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Three-story Stone Pagoda at Cheongsongsa Temple Site, Ulju

울주 청송사지 삼층석탑 ( 蔚州 靑松寺址 三層石塔 )

Heritage Search Detail
Classification Treasure
Name of Cultural Properties Three-story Stone Pagoda at Cheongsongsa Temple Site, Ulju
Quantity 1 stone pagoda
Designated Date 1963.01.21
Age Unified Silla
Address 1420, Yul-ri, Cheongnyang-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan

This stone pagoda is located at Cheongsongsa Temple site at the foot of Namamsan Mountain. Cheongsongsa was built by Cheomuk during the reign of King Hyoso of the Silla Dynasty. It was apparently quite a big temple as it is said that its site was equivalent to the size of the village where it is located. There is a background story about the expanded construction of the temple told by Chundam in 1917. The residents of the village were carrying the Seated Amitabha Buddha from the Banghyeonsa Temple site to a temple of Odaesan Mountain. When they got to the front of Cheongsongsa, they were suddenly unable to take even a step further, and it started to pour with rain. They recognized that it was the right place for the statue to be installed and enshrined there. After that, during the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese tried to take the Buddha statue away to Japan, but they failed due to sudden winds and waves when they got to the harbor of Jumunjin. Hearing the rumor, Chundam visited there and had a Buddhist service in front of the Buddha statue. But following that, he suffered from a lingering illness, without knowing the cause. One day, this Buddha image appeared to him and reprimanded him for not enshrining the image. He would be able to recover after expanding Cheongsongsa and enshrining the image there. This pagoda is a typical 3-story pagoda with a 2-story stylobate of the kind popular during Silla Dynasty. The upper and lower stories of stylobate have the same structure in which the pillar patterns are engraved on the corners and the center, and a two-tiered angled base were laid on the top of the stylobate to support the upper stone. The main stones and the roof stones of the body are each made of one stone. The main stone of the first story is especially tall and large while that of the second story takes the sudden turn for the smaller. The roof stone has a five-tiered base, and the lift of the four corners is really slight because of the thickness of its angle rafter. The eaves are horizontal and short. At the top, only the finial base remains. It is a remarkable example of a Silla pagoda located in a rural area though it suffers from a rather clumsy structure with a too big main stone of the first story compared to a relatively small roof stone. From the inserted base supporting the main stone of the first story and the unique shape of the pagoda, one can guess it was made after 9th century. During dismantling and repair work, a copper sarira case was found containing a standing bronze Buddha and about 30 other items made of crystal and jade, including 16 glass beads.