East and West Three-story Stone Pagodas at Jangyeonsa Temple Site, Cheongdo

Two pagodas stand side by side, to the east and west, on a low hill beside a stream that flows into a tributary of the Nakdonggang River. They are almost identical in style; the west pagoda, which had collapsed at an early date, was restored to its original site in December 1979. The lower base of the east pagoda is currently buried and so appears to be a single-tier base, but it is presumed to have had a two-tier base like the west pagoda. On the lower base, pillar-shapes are carved at the corners of each face and, in addition, two more are carved in the centre. On the upper base, a single pillar-shape is carved at each corner and in the centre of every face. The body of the pagoda consists of a body stone and a roof stone for each storey, each cut from a single stone, with corner pillar-shapes carved on the body stone of every storey. The underside of the eaves of the roof stones is horizontal, the four corners curve up slightly, and the underside supports number four tiers on every storey. No finial ornament survives on the east pagoda today; only on the west pagoda do the square pedestal that once supported the finial and a bokbal, a bowl-shaped ornament, remain, though the bokbal is a later addition. Judging from the fact that the central pillar-shape on the base is reduced from two on the lower tier to one on the upper tier, and that the roof-stone supports of the body number four tiers, the pagodas are thought to have been built in the 9th century, during the Unified Silla period. When the east pagoda was dismantled for repair, a sarira reliquary deposit was found on the upper surface of the first-storey body stone.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongdo, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물