User:Waygugin/Three Story Pagoda, Hwaeomsa
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The Three-Story Pagoda or Four-Lion Three-Story Stone Pagoda is located at the South Korean Buddhist temple of Hwaeomsa, in Gurye County, Jeollanam-do. One of the great masterpieces of the non-typical style, it is registered as National Treasure 35 with the Cultural Heritage Administration. The provenience of the pagoda is uncertain. Sources written during the Joseon Dynasty such as the Hwaeomsa Chronicle credit the pagoda to the Silla monk Jajang, who lived during the Three Kingdoms period. Most modern scholars, however, consider this to claim to be spurious, as the sculptural style indicates a construction date sometime between the mid-8th to 9th century, during the Unified Silla period.
Waygugin/Three Story Pagoda, Hwaeomsa | |
Korean name | |
---|---|
Hangul | 화엄사 삼층석탑 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Hwaeomsa samcheungseoktap |
McCune–Reischauer | Hwaŏmsa samch'ŭngsŏkt'ap |
Four-Lion Three-Story Stone Pagoda | |
Hangul | 화엄사 사사자삼층석탑 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Hwaeomsa sasajasamcheungseoktap |
McCune–Reischauer | Hwaŏmsa sasachasamch'ŭngsŏkt'ap |
The pagoda is composed of a two-tier platform, a three story body and a finial. The upper section of the platform consists of the statue of a figure draped in Buddhist robes surrounded at the corners by lions. Opposite the pagoda stands a stone lantern dating to the same period, inside which is a kneeling figure who appears to be giving offerings. By tradition the later statue is said to be a depiction of the monk Yeongi, the founder of Hwaeomsa, while the former represents his mother.