Stele of Buddhist Monk Jingyeong from Bongnimsa Temple Site, Changwon

This is the stele for the monk Simhui (855–923), who lived in the late Unified Silla period. It originally stood at the site of Bongnimsa Temple in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, but was moved to Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1919; it is now on the grounds of the National Museum of Korea. Simhui left home to become a monk at the age of nine and travelled among famous mountains to practise Buddhism before founding Bongnimsa Temple in Changwon, from which time the Bongnim school, one of the Nine Mountain Schools of Seon, flourished greatly. He also entered the palace to preach to King Gyeongmyeong, and later returned to Bongnimsa Temple to teach his disciples until his death at the age of sixty-eight. The king bestowed on him the posthumous title Great Master Jingyeong and the stupa name Bowol Neunggong. The stele consists of a body set on a tortoise-shaped base and capped with a headstone. The tortoise head of the base is unusually large and holds a yeouiju, a wish-fulfilling jewel, in its mouth, with a small hole on its head where a horn once was. On its back is a square socket for holding the stele body, surrounded by cloud patterns. The stele body, which bears the inscription, has lost part of its text, which has been restored with reference to an old rubbing. The capstone shows two dragons encircled by clouds, one carved at each corner. The stele was erected in the eighth year of King Gyeongmyeong of Unified Silla (924); the king himself composed the inscription, Haenggi wrote the calligraphy, and Seonghyu carved it. The individual carvings tend to be shallow and formulaic, reflecting the declining artistic vigour of the late Unified Silla period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물