Five-story Stone Pagoda and Pyoseok, Stone Lantern of Bulgyojejungwon Temple

The five-story stone pagoda and the stone marker (pyoseok, a stone inscribed with a name or record) reading "Bulgyojejungwon," now standing in the grounds of Gyeonggi Girls' High School, originally stood on the site of Seonwonjeon Hall at Deoksugung Palace (Gyeongungung Palace). They were absorbed into the school when its Jeong-dong campus was expanded, and were moved to their present location when the school relocated to Gangnam in 1988. On the original site of Seonwonjeon Hall at Deoksugung Palace (Gyeongungung Palace), the Bulgyo Jungang Pogyoso (Central Buddhist Mission), a branch temple of Haeinsa Temple, was established in the 1910s, and in 1923 Bulgyojejungwon was set up there. Bulgyojejungwon was, for its time, a modern medical institution with departments of internal medicine, surgery and midwifery, but it closed in 1925 owing to financial difficulties. Although it was founded by the pro-Japanese monk Yi Hoe-gwang (1862–1933), the stone marker nonetheless carries significance as a record of modern Buddhist history. The five-story stone pagoda has a square plan set on a single-tier platform; its body stones diminish only gradually from storey to storey, and the very thick roof stones give it a somewhat crude, heavy appearance. The eaves turn up sharply at all four corners, producing a rather exaggerated effect, and the finial is formed of a single bokbal (an overturned-bowl-shaped stone). The pagoda carries on the tradition of Joseon-period stone pagodas but in a much simplified form, and its importance lies in being a modern stone pagoda of known date. The stone lantern has a hexagonal fire chamber (hwasaseok, the part that houses the light) topped by a hexagonal roof stone, and like the pagoda it gives a heavy impression; one of the support stones in its lower pedestal is a modern replacement. Overall it departs from traditional forms, but represents one aspect of modern stone craftsmanship. Datable to the early twentieth century, these stone objects are important material evidence relating to modern Buddhism.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료