Hwacheon Seongbulsa Temple Epitaph Tablet Jangseung Guardian Posts

This stone jangseung, a guardian post traditionally set up to ward off evil and mark village or temple boundaries, stands beside the site of a hermitage 600 m from the site of Seongbulsa Temple, and was erected to guard the temple. Its waist had been broken, and the lower part lay buried in the ground for a long time until it was recently found; it was restored to its present form by villagers in May 1993. It measures 196 cm in height, 60 cm across the shoulders, 58 cm in face thickness and 47 cm in body thickness, and is carved from granite. It wears a hat shaped like the felt cap worn by military officials of the Joseon dynasty, and has large eyes and a large nose, with its face appearing to jut forward at the chin. It is girdled with a beaded-band pattern and carved with a hol, the ceremonial tablet held by civil officials of the Joseon dynasty when appearing before the king, so that overall it combines the face of a guardian spirit general with the body of a civil official stone statue. Whereas most guardian jangseung bare sharp fangs to take on a goblin-like face, this is a rare example that bears a human face expressing the likeness of a spirit general while its body is carved whole. The exact date of its erection is not known. All the same, as its form is a distinctive example differing from the usual character of stone jangseung, it serves as important evidence revising the previous view that Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province had no guardian jangseung at all.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hwacheon, Gangwon

Designation

Provincial Folklore Heritage · 시도민속문화유산