Inscribed "Ganghuiosimnyeon" Seokgam of Gyeongeunsa Temple, Jecheon

Gyeongeunsa Temple stands at the foot of Guhaksan Mountain, a spur of Chiaksan Mountain in the Taebaeksan range, and is a branch temple of Bongseonsa Temple, head temple of the 25th parish of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Behind the temple, oddly shaped rocks form a peak, and in front, beyond Dodeokbong Peak, the old road over Baekdallyeong Pass can be seen. Tradition holds that this temple was where the monk Tanmyeong practised in the mid-Joseon period, and it was then known as Dodeogam or Baegunam Hermitage. On a site that had long lain empty, a small earthen hermitage was built to keep the temple's lineage alive, but this burned down completely in a fire in 1939. In 1942 an in-beopdang (a combined dharma hall and living quarters) was rebuilt, and the temple was renamed Gyeongeunsa, its present name. The seokgam (a small stone shrine box for enshrining a guardian deity image) was unearthed in 1985 during stonework behind the site when the Daeungjeon Hall was newly built. The inscription shows that it was made in the fiftieth year of Ganghui (Kangxi) (1711, the 37th year of King Sukjong) by Master Tanmyeong Seonsa to enshrine the Guardian King of the East, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. This seokgam is made of talc (steatite) in a long rectangular shape, with a ledge formed at the lower part and, above it, a long niche (gamsil) hollowed out in the centre. Any objects excavated together with it have been lost, and there was nothing inside it at the time of excavation. The seokgam is long and rectangular; on the back an inscription of twenty-two characters in four lines survives, reading "Kangxi fiftieth year, sinmyo, sixth month, day: the monk Tanmyeong made this stone chamber and dedicated it to the Heavenly King" (康熉15十年辛卯六月日坬明比丘造成石室奉獻天王). On the left side, within a rectangular cartouche, a twenty-seven-character inscription in four lines is incised, reading "Kangxi fiftieth year, sinmyo, sixth month, day: the monk Tanmyeong made this stone chamber and offered it before the Heavenly King, the Guardian King of the East" (康熉15十年辛卯六月日 坬明比丘造成石室 獻于東方持国王 天王前). As the inscription reveals, the date of manufacture is the fiftieth year of Kangxi (1711, the 37th year of King Sukjong), and its maker is the Master Tanmyeong Seonsa named in temple records; it also shows that the deity enshrined was the Guardian King of the East. On the right side, too, a long rectangular cartouche was prepared, but its surface bears no inscription or pattern, and its lower face is flat. Its measurements are: overall height 30 cm; width of the top face 14 cm; width of the bottom face 13.5 cm; and the niche (gamsil) interior height 12 cm, width 6.5–6.7 cm, and depth 5.8–6.0 cm. Because this seokgam is made of soft talc, it would have been easy to incise the inscription, and thanks to this inscription its maker, date of manufacture and the deity enshrined within it are all clearly known. The seokgam is in good condition and well preserved; not only do the inscriptions on the back and side make its maker and date certain, but the object itself is judged a rare artefact, making it an important research resource as well as a sacred Buddhist treasure. As a representative example of a seokgam from the late Joseon period, with few comparable examples known, it retains a rare value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jecheon, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산