Gapyeong Hapallijijintap

The Gapyeong Hapallijijintap stands in a separate space beneath the three-storey stone pagoda of Hyeondeungsa Temple. According to tradition, during the reign of King Huijong of Goryeo, State Preceptor Bojo was passing by when he saw the light of a stone lantern on the site of a ruined temple, and rebuilt a temple there; at that time a pagoda was erected to pacify the energy of the earth. For this reason it came to be called Jijintap (Earth-Pacifying Pagoda), and is also called Bojoguksatap after the State Preceptor's name. The pagoda appears originally to have been a three-storey stone pagoda, but part of the base and the first storey of the body are missing, so its original form has changed. On the lowest stylobate stone, two tiers of a supporting platform are provided, and the hip-and-ridge lines at the four corners are distinct. The capstone of the base consists of two slabs, with an eaves moulding formed below and a two-tier angular support above, and the hip-ridge lines at the four corners are likewise distinct. The body stone and the roof stone (the stone forming a roof-like cover on a stone pagoda or lantern) are each made from a single piece of stone. Corner pillars are carved on each face of the body stone, and on the body panel a seated figure, presumed to be a Buddha, is carved. Below the roof stone there are roof-stone supports: four tiers on the second storey and three on the third, a form in which the number decreases towards the upper storeys. The slope of the roof surface is comparatively gentle, and the eaves run horizontally before curving sharply upward at the ends. Above the roof stone of each storey there is a single angular tier of support for the body stone above. Of the finial, only the dew-plate stone survives, with a 5 cm-diameter hole for the central finial pole. Based on the formalised treatment of the roof stones and the stylistic decline in the carving of the Buddha figure on the body stone, the pagoda is presumed to have been built in the mid-Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gapyeong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료