Stone Artefacts at Yonggisa Temple Site, Seongju

The Stone Artefacts at Yonggisa Temple Site, Seongju, are a stone trough (seokjo) and millstones used by the monks who once lived at Yonggisa Temple, now a ruined temple of which only the site remains, when preparing food. The stone trough measures roughly 160 cm wide, 120 cm long, 73 cm high and 52 cm deep; it is an elongated rectangular shape with rounded corners and survives intact. It is deep, with a hole bored in one side of the interior floor to allow drainage; the inner surface around the hole was smoothly finished, while the outer surface was only moderately finished. Overall it is somewhat heavy and bulky in appearance, but has a simple, rustic charm. There are three millstones in all, measuring approximately 120 cm, 80 cm and 70 cm in diameter. Two of them stand next to the stone trough; their upper stones are missing but the lower stones are intact. The third lies about 10 m to the southeast; it is partly damaged, but its original form can still be made out without difficulty. There is no clear record of when Yonggisa Temple was founded, but judging from a poem by Hwang Jun-ryang, who served as Magistrate of Seongju during the Joseon period, it is presumed to have been founded around the 16th century. The Annals of King Seonjo (Seonjo Sillok) and the Seongsanji record that, during the Japanese invasions of 1592, Sin Yeol, Supervising Monk of Right Gyeongsang Province, mobilised a monk militia to make arrows, repaired the Gayasan Mountain Fortress (also known as Yonggi Mountain Fortress), and built its south gate. It is therefore presumed that this temple site was where Sin Yeol established his headquarters and several hundred monk soldiers were stationed, and the surviving stone trough and millstones are of great significance as items likely used to prepare food for the monk militia.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료