Culture645

Nine-Storey Pagoda of Hwangnyongsa

On the monk Jajang’s advice, Queen Seondeok built a nine-storey wooden pagoda some 80 m tall at Hwangnyongsa, raised by the Baekje master builder Abiji.

Hwangnyongsa temple site, Gyeongju — foundation stones where the nine-story wooden pagoda stood
Ronnie Dayo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

The Samguk yusa says Jajang, while studying in Tang, was told that a nine-storey pagoda at Hwangnyongsa would make the neighbouring countries submit, and proposed it on his return. Queen Seondeok sent treasure to Baekje to engage the master builder Abiji. The nine storeys were said to stand for nine peoples Silla hoped to subdue.

With the temple’s great Buddha statue and King Jinpyeong’s jade belt it was counted among Silla’s Three Treasures. It burned in the Mongol invasion of 1238; only the central foundation stone and the site remain.

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The map in AD 645

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States and rulers at the time: Silla — Queen Seondeok
Places: Hwangnyongsa Temple Site

People

Queen SeondeokAD 647
monarch · Twenty-seventh ruler and Silla's first queen, under whom Cheomseongdae and the nine-storey pagoda of Hwangnyongsa were built
Jajang
related figure · Silla monk who, back from Tang, urged Queen Seondeok to build the nine-storey pagoda of Hwangnyongsa

Before and after

Earlier: AD 642 Yeon Gaesomun’s Coup
Later: AD 645 Siege of Ansi Fortress

Themes that include this event

Changes in PagodasAD 634 – 1467
From Baekje stone pagodas copying timber ones and Silla pagodas copying brick ones, to Unified Silla three-story pagodas and stupas, Goryeo multi-sided pagodas and Yuan-influenced marble towers
Gyeongju57 BC – 1860
Silla’s capital for a thousand years — tombs, pagodas, temples and bells from every age of Silla, and the birthplace of Donghak