Five-story Stone Pagoda at Cheongnyangsa Temple Site, Gongju

Two stone pagodas survive at the site of Cheongnyangsa Temple — a seven-story pagoda and a five-story pagoda — which are together known as the Brother-and-Sister Pagodas. According to legend, a monk named Sangwon once saved a tiger in distress, and in return the tiger carried a young woman to him on its back. Sangwon kept only a sibling-like relationship with the woman while devoting himself to Buddhist practice, and the woman's father, moved by this admirable conduct, is said to have built the two pagodas in tribute. This pagoda is the five-story one of the pair, its five-story body set on a single-tier foundation. The base stone and the lower stone of the foundation above it are each built of four stone slabs. A distinctive feature is that the central pillar of the foundation is fitted with a separate stone. The roof stones of each story of the body are thin and broad, so that the pagoda lacks a sense of balance and stability. The undersides of the first- and second-story roof stones each have two tiers of support, all formed from inserted separate stones. The body stones and roof stones of the third and fourth stories are each single pieces, and unlike the stories below, the support beneath the fourth-story roof stone is a single tier of stone. Above the fourth-story roof stone sits the fifth-story body stone, but its roof stone is missing. At the top, a round finial ornament survives on a square base stone. In overall technique the pagoda follows the Baekje pagoda style that runs from the Five-story Stone Pagoda at Jeongnimsa Temple Site, Buyeo (a national treasure) to the Five-story Stone Pagoda at Seongbuk-ri, Seocheon (a treasure). Although some parts are missing, the pagoda shows bold simplifications higher up its structure, and the inconsistency of its detailed carving suggests that it was built in the mid-Goryeo period. The erection, within a single temple, of two Baekje-style pagodas each with its own distinctive features is considered to hold important historical and artistic significance for the Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물