Amtaedo Painting Songgongnimaehyang Stele, Sinan

The Songgok-ri maehyang stele on Amtaedo Island, Sinan, is a maehyang stele erected in 1405 (the fifth year of King Taejong, Yongnak 3), early in the Joseon dynasty. Maehyang ("burying incense") is a folk Buddhist ritual, strongly oriented toward hopes of blessing in a future life as a form of Maitreya (Mireuk) faith, in which fragrant wood (hyangmok) is buried in the ground. The wood was left buried for a long time at a spot where fresh water met sea water, and was later dug up for use as medicine or in Buddhist rites; a maehyang stele (or rock-carved inscription) records the time and place of the burial and the people involved. Tradition holds that the ideal site for burying the incense is the point where mountain-valley water meets sea water. The Amtaedo maehyang stele bears an inscription of seven lines and is notable as, to date, the only such example found on an island anywhere in the two Koreas; it was discovered in July 1982 during a joint academic survey of island regions carried out by the Island Culture Research Institute of Mokpo National University. When found, the stele stood leaning on the eastern slope of a hill about 80 m above sea level, west of a spot called "Biseokgeori." According to local residents, the stele originally stood on a slightly higher ridge but was moved to its present location for use in waterway construction work; it was found carved in relief on the flat face of an unhewn natural stone. The carved characters vary in size from 6 cm to 11 cm. The upper left corner of the stele is damaged, so that some characters cannot be read. The inscription records the site of the incense burial, the boundary reference points on all four sides, the time of the burial, the leading group behind it, the circumstances in which the incense was buried and the stele erected, and the participants and donors. A particular feature of the Amtaedo maehyang stele is that it explicitly names the "hyangdo" (incense fraternity) as the group that led the ritual, and clearly records the "maehyangcheo," the site where the incense was buried. The maehyang ritual has been practised since ancient times, and maehyang steles (or rock-carved inscriptions) recording its time, place and participants are valuable material not only for its historical character but also for research into the history of Buddhist culture and of local rural society. Erected in 1405 and discovered only in 1982, the Sinan Amtaedo maehyang stele has considerable historical and academic value in its own right, and has also played an important role in the study of maehyang steles generally, since its discovery was followed by many further surveys that in turn identified several other examples of the maehyang practice elsewhere. It is especially valuable in that it is almost the only such example found on an island.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Sinan, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물