Octagonal Five-story Stone Pagoda of Sujongsa Temple, Namyangju

The Octagonal Five-story Stone Pagoda of Sujongsa Temple, Namyangju is a Joseon-period stone pagoda handed down at Sujongsa Temple, located on the slope of Ungilsan Mountain in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do. Sujongsa is a subordinate temple of Bongseonsa Temple, the head temple of the 25th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, and is said to have been founded in the fifth year of King Sejo of Joseon (1459). The pagoda is said to have originally stood on a ridge east of the temple, a site commanding a fine view over the area of Yangsu-ri, where the Namhangang and Bukhangang rivers meet. It has since been relocated beside Daeungjeon Hall, together with a stone stupa and a small stone pagoda. The Octagonal Five-story Stone Pagoda of Sujongsa well illustrates the form of early Joseon-period stone pagodas as they continued the tradition of octagonal stone pagodas of the Goryeo period — exemplified by the Octagonal Nine-story Stone Pagoda of Woljeongsa Temple in Pyeongchang and the Octagonal Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda of Bohyeonsa Temple on Hyangsan Mountain in North Korea — while becoming smaller in scale and more decorative in character. During the pagoda's dismantling and repair in 1957, nineteen Buddhist images were found in the first-storey body stone, its roof stone, and the middle stone of the base; and before a move in 1970, a further twelve images were found in the roof stones of the second and third storeys. Ink inscriptions found together with the images reveal that, among them, two images (one Sakyamuni Buddha and one Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) were commissioned by Lady Kim, Royal Consort Myeongbin (?–1479), a consort of King Taejong, and installed by consorts of King Seongjong in the sixth year of the Hongzhi era (1493); that gilt-bronze Buddha and bodhisattva images were made at the vow of Queen Dowager Inmok (Queen Dowager Jeongui); and that a gilt-bronze seated Vairocana Buddha, made in the first year of the Chongzhen era (1628) by the sculptor-monk Seong-in, with an inscription incised on the base of its pedestal, was also identified among the finds. These finds show that the pagoda was built no later than 1493 and was restored in 1628. In form, an octagonal base stone is set on the ground stone, and above it sits a foundation in the shape of an octagonal lotus pedestal of the kind used for Buddhist images. Each face of the octagonal base stone is divided in two to carve a rectangular panel containing a niche motif (ansang); the same niche motif is carved uniformly on the base's plinth and on the pedestal beneath the pagoda body. The foundation is decorated with sixteen-petalled lotus designs on the upturned lotus stone above and the downturned lotus stone below, the petals carved with the ornate flower-head decoration that was popular from the mid-Goryeo period, and the octagonal middle stone bears round corner pillars carved in high relief at each edge. The five-storey pagoda body likewise has round corner pillars carved at its octagonal edges, and each roof stone bears three tiers of eave supports carved beneath it. The soft curve of the roof-stone eaves, the round pillars and the eave supports together closely reproduce timber architecture in stone. At the summit sits an inverted-bowl finial carved with a triangular motif in the shape of a hipped-and-gabled roof, topped by a jewel finial. The Octagonal Five-story Stone Pagoda of Sujongsa is a stone pagoda built in the Joseon period as a continuation of the Goryeo tradition of octagonal stone pagodas; judging from the reliquary furnishings and inscriptions excavated from it, it can be dated to no later than 1493 and is known to have been restored in 1628, and it is confirmed to be a pagoda built at royal vow. Stylistically, its foundation follows the style of a Buddhist image pedestal, its pagoda body follows the style of timber architecture, and its finial takes the form of a hipped-and-gabled tile roof. This form is the only octagonal five-storey stone pagoda among the Joseon-period stone pagodas surveyed to date. As reviewed above, the Octagonal Five-story Stone Pagoda of Sujongsa Temple has a clearly established construction date and relatively intact component parts; as the sole Joseon-period octagonal five-storey stone pagoda of its kind, it is judged to hold sufficient historical and academic value.

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Where it is

Region

Namyangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물