Songgwangsa Temple Master Bojo Stele

This stele, standing in a secluded spot within Songgwangsa Temple, commemorates the life and achievements of State Preceptor Bojo, Jinul. Jinul was a monk of the Goryeo period who left home to become a monk at the age of eight and passed the state monastic examination at thirty-four, but he shunned worldly advancement and sought out the teachings of senior monks. At the time there was severe conflict between Seon (meditative) Buddhism and Gyo (doctrinal) Buddhism; Jinul received the teachings of Seon without disregarding those of Gyo, and worked to find common ground between the two. As more and more followers gathered around him, he searched for a new place to settle and eventually came to stay at Songgwangsa Temple. For more than ten years he greatly revived Seon Buddhism centred on Songgwangsa Temple, and passed away in 1210, the sixth year of King Huijong of Goryeo, at the age of fifty-three, whereupon the king posthumously honoured him with the title "State Preceptor." The stele consists of a body set upon a tortoise-shaped base, with a capstone on top. The tortoise base, part of which is buried in the ground, has a head transformed into that of a dragon, though it is not rendered realistically; distinctively, ears rise up behind the head, and the back is covered with hexagonal patterns, though the carving is formulaic and lacks vigour. At the centre of the back a square socket is cut to hold the stele body in place. The capstone is decorated with two carved dragons, intertwined and writhing in a way that conveys a sense of life, though the carving itself is unskilled. Originally erected in 1210, the sixth year of King Huijong of Goryeo, it was re-erected in 1678, the fourth year of King Sukjong of Joseon, and has stood as such since then.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산