Goheung Neunggasa Temple Chugyedang Hall and Sayeongdang Hall Stupa

The Chugyedang and Sayeongdang stupas at Neunggasa Temple, Goheung, are the funerary stupas of Chugyedang and Sayeongdang, a master and disciple who were monks of the late Joseon period. Neunggasa Temple has ten stupas in all — one octagonal-hall-type stupa within the temple grounds and nine more beside a valley outside it — and among the nine, the Chugyedang and Sayeongdang stupas are known to stand in their original positions. The Chugyedang stupa is bell-shaped. Its base consists of a square lower plinth stone, above which an octagonal, downward-facing lotus design is carved; with sixteen petals and no elaborate ornament, the design is instead rather plain. Above this a round groove is cut to receive the body of the stupa. The body is broadly divided into an upper and a lower part: around the lower part, fish, crabs and other creatures are carved in turn. At the centre of the body, four raised panels each containing nine raised bosses project outward, though the carving is much simplified. Between the two northern panels a rectangular tablet shape is carved, inscribed with the dharma name "Chugyedang". Above, on the upper part, there is no ornament, and it connects directly to the capstone, which is decorated with a faint lotus design. The finial is further embellished with a cloud pattern billowing out on all four sides. The Sayeongdang stupa departs from both the bell-shaped and the octagonal-hall types, making it an irregularly shaped stupa. Ordinarily a stupa's base runs from a square or octagonal lower plinth stone, through an octagonal downward-facing lotus design and a middle stone, up to an upward-facing lotus design. In the Sayeongdang stupa, however, the downward-facing lotus and the square lower plinth are carved from a single stone, above which the middle stone follows directly, with the upward-facing lotus omitted. A large square plinth stone is set at the base, with dragon heads carved at each corner facing the four directions; above it runs a downward-facing lotus design carved from a single stone, with eight petals in all, two to a side. Above the lotus design an octagonal middle stone is joined, and the body of the stupa is a flattened, globular shape that swells out at the centre. On the north side a rectangular tablet shape is carved, inscribed with the dharma name "Sayeongdang". The roof stone is square, with a hipped-and-gabled ridge shown at the top; the finial is cut from the same stone as the roof stone and, with no base disc, a covered-bowl form and a jewel finial follow directly. As for the dating of these stupas, records including the memorial stele inscription of Neunggasa Temple (1750), the consecration record found inside the temple's statue of the Four Heavenly Kings (1667), the record of the making of the sixteen arhat images in Eungjindang Hall (1685), and the Haedong Buljo Wollyu (a genealogical record of Korean Buddhist patriarchs) show Sayeong Sinhui named as a disciple of Chugyedang Seong-an; from this it can be inferred that the Chugyedang stupa dates from around the mid-17th century and the Sayeongdang stupa from around the late 17th century. Moreover, the fact that the Chugyedang stupa, built in the mid-17th century, takes the bell-shaped form makes it, together with the Soyodang stupa of the same period at Baegyangsa Temple, a highly valuable source for the study of bell-shaped stupas in South Jeolla Province.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goheung, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산