Three-story Stone Pagoda at Heungbeopsa Temple Site, Wonju

This Goryeo-period pagoda stands in the middle of a field said to be the site of Heungbeopsa Temple. Heungbeopsa was a great temple that existed from the Silla through the Goryeo period; besides this pagoda, it originally also had the attributed Stupa of Master Yeomgeo from Heungbeopsa Temple Site in Wonju, the stupa of State Preceptor Jingong from the same site, and a stone coffin, but these were forcibly removed during the Japanese colonial period and are now kept in the National Museum of Korea. This pagoda has a two-tier base, above which a three-story body is stacked, seemingly modelled on the form of a tiled-roof house. Each face of the lower base is carved with three ansang, arch-shaped motifs that rise up in a flower-like form, clearly showing characteristics of the Goryeo period. The top surface of the upper base is sloped, and unusually, a three-tiered support block for the first-story body stone is carved at its centre. The pagoda body, which enshrines the Buddha's relics or sutras, appears too small in relation to the base. Pillar-shaped carvings are cut into the corners of the body stone of each story, and the first-story body stone bears a carved square door, within which a badly worn door-ring ornament remains. The roof stones look thick and steeply sloped, with thin four-tiered support blocks beneath them, and overall there is considerable damage. The eaves of the roof stones are horizontal but curve slightly upward at both ends, clearly revealing that this is a Goryeo-period stone pagoda. Only the noban, the base for the finial, remains at the top of the pagoda, and even this is badly damaged. The imbalance between the base and the body is noticeable, and judging from the simple arrangement of the stones and the carving technique, it is thought to have been built in the early Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Wonju, Gangwon

Designation

Treasure · 보물