Stele for the Construction of Amitabha Buddha at Mujangsa Temple Site, Gyeongju

This is a stele that records in detail the process by which Queen Gyehwa, consort of King Soseong, the 39th king of Silla (r. 799–800), had a statue of Amitabha Buddha made to pray for the repose of the king's soul. The stele was first discovered in 1760 at Amgok-ri, Naedong-myeon, Gyeongju, by Hong Yang-ho while he was serving as magistrate of Gyeongju. Its whereabouts were then unknown until 1817, when Kim Jeong-hui found two fragments of the stele, and a third fragment was discovered in 1915. The inscriptions carved on these three fragments revealed that this was the "Stele for the Construction of the Amitabha Buddha Image at Mujangsa Temple," making it known that Mujangsa Temple had once stood on this site. Mujangsa is said to have been founded by Hyoyang, father of King Wonseong, the 38th king of Silla, in memory of his uncle. The three stele fragments are now kept at the National Museum of Korea, and the temple site today has the stele base, the capstone, and a stele body reconstructed in 2011 on the basis of the fragments. The base is unusual in originally having two heads, of which only one survives; this was retrieved from a nearby valley in 2008 by staff of the Cultural Heritage Administration (now the Korea Heritage Service) and used in the 2011 restoration. The cut stele seat set at the centre of the base, where the stele body is fitted directly, is rectangular, and the twelve zodiac guardian deities are carved on its four sides. The cut capstone bears a carving of a dragon grasping a magic jewel in its forepaw amid clouds, and on its left face is recorded separately the investigation notes of the epigrapher Kim Jeong-hui. Apart from the Stele at the Tomb of King Taejong Muyeol, Gyeongju (National Treasure), made in the early Unified Silla period, examples of surviving capstones from later periods are rare, making this stele a valuable work for tracing how capstone styles changed over time.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물