The Five storied stone pagoda of Jeongnimsa Temple site ( ko, 부여 정림사지 오층석탑) is a five-story

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

standing on a single narrow and low base pedestal. It was built in the

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

Era.

Origin

On the first floor of this stone pagoda, it is referred to as the Pyeongsung Tower of Baekje. Recently, a tile engraved with the temple name Jungrimsa was found at this temple site and the site was named Jeongnimsa Temple Site.

Configuration

Each pedestal is fixed by a pillar stone. Each corner of the pagoda body in each story holds a pillar stone using the ''beheullim'' technique, where a pillar's upper and lower extremities are narrow while its middle is convex. Thin and wide roof stones covering the edges of the eaves display what is described as "lofty elegance."

Value

It is valued in that it shows refined and creative figures as well as the typical form of a wooden building like a thin pedestal, with pillars exhibiting the ''beheullim'' technique and thin and wide roof stones. The pagoda is also highly valued as one of the two last remaining stone pagodas from the Baekje Era.

Characteristics

The surface of the stone pagoda is engraved with Chinese characters celebrating the victory of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

over Baekje in 660, indicating the symbolic importance of its location for Baekje. It was carved into the pagoda itself by the commanding Tang general who defeated Baekje once and for all during the

Baekje–Tang War The Baekje–Tang War was fought between Baekje and the allied forces of Tang China and Silla between 660 and 663. It was in some respect a spillover of the, at the time, ongoing Goguryeo–Tang War. After numerous attacks and raids by the combin ...

. The Tang dynasty and

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

kingdom joined forces to destroy Baekje.

References

External links