Seven-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 seven-story one of the pair: a seven-story body is set on a single-tier foundation, giving the whole structure a narrow, elongated form. The foundation is unusual in that a separate stone forms the pillar at each of the four corners of every face. On one face of the first-story body stone is carved a rectangular niche (gamsil, a recess for enshrining a Buddha image). The number of support tiers beneath the roof stones is two for the first story and one for the seventh, while the second, third and fourth stories were remade at a later date, making their original form difficult to confirm. The slope of the water-drip surface of the second-story roof stone is steeper than that of the first, and because the body stones from the second to seventh stories do not diminish greatly in size, the pagoda's overall sense of balance and stability is impaired. At the top, the finial ornament has been entirely lost, leaving only the square base stone that once supported it. In overall technique the pagoda shows the stylistic features that lead on to the Stone Pagoda at Mireuksa Temple Site, Iksan (a national treasure) and the Five-story Stone Pagoda at Wanggung-ri, Iksan (a national 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.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물