Lion Pavilion

Lion Pavilion stands atop the western peak of Busosan Mountain, the peak known as Songwoldae, 'the platform for sending off the moon'. At 106 m above sea level, this is the highest point on Busosan, commanding an excellent view: Gyeryongsan Mountain to the east, the Guryong Plain to the west, Seongheungsanseong Fortress to the south, and Ulseongsanseong Fortress and Jeungsanseong Fortress to the north. It is presumed that in the Baekje period a watchtower stood here, also serving as the western command post of Busosanseong Fortress. Lion Pavilion was relocated and rebuilt in 1919 under the direction of Kim Chang-su, then magistrate of Buyeo, who had the Baesallu, a gate pavilion from Imcheon, moved to this site; it was renovated again in 1990 and has stood in its present form since. During the levelling of the ground for this work, a gilt-bronze Buddha statue (also known as the Gilt-bronze Buddha Inscribed with the Name Jeong Ji-won) was discovered; it is now on display at the Buyeo National Museum. Lion Pavilion is a building of three bays across the front and two bays along the side, with a hipped-and-gabled roof, built on a single-tier foundation of long dressed stones. The eaves are double eaves, in the ikgong bracket style, with flower-shaped struts set between the brackets. The signboard reading '泗泚樓' was written in May 1919 by Prince Uiwang (Yi Gang), a son of Emperor Gojong, while the signboard reading '白馬長江' ('the White Horse and the Long River') was written by Kim Gyu-jin (pen name Haegang), a renowned calligrapher of the late Joseon period. Incidentally, the pavilion came to be called 'Sabiru' because the characters '泗泚樓' on the signboard were misread as '泗沘樓'; this confusion seems to trace back to the Samguk yusa, which used both '泗沘' and '泗泚' interchangeably for Buyeo, and appears to have persisted to the present. 泗沘 is interpreted as meaning 'boat': 泗 carries the sense of 'new', 'east' or 'red', equivalent to 所, while 沘, like 伐, 佛, 火 or 夫里, means 'broad plain' or 'village'; together they carry the same meaning as 所夫里, another name for Buyeo. Accordingly, on 3 January 2002 a request to change the cultural heritage material's name was accepted, changing 'Sabiru (泗沘樓)' to 'Sajaru (泗泚樓)', and the signboard was replaced to match.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Buyeo, Chungnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료