[Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Lee Su-ji: The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on the 31st that it has given notice to elevate the status of the treasure ‘Five-story Stone Pagoda of Magoksa Temple in Gongju’ to a National Treasure as a designated national cultural heritage.
The ‘Five-story Stone Pagoda of Magoksa Temple in Gongju’, constructed in the late Goryeo period, features a very unique style where a 1.8-meter-long gilt-bronze pagoda, also known as ‘Pungmadong’, is placed on top of the uppermost stone, forming a ‘pagoda on top of a pagoda’.
In particular, the gilt-bronze pagoda replicates the Buddhist pagoda style that was popular in the Yuan dynasty in China, among other places.
The Cultural Heritage Administration evaluated, “The construction technique is delicate with outstanding technical and artistic perfection and is the only one of its kind among stone pagodas in Korea. It holds great value as cultural heritage, showcasing the international exchange of Buddhist culture at the time.”
There are no records related to its construction period.
However, based on detailed expression techniques, such as the Baekje-style stone pagoda that prevailed in Chungcheong and Honam during the late Goryeo period, the round shape on top of the heads of the four directional Buddhas that appear only in late Goryeo Buddhist statues, and the medicine bowl of the Bhaisajyaguru Buddha engraved on the east without a lid in a protruding shape, similar to that of the ‘Gilt-bronze Seated Bhaisajyaguru Buddha’ of the Goryeo period, it is presumed to be constructed around the 14th century in the late Goryeo period.
The double-layered stone pagoda base displays the Baekje-style stone pagoda prevalent during the Goryeo period.
The stone platform of the pagoda is engraved with a haemok-style pattern (crab eye shape), which is a curve pattern resembling a crab’s eye. This is the first discovered instance in existing stone pagodas, and it holds significant scholarly and artistic value.