Mireuksa

Mireuksaji Stone Pagoda was designated as a national treasure of Korea on 20 December 1962 and is the oldest and largest stone pagoda that has survived into modern times. This pagoda was the western pagoda. It is believed to have been built during the reign of King Mu, who ruled from 600 to 640. The pagoda is architecturally significant because it shows how the Baekje adapted their knowledge of woodworking to stone. An example of wood pagoda building techniques being adapted to stone is the fact that the base of the pagoda is low and only one story, like a wood pagoda. From this stone pagoda, scholars can see wood working techniques, which is especially useful because many Korean wood pagodas have not survived the ravages of time and war. Currently, the pagoda has six floors. However, scholars are uncertain of how many storeys the pagoda would have actually reached. Each side of the first story is divided into three sections, and the middle section contains a door which leads into the pagoda. Walking into the center of pagoda, one can observe a massive central pillar. There are also corner pillars and stone supports which mimic wooden support pillars. The corners of the roof of the pagoda were slightly raised up and each progressive story was smaller than the one that preceded it.

During excavations in January 2009, a gold plate was evacuated from the west pagoda. The plate had inscriptions in Classical Chinese on both sides, describing when and why Mireuksa temple was built. Etched into gold, the letters were inlaid with red paint, or juchil (Hanja: 朱漆), which was a technique reserved for important items or works of art.

The inscription, in the original Chinese, reads:

Roughly translated into English, this becomes,

Coming to think of this, the Buddha (法王) came to this world in synchronisation with and response to the will of the many disciples of Buddhism, and this is like the moon shining in water. Thus the Buddha was born into a palace and achieved Nirvana under a sal tree, leaving behind eight pieces of sarira, benefiting three thousand worlds. So surely, if the sarira, which shines in five colours, were to be turned seven times in respectful rite, the resultant divine transformation would be indescribable. Our Queen of Baekje, (one of King Mu's Queen Consorts) as the daughter of Jwapyeong (佐平) Sataek Jeokdeok, (沙乇積德) planted benevolence through the ages, and with the karma she has received in her present life, she educated the people. She, being a great supporter of the Buddha's teachings, established temples with her wealth and received this sarira on the twenty-ninth day of the first month of the Gihae year. (March 9, 639 AD according to the Julian calendar) We pray, through the charity of ages and founding upon this act of benevolence, that the longevity of His Imperial Majesty (King Mu; 大王陛下) should stand firm like the mountains and that his reign should be eternal with the heavens and the earth. We pray for the spread of the Righteous Way (正法) above, and the flourishing of all people (蒼生) below. We pray again that the body and heart of the Queen become like a water-mirror, ever reflecting Dharma. Let her precious body never perish as with the skies, and give her happiness unto many generations, and let all Buddhist followers achieve Enlightenment.

Also surviving at Mireuksa are flagpole supports of the temple site (Mireuksaji Danggan Jiju). These two massive stones are set 90 centimeters apart. During special celebrations, a flagpole would sit and be supported by the two stone pillars. There were three holes for flags per pillar. The first pair of holes were square while the other two pairs were round. The base of the flagpoles has not survived. The undecorated nature of the pole, save for horizontal stripes carved on the exterior of the two poles, suggests that the poles were created during Later Silla.

• Il-yeon (1997). Samguk Yuksa. 연세대학교출판부. ISBN 978-89-7141-017-2.