Wongaksa Pagoda is a twelve metre high ten storey marble pagoda in the center of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It was constructed in 1467 to form part of Wongaksa temple, that King Sejo had founded two years before on the site of an older

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

-period temple, Heungbok-sa. The temple was closed and turned into a

kisaeng Kisaeng (Hangul: 기생, Hanja: 妓生, RR: ''Gisaeng''), also called ginyeo (Hangul: 기녀, Hanja: 妓女), were women from outcast or slave families who were trained to be courtesans, providing artistic entertainment and conversation to men ...

house by the (later deposed) king known as Yeonsan-gun (1476 – 1506, r. 1494-1506), and under his successor, King

Jungjong Jungjong of Joseon (16 April 1488 – 29 November 1544), personal name Yi Yeok (Korean: 이역; Hanja: 李懌), firstly titled Grand Prince Jinseong (Korean: 진성대군; Hanja: 晉城大君), was the 11th ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. ...

(1488 – 1544, r.1506–1544) the site was turned into government offices. The pagoda and a memorial stele commemorating the foundation of Wongaksa alone survived. The site of the temple was later occupied by houses. During the

Imjin War The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The rive ...

of the 1590s, the top portion of the pagoda was pulled down and lay on the ground at the foot of the pagoda until it was replaced by American military engineers in 1947. Foreign visitors to Seoul in the late 19th century often went to admire the beautiful pagoda but it was almost inaccessible, hidden in the courtyard of a small house, and in 1897

John McLeavy Brown Sir John McLeavy Brown, (27 November 1835 – 6 April 1926) was an Irish civil servant in the British Colonial Service. Brown was born in Magheragall, Lisburn, Ireland. After attending Queen's University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin, McLea ...

, the Irish financial advisor to King Gojong, was authorized by the king to turn the area into Seoul's first public park. He called it Pagoda Park, the name it had at the time of the 1919

March 1st Movement The March 1st Movement, also known as the Sam-il (3-1) Movement (Hangul: 삼일 운동; Hanja: 三一運動), was a protest movement by Korean people and students calling for independence from Japan in 1919, and protesting forced assimilation ...

. Today the park is known as Tapgol (Pagoda) Park ( 탑골 공원) and the pagoda stands in a protective glass case. The

Korean name A Korean name (Hangul: ; Hanja: ) consists of a family name followed by a given name, as used by the Korean people in both South Korea and North Korea. In the Korean language, ''ireum'' or ''seongmyeong'' usually refers to the family name (''seo ...

literally means "ten storeyed stone pagoda of Wongaksa Temple site." The pagoda is considered by art historians to be one of the finest examples of

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

pagoda art. The pagoda was designated as the second national treasure of Korea on December 12, 1962. From an inscription on the upper part of the pagoda it is known that the pagoda was built in 1467, the thirteenth year of King Sejo's reign. It is one of the few pagodas made from marble in Korea. Typical Korean pagodas are made from granite, a material abundant on the peninsula. The pedestal supporting the pagoda is three-tiered, and its shape seen from the top looks like a Chinese character, 亞. The first three storeys of the pagoda follow the shape of the base and the next seven storeys are shaped in form of squares. Dragons, lions,

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often re ...

s, phoenixes,

Buddhas In Buddhism, Buddha (; Pali, Sanskrit: 𑀩𑀼𑀤𑁆𑀥, बुद्ध), "awakened one", is a title for those who are awake, and have attained nirvana and Buddhahood through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out ...

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

s, and the

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the ...

carved on each storey of the pagoda. The pagoda, while made of stone, is carved to look as if it was made from wood. The pagoda has brackets, pillars, and curved roof shapes that imitate a wooden pagoda design. The pagoda was clearly modelled on the beautiful

Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda is National Treasure of Korea No. 86. It was designated by the South Korean government on December 20, 1962. An inscription on the first story of the pagoda states that it was erected in the fourth year of King Chungmok in ...

, which was made during the

Era. Originally erected in 1348 at Gyeongcheon-sa temple on Mt. Busosan in Gwangdeok-myeon, Gaepung-gun, Gyeonggi-do (near Gaesong, now in North Korea), it was taken to Japan in 1907, returned to Korea in 1918, and is now housed at the

National Museum of Korea The National Museum of Korea is the flagship museum of Korean history and art in South Korea and is the cultural organization that represents Korea. Since its establishment in 1945, the museum has been committed to various studies and research ...

. The first detailed description of the pagoda in English, together with a translation of the inscription on the stele, was published in 1915 by the scholarly missionary

James Scarth Gale James S. Gale (February 19, 1863 – January 31, 1937; in modern Korean 제임스 스카스 게일, in old Sino-Korean characters 奇一 (기일)) was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, educator and Bible translator in Korea. Early life Gale was ...

in the

Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch The Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch is a learned society based in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1900 as the world's first Korean studies organization, it was founded to provide a platform for scholarly research on the history, culture and ...

's ''Transactions'' Vol. VI, part II:1-22 “The Pagoda of Seoul.”

Gallery

File:Tapgol Park Pagoda.jpg File:Wongaksa01.jpg, ''Note the missing top portion.'' File:Wongaksa02.jpg File:Wongaksa03.jpg File:Wongaksa04.jpg File:Wongaksa05.jpg, ''Note the missing top portion.''

External links

Cultural Heritage Administration
* A page with full text and several photo

* The full text of the Transactions article by James S. Gal

{{coord, 37, 34, 18, N, 126, 59, 18, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-kowiki, display=title Stone pagodas Korean culture National Treasures of South Korea Pagodas in South Korea Buildings and structures in Seoul

Gallery

See also

External links