristic to fill the internal pores of stone. There is discolouration of stone surface after treatment with conservation material. This was more prominent with the product of higher ethylsilicate concentration.