Flagpole Supports at Suksusa Temple Site, Yeongju

Flagpole supports (danggan-jiju) are erected at a temple's entrance. When the temple held an event, a banner called a dang was hung from a tall pole; this long pole is called a danggan, and the two stone pillars that support it on either side are the danggan-jiju. This flagpole support survives in the pine forest at the entrance to Sosuseowon Confucian Academy. Since many relics of the former Suksusa Temple still remain within the academy grounds, the present spot appears to be the original site. Suksusa Temple was founded in the early Unified Silla period and continued through the Goryeo dynasty, but seems to have fallen into ruin when Sosuseowon was built. On the outer faces of the two pillars, where they face each other, a vertical band is carved down the centre, and between 1.17 m and 2.34 m below the top the surface is recessed, as if a broad groove had been cut there. Toward the top the square pillar narrows slightly, and the very top is rounded and sloped. A groove is cut into the inner face at the top to hold the danggan in place. There would originally have been base stones supporting the pillars and the pole, but at present only one long, large stone lies on each side of the supports. It is, overall, a modest but finely worked piece of stone-carving, a work of the Unified Silla period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물