Stupa of Buddhist Monk Yeomgeo from Heungbeopsa Temple Site, Wonju (Presumed)

The stupa of the monk Yeomgeo, of late Unified Silla. Yeomgeo (d. 844) was a disciple of the Seon master Doui. At a time when Seon (Zen) was barely understood, he stayed mostly at Eokseongsa on Seoraksan Mountain and worked to spread it. He passed the lineage to Chejing, securing its foundation, and died in 844, the sixth year of King Munseong. The stupa is said to have stood at the Heungbeopsa Temple Site in Gangwon, but since there is no firm evidence the word 'presumed' is placed before its name. After it was moved to Seoul it went to several places, Tapgol Park among them, and was set up at Gyeongbokgung Palace; it is now at the National Museum of Korea. Every part, top to bottom, is octagonal in plan. The base has lower, middle and upper stones, and each face carries simple, graceful carving. Lions are carved in relief on the lower stone, and incense burners in sunken eye-shaped panels on the middle stone. The upper stone, in two tiers, has a double row of lotus on the lower for elegance, and carvings in rounded panels on the upper. The body stone, which held the relics, alternates doors and the Four Heavenly Kings on its faces, carved realistically with a good sense of depth. The roof stone follows the timber architecture of the time especially closely: the deep tile channels on its slopes, the end tiles carved at the tip of every row and the rafters on its underside make it seem almost a real tiled roof. The finial survived until the stupa was moved, but is now entirely lost. When it was moved, a gilt-bronze record plate was found inside, which showed that it was raised in 844, the sixth year of King Munseong of Unified Silla. It is the oldest of Korea's stupas. It is not large, but graceful dignity and clean workmanship go well together in it, and since most later stupas follow its form, it matters as the first.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

National Treasure · 국보