Stone Lantern at Gaeseonsa Temple Site, Damyang

This is a representative stone lantern from the Unified Silla period remaining in the Jeollanam-do area. According to the [Joseon Gojeok Dobo] published during the Japanese colonial period, the pillar stone was buried, but in 1965, the surrounding area was cleared and it was exposed. In the [National Treasure Catalog] published in 1960, it was already exposed up to the base stone. From 1990 to 1992, a restoration project was carried out with verification from the Cultural Heritage Administration, replacing the base stone, lower pedestal stone, and part of the pillar stone with new stone materials, and now the temple site and stone lantern are well-maintained. This stone lantern is a drum-shaped (鼓複形) stone lantern based on an octagonal shape, with a height of 3.5m. Looking at the detailed style, an octagonal lower pedestal stone (八角下臺石) is placed on a wide square base stone (方形 地臺石), which was replaced with new stone in 1992. The double lotus petals (複蓮) on the upper pedestal stone (上臺石) above are double-petaled eight-leaf (複瓣 八葉) double lotus (兩蓮), symmetrical with the double lotus petals (複蓮) of the lower pedestal stone.<br /><br />The underside of the roof stone has a low, flat support, and each of the eight corners is carved with floral decorative corner ornaments. Each side has a shallow corner in the middle, clearly expressing an inverted curve, so the roof stone forms a 16-sided shape, which represents the unique style of this stone lantern. This style can be seen in various stone artifacts from the late Silla period, and the inscription on the stone lantern reads 'Yonggi (龍紀) 3rd year,' which corresponds to 891 (the 5th year of Queen Jinseong of Unified Silla), making it a valuable resource for determining the construction date and a representative stone lantern showing 9th-century techniques. On top of the roof stone, a finial base is placed, followed by an upward flower (仰花), a jewel wheel (寶輪), and a jewel (寶珠) in sequence. The lamp-lighting record (造燈記) carved on the pillar face of the fire chamber stone is recorded in two lines per pillar, and the annotations (細注) written on lines 9 and 10 are each in two lines. Only on line 6, the corner of the fire window (火窓) is damaged, making it difficult to carve characters, so a space for about three characters is left blank, but all other faces are inscribed with characters.<br />[Cultural Property Information]<br />Designated Item: Treasure<br />Designation Status: Treasure<br />Designation Year: January 21, 1963<br />Period: Unified Silla<br />Type: Stone Lantern<br />Size: Height