East and West Three-story Stone Pagodas at Wonwonsa Temple Site, Gyeongju

The East and West Three-story Stone Pagodas at Wonwonsa Temple Site, Gyeongju, a pair of twin pagodas, stand within the Historic Site Wonwonsa Temple Site, Gyeongju. According to the Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), Wonwonsa Temple was founded as a temple for the protection of the state by the monks Anhye and Nangyung, who had inherited the tradition of Esoteric Buddhism, together with Kim Yu-sin, Kim Ui-won and Kim Sul-jong, who shared their aspiration. The east and west three-story stone pagodas, each about 7 m high, had collapsed, and were restored in the autumn of 1931 by the Gyeongju Preservation Society for Historic Relics, as recorded in a discussion of the general type of Silla-period three-story stone pagoda centred on Gyeongju, in "Joseon Geonchuk" (Theory of Joseon Architecture), Architecture Magazine, November 1933 issue, by Fujishima Gaijiro. The two pagodas are of identical structure and style, each a three-story stone pagoda with a double-tiered base. The side stones and cover stone of the lower base, and the side stones of the upper base, are each made of eight pieces, while the cover stone of the upper base is made of four pieces. The side stones of the upper and lower bases each have two partition pillars and corner pillars; the upper surface of the lower cover stone has a two-tiered plinth for the upper base; and between the pillars on each of the four sides of the upper cover stone are carved the twelve zodiac guardian figures, seated on lotus pedestals, each with the head of an animal but the body of a person in ordinary dress, their robes billowing as if flying through the sky. From the first-story body stone up to the third-story roof stone, each is carved from a single block of stone; the first-story body stone has corner pillars, and on its four sides are carved figures of the Four Heavenly Kings, clad in armour and bearing weapons. The underside of the roof stone at each level has five tiers of eave supports, and the upper surface has a two-tiered, angular plinth for the body stone above; of the finial, the base stone and the lotus-shaped stone survive. Judging from the general mode of expression of Unified Silla-period stone pagodas, the stone-dressing technique of the roof stones, the style embodied in the base and body sections, and the method of assembling the stones, the East and West Three-story Stone Pagodas at Wonwonsa Temple Site, Gyeongju, are presumed to have been built in the mid-eighth century. Given the sculptural technique, structural features and style of expression evident in the pagodas — including the fact that they are the earliest known example of placing the twelve zodiac guardian figures on the lower base — they are valued as stone pagodas of significant academic and art-historical importance.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물