Stupas of Buddhist Monk Boje from Yeongjeonsa Temple Site, Wonju

These are the sarira stupas of Boje, a monk of the late Goryeo period; there are two in all. In 1915 they were moved by the Japanese to the National Museum of Korea, where they now stand; unlike the sarira stupas of most monks, they take the form of stone pagodas. Boje (1320–1376) was the monk Naong Hwasang, who died at Silleuksa Temple in Yeoju. His sarira stupa remains at Silleuksa, but his disciples also erected a separate sarira stupa for him at Yeongjeonsa Temple. Each stupa has a three-storey body set on a two-tiered base. On both the upper and lower tiers of the base, corner pillars are carved at the edges, and on the top of the upper tier a separate stone was fitted in to support the body of the stupa. The body of each storey consists of a single stone for the body and a single stone for the roof, and each body stone has corner pillars carved at its edges. The roof stones each have four-tiered eaves supports. The first-storey roof stone of one of the two stupas differs in style, raising doubt as to whether it originally belonged to this stupa. The finials at the top of the stupas do not survive intact on either one. The stupas were erected in the fourteenth year of King U of Goryeo (1388); it is a highly unusual case for the funerary stupa of a monk, and it is also unusual that two stupas in almost the same style were built together. When the stupas were moved to their present site, a reliquary for holding the sarira was found in each; in one of them a memorial tablet inscribed with information about the deceased was found, making it possible to trace the process by which the stupa came to be erected. Overall the stupas are excellently composed and well balanced.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물