Flagpole Supports at Namgansa Temple Site, Gyeongju

At temples, a banner called a dang was hung at the entrance for ceremonies and events; the long pole from which the banner hung was called a danggan, and the pair of stone pillars erected on either side of the pole to hold it firmly in place are called danggan-jiju, or flagpole supports. It is rare for the pole itself to survive; usually only the two supports remain. These flagpole supports stand in the middle of a paddy field about 500 metres from the old site of Namgansa Temple. As the field has been cultivated, about 50 centimetres of the base of the supports is now exposed, and the base stone beneath them has been lost. There is no foundation platform, so no base stone for setting the flagpole upon it can be found either. Three holes were bored into the inner face of each support to fix the flagpole in place; the one at the top is uniquely shaped like the character 十 ("ten"), a form not found elsewhere. Plain and simple in form, without any special decoration, these flagpole supports are a well-preserved work of the mid-Unified Silla period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물