Yeongyang Hyeon-ri Five-story Stone Pagoda Elevated to Treasure Status

Continuing the Tradition of Mojeon Stone Pagodas Concentrated in Gyeongbuk with Rarity
Stone Shaped Like Bricks with Rounded Corner Stones

Yeongyang Hyeon-ri Five-story Stone Pagoda with Mojeon Style

The Yeongyang Hyeon-ri Five-story Mojeon Stone Pagoda (英陽 縣里 五層模塼石塔·Gyeongbuk Tangible Cultural Property No. 12) has been elevated to a treasure status.

On the 27th, the Cultural Heritage Administration announced that this cultural asset, believed to have been constructed between the late Silla and early Goryeo periods, was designated as Treasure No. 2069. It was judged to continue the tradition of the Mojeon stone pagoda series concentrated in Gyeongbuk while also possessing rarity.

Mojeon stone pagodas are stone pagodas built by processing stones into brick shapes and stacking them. They are mainly distributed in the northern Gyeongbuk areas such as Andong, Uiseong, Yeongyang, and around Gyeongju. Jeontap (brick pagodas made by densely stacking small baked clay bricks) are common in Andong, while the Jeontap-type Mojeon pagodas are abundant in Yeongyang. A Cultural Heritage Administration official explained, "This appears to be due to cultural and economic factors of Silla."

So far, eight Jeontap-type Mojeon stone pagodas have been discovered. Among the total 492 Buddhist pagodas (193 nationally designated cultural assets and 296 provincially designated cultural assets), they account for only 1.6%, indicating their rarity.

Yeongyang Hyeon-ri Five-story Stone Pagoda with Mojeon Style

The Yeongyang Hyeon-ri Five-story Mojeon Stone Pagoda is broadly divided into the pedestal, the body of the pagoda (the part forming each story by stacking the main body stone and the roof stone in order), and the top finial. The first-story body is constructed with 12 layers. On the south side, a small shrine for enshrining Buddha statues and others is provided. Granite long stones were used to place the left and right doorposts (pillars erected on both sides of a door to hang the door) and the horizontal lintels (between the pillars), installing a door panel (a carved door on the first story body of the stone pagoda).

The surfaces of the left and right doorposts are engraved with vine patterns. While shaping the stones into brick forms, the corner stones positioned at the angular locations were rounded, adding softness to the overall pagoda design. A Cultural Heritage Administration official explained, "This is a feature not seen in other stone pagodas or brick pagodas."

The body of the pagoda is formed into five stories. From the second story, a sharp reduction in scale is observed. Scale reduction refers to the degree and proportion by which the edges of the roofs (the roof parts) of each story decrease as they ascend in a multi-story structure. The slope angle of the Yeongyang Hyeon-ri Five-story Mojeon Stone Pagoda (the angle formed when connecting the roof edges of each story from bottom to top with an imaginary line) is 81 degrees, similar to the scale reduction ratio of Mojeon stone pagodas in the Gyeongbuk region. A Cultural Heritage Administration official stated, "In terms of materials used, the five-story Mojeon stone pagoda type, the shrine on the south side, and the scale reduction ratio, it shows similarities to the Yeongyang Sanhae-ri Five-story Mojeon Stone Pagoda (National Treasure No. 187). It is reasonable to say that it inherits the same style."

Mojeon Five-story Stone Pagoda in Hyeonidong, Yeongyang, Gyeongbuk (Glass Plate Photo, National Museum of Korea e-Museum)

This stone pagoda remained up to part of the fourth story in glass plate photographs from the Japanese colonial period. During the dismantling and restoration process in 1979, it was restored to five stories. After two rounds of repair and maintenance work in 2003 and 2014, it reached its current state. A Cultural Heritage Administration official said, "It is regrettable that parts of the pedestal and roof stone (the roof-like stone placed on top of the body stone) were deformed during the dismantling and repair process," but added, "Among the Mojeon stone pagoda series concentrated in the Gyeongbuk region, its original form has been relatively well preserved." They also stated, "We plan to actively cooperate with local governments and others to systematically preserve and utilize it."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.