Beopjusa Temple Yeojeogam Hermitage Multi-story Cheong Stone Pagoda, Boeun

Yeojeogam is a hermitage belonging to Beopjusa Temple. It was founded in 1694, the twentieth year of King Sukjong, by the monk Gyeongsu of Yeojeokdang, and was rebuilt in 1901 (the ninth year of the Gwangmu era) by the monk Nameung-ik, who was then its abbot. It burned down in 1950 during the Korean War and was reconstructed in 1964 by the monk Haengdam. Relics excavated in the surrounding area and the cheongseok pagoda, built of cheongseok, a bluish-grey slate stone, that remains within the precinct suggest that a temple already stood on this site during the Goryeo period. The Yeojeogam Multi-story Cheongseok Pagoda, including its base stone, currently stands 2 m high. Two tall tiers of granite were laid on the ground to form the platform stone, on top of which the granite first-storey body stone was placed. Corner pillars were carved in relief on either side of the body stone, and the roof consists solely of eight square slate roof-slabs stacked one upon another. On the drip-edge of the twelfth tier's roof stone a downward-facing lotus motif is carved, and the finial comprises a granite base disc and a ringed spire. Eight pagodas similar to this one have been designated as heritage, including the Treasure-designated Multi-story Stone Pagoda of Wondangam Hermitage at Haeinsa Temple and the Multi-story Cheongseok Pagoda of Changnyongsa Temple in Chungju, a provincial Cultural Heritage Material. These share not only the same pagoda form, lotus-flower motifs, and building material (cheongseok), but also a similar size and carving technique. The dimensions are: total height 129 cm (body 52 cm, finial 50 cm, base 27 cm); the width of the corner-pillar stones is 54 cm at the first tier, 52 cm at the second, 47 cm at the third, 43 cm at the fourth, 41 cm at the fifth, 39 cm at the sixth, 38 cm at the seventh, and 35 cm at the eighth. Cheongseok pagodas are a distinctive type of stone pagoda that flourished from the end of Unified Silla into the Goryeo period, and no more than ten have actually been surveyed nationwide, many surviving only as a few remaining roof stones. Judging by its style, the Multi-story Cheongseok Pagoda of Yeojeogam Hermitage at Beopjusa Temple is likewise presumed to date roughly from the Goryeo period. This pagoda retains a cap stone carved with lotus-flower motifs, holes for wind chimes at the four corners of the roof stones, and its body stone, making it a relic of great scholarly value.

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Where it is

Region

Boeun, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산