Stele for the Construction of Bongseonhonggyeongsa Temple, Cheonan

Bongseonhonggyeongsa was founded in 1021, the twelfth year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo. The bongseon in its name means to carry out the wish of one who has gone: the king's father, Anjong, had intended to build a temple to spread the teaching and died before he could. Only the stele recording the founding stands on the site now. A galbi is smaller than an ordinary stele and usually has neither capstone nor roof, its body simply rounded off at the top. This one has both a turtle base and a capstone, so in form it does not differ from a full stele. The turtle base shows the change of style by which the head became a dragon's, and fins like a fish's are carved on either side of it, which gives it life. The title — Record of the Stele of Bongseonhonggyeongsa — is cut horizontally across the top of the front face, and dragons wreathed in cloud are carved on the capstone. From its text the stele is known to have been raised in 1026, five years after the temple was founded. Choe Chung, the foremost Confucian scholar of Goryeo and called the Confucius of the East, composed it, and Baek Hyeon-rye wrote it out.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheonan, Chungnam

Designation

National Treasure · 국보