Bukhansan Monument, Stone stele in Yongsan-dong, South Korea

The Bukhansan Monument is a rectangular stone stele from the Silla kingdom, now displayed in the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. It stands on a two-tier pedestal and measures 154 cm high and 69 cm wide. Its face carries 12 lines of inscription, each line with 32 characters, carved in cursive regular script.

The stele was put up between 561 and 568 under King Jinheung to record Silla's push into the Han river valley. It is one of the few surviving stone records of that kingdom's growth during this period.

The inscription is written in a script style used for royal records in the 6th century, showing how Silla communicated its authority over new territories. At the museum, visitors can look closely at the individual characters and notice the care taken in carving each one into the stone.

The stele is displayed in the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, in the permanent collection. The museum is served by public transport, and general admission is free. The stone is kept indoors, so it can be examined in any weather. Look for the bullet marks on the back of the stele, left by later damage.

The stele sat unnoticed on Bukhansan mountain for centuries until the calligrapher Kim Jeonghui found it in 1816. Without that discovery, the text of the inscription might never have been read or studied.