Multi-story Stone Pagoda and Stone Lantern at Wondangam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon

This multi-storey stone pagoda stands within Wondangam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple, the cradle of a faith devoted to protecting the nation, where the Tripitaka Koreana is kept. It is a cheongseoktap (blue-stone pagoda), its body made of clay slate, a stone mainly used for making ink stones. The base stones, resting on the ground and forming the pagoda's foundation, are built of granite in three tiers, while the gidan supporting the body, and the roof stones above it, are made of clay slate. The gidan is a single tier, decorated around its lower face with a lotus design; on its upper face marble pillars stand at each of the four corners, and a lotus design is carved on the topmost stone. The body stones no longer survive, and only ten tiers of roof stones remain stacked. The four sloping faces of the roof stones are very flat and thin, with low three-tiered supports carved on the underside, and the eaves curve slightly upward at each of the four corners. At the top of the pagoda is a low granite noban (a base for the finial), above which only a bokbal, an inverted-bowl-shaped ornament, remains, standing comparatively tall. Cheongseoktap pagodas generally came into widespread fashion during the Goryeo period, but this one was made at the end of the Silla period, making it a forerunner of the type. The stone lantern stands beside the pagoda and dates from almost the same period. On a hexagonal base stone resting on the ground are set a lower support stone, a middle support stone and a roof stone; the lower support stone and the roof stone are of clay slate, while the other members are granite. The hwasaseok, the chamber beneath the roof stone that once housed the flame, does not survive today. The middle support stone is slender and elongated, with the characters 上 and 下 incised, hollowed out, at its top and bottom. The roof stone is hexagonal with a flat upper surface, and the finial consists of nothing more than a single cylindrical stone placed on top.

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Where it is

Region

Hapcheon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물