The Korean Bell Garden at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens was created through a joint effort between NOVA Parks and the Korean American Cultural Committee, beginning with a proposal in 2007. In the summer of 2011, Korean artisans built by hand the central pavilion that holds a one-of-a-kind bell, using methods employed for thousands of years. Forged in South Korea, the bell bears traditional Korean images including cranes, plants, deer, and turtles, along with symbols of Virginia such as dogwood flowers and cardinals, and the words "Peace and Harmony" in English and Korean. The garden also includes replicas of ancient Korean monuments, statuary, decorative clay murals, and a Northeast Asian plant collection around the pavilion, supported by donations to the Korean American Cultural Committee from the Republic of Korea, Gyeonggi Province, and private donors. Among its cultural features are Hangul, the Korean alphabet created in 1443 under King Sejong the Great so ordinary Koreans could read and write instead of relying on hanja, which only the aristocratic class used fluently; the Bell of Peace and Harmony, nearly seven feet high and weighing 6000 pounds, whose design traces to the Silla Dynasty from 57 BCE to 935 AD and whose engravings include the ten traditional symbols of longevity, the Rose of Sharon, and Virginia emblems; Dol Hareubang, basalt guardian statues from Jeju Island that symbolized protection and fertility during the Chosun Dynasty; jangseung, traditional poles set at village edges as boundary markers, mileposts, and protections against evil spirits, fire, and other disasters; a flower wall modeled on the carved west wall of Jagyeongjeon Hall at Gyeongbokgung Palace, built in 1865 by King Gojung in honor of Queen Sinjeong; and traditional pavilion forms associated with private Korean gardens, where aristocratic scholars of the Choson Dynasty relaxed in natural settings. These wooden pavilions were crafted without nails so fitted pieces held together, and their handcrafted hwangto roof tiles reflected long-standing Korean building traditions.
