Stone Lantern in Balsan-ri, Gunsan

This stone lantern originally stood in the Wanju area and was moved to its present site during the Japanese colonial period. It is built around a fire chamber that holds the light, with three tiers of supporting stones beneath it and a roof stone and finial above. The middle pillar of the support has its four corners rounded off, and its surface is carved with a dragon writhing amid clouds — a form found nowhere else in Korea. The fire chamber has its four corners rounded to form an octagon, with four windows and images of the Four Heavenly Kings, the guardian deities of Buddhist law, placed alternately on each face; carving them onto the fire chamber carries the meaning of protecting the light within. The roof stone is octagonal, with clearly defined ridge lines at each corner, and the curving eaves sweep up boldly at the eight corners. At the top, a support stone carved with a lotus pattern remains for the finial, but the finial itself no longer survives. Judging from the Four Heavenly Kings on the fire chamber and the style of the roof stone, the lantern appears to preserve the character of the Unified Silla period well; however, the support pillar has changed to a square form, and the fire chamber, too, is an octagon that resembles a square, showing the transitional forms of change from an octagonal to a square plan. The lantern is presumed to have been made in the early Goryeo period, around the tenth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gunsan, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물