Silla Memorial Stele in Uncheon-dong, Cheongju

A memorial stele (sajeokbi) records the facts or traces of a particular event; this stele contains content related to a temple that once stood in the Cheongju region. It measures 95 cm in height and 92 cm in width, and is square in shape. Until its discovery in 1982, it had been used as a washing stone at a communal well in Sanjik village, Uncheon-dong, so many of its characters have been worn away. The inscription is carved in a regular script in the style of the Northern Dynasties, with characters that are large in relation to the size of the stele. The content of the inscription is difficult to make out, but it generally praises the Buddhist Law and the virtue of the king, and commemorates the achievement of the unification of the Three Kingdoms in the spirit of state-protection Buddhism, while also recording much about the founding of the temple. The stele bears the Chinese reign name "Sugong, 2nd year," showing that it was erected in 686, the sixth year of King Sinmun of Unified Silla. It is important material demonstrating that the Cheongju region was administratively, militarily and culturally significant during the Unified Silla period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산