Yangju Master Hoeamsajigong Stupa Stele

Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju became an important temple for the state after it was greatly rebuilt when Seon master Jigong visited in the late Goryeo period and declared it comparable to Nalanda in India. Shortly after the founding of Joseon, members of the royal family who revered Buddhism, including King Taejo Yi Seong-gye and Prince Hyoryeong, also came to the temple to pay their respects to the Buddha. This stone stele records the life and achievements of Jigong and is paired with a stupa, showing that it is a memorial stele of stupa-stele type. A tall square base stone supports the stele body, which is in turn capped with a hip-and-gable-style roof, a style of stone stele that was popular in the late Joseon period. According to related records, Jigong's stupa stele was originally erected in May 1378 and survived in good condition throughout the Joseon period. For reasons that are not entirely clear, however, Yi Eung-jun damaged it in 1821 along with the stupa stele of the monk Muhak. When the royal court learned of this it ordered the steles to be re-erected, and they were rebuilt in 1828; the stupa stele of Seon master Jigong that survives today dates from this reconstruction. Jigong was a monk from India who was active in Yuan China; his renown was such that Goryeo monks also travelled to Yuan to study under him. Jigong stayed in Goryeo for two years and seven months, from 1326 to 1328, during which he made pilgrimages to temples in various regions, including Geumgangsan Mountain, as well as Gamnosa, Tongdosa, Hoeamsa and Hwajangsa Temples. Because of this connection, a stupa, a stone lantern and a stupa stele for him were also erected at Hoeamsa Temple in Yangju.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료