Yonghoseok in Cheonnae-ri, Geumsan

These are two stone animal statues standing on the riverbank west of Cheonnae-ri village. The Dragon Stone (Yongseok) stands about 500 m north of Jewondaegyo Bridge, and the Tiger Stone (Hoseok) lies 100 m further on. Tradition holds that in the late Goryeo period, King Gongmin, who had fled to Andong to escape the Red Turban invasions, chose this spot for his future royal tomb and ordered the necessary stone furnishings prepared; but when the king returned to the capital, Gaegyeong, the statues were simply left behind, and so they have remained ever since. The Dragon Stone shows the writhing body of a dragon carved among swirling protrusions, with gills and whiskers depicted on either side of its mouth, which holds a yeouiju (a magic wish-fulfilling jewel). The Tiger Stone shows a tiger seated upright on its forepaws atop a square base, its body facing west and its head turned north with its mouth wide open; its fur is rendered as alternating thick raised curves and circles. As the distinctive features of the tiger and dragon are not rendered with much vitality, and the carving technique overall shows a decline, the statues are presumed to date from the late Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Geumsan, Chungnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산