Five-story Stone Pagoda from Jeongdosa Temple Site, Chilgok

This five-story stone pagoda originally stood at the Jeongdosa temple site in Chilgok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. It was relocated to Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1924 and moved again in 1994 to the Daegu National Museum, where it now stands. The platform has two tiers: the lower tier is carved on each face with three ansang, cusped niche-shaped panels, whose base lines rise up like flowers. The upper tier has a pillar shape carved at the centre of each face; the topmost stone of each tier is slightly inclined, and its upper surface bears a single tier of support moulding, an unusual feature. The pagoda body consists of body stones and roof stones, each carved from a single block. The front face of the first-storey body stone is carved with a door-panel shape fitted with a lock, and from the second storey upward the size decreases sharply. The roof stones are narrow and thick, with the four corners curving upward, showing features typical of Goryeo-period stone pagodas; the support mouldings on their undersides are reduced to four tiers, and a rainwater groove is carved beneath the eaves. The roof stone of the fifth storey is missing, and only the finial base stone remains atop the body stone. From the second storey upward the body stones diminish little in size and the roof stones are narrow, giving an impression of thickness, yet the surface is undamaged and the ansang carvings are clean and beautifully executed. The name of the pagoda is inscribed on the upper platform, followed by the era name and date "Taiping 11th year." When the pagoda was relocated, a sarira deposit was found inside it, including a green-glazed sarira bottle and two bronze boxes. The accompanying documentary record describes the circumstances of the pagoda's construction, its donation and details of the building work, and its writing makes extensive use of idu, a system for writing Korean with Chinese characters, making it valuable material for the study of idu as well as of the pagoda itself. "Taiping 11th year" corresponds to 1031, the 22nd year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suseong-gu, Daegu

Designation

Treasure · 보물