Cheongryangsaji Five-story Stone Pagoda, Gongju

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.1284

Category

Sites & Pagodas

Era

고려시대

Designated year

1998

Location

공주시, 충청남도— 충청남도 공주시 동학사1로 448-150(반포면)

Coordinates

36.362624, 127.213963

The site of Cheongnyangsa Temple contains two stone pagodas, called brother-sister pagodas: a seven-tiered one and a five-tiered one. According to legend, a monk named Sangwon got a tiger out of trouble. The tiger brought a maid to the monk supposedly in return for the gesture. The monk applied himself to Buddhist enlightenment and treated the maid as if she were his own sister. Her father thought highly of the monk’s purity in mind and built the two pagodas. The five-tiered pagoda stands on a single-tiered platform. The bottom and the platform on it are composed of four stones each. One thing that distinguishes this one from others that are similar to it is the separate stone inserted at the center of the platform. Each roof stone of the body is thin and wide, giving an impression of unbalance and instability. The bottoms of the roof stones for the first and second tiers of the body are stones separated from the roof stones. The bodies of the third and fourth tiers are detached from their roof stones. The roof stone of the fourth tier of the body and its bottom is made of one stone, unlike the others below it. As for the top tier, its roof stone is gone. At the top of the pagoda, a round part is left on the square bottom. The overall techniques used tell us that it follows the typical styles of stone pagodas of the Baekje Dynasty (18 BC-660 AD), like the Five-story Stone Pagoda at Jeongnimsa Temple Site, Buyeo (National Treasure No. 9) and Five-story Stone Pagoda in Seongbuk-ri, Seocheon (Treasure No. 224). This pagoda is presumed to have been made in the mid-Goryeo Period (918-1392) based on the fact that some details were omitted in the upper parts and that the minute sculpturing techniques are not uniform. The construction of two stone pagodas that follow the styles of the Baekje Dynasty (18 BC-660 AD) in the Goryeo Period (918-1392) is a significant fact.

Location