In this posting, I’d like to introduce the monument for a great monk and the some stone thing near the monument.
As passing through 4 Heaven Kings gate,
there was the monument in the center of the ground which was made at 887 AD for the memory of a great monk Jin Gam died in 885 AD.
The writer of the this monument was the famous scholar in Korean history. There is a legend that the scholar Choi Chee Won became a legendary hermit.
The head part was carved after the shape of the dragon and the bottom was the shape of the turtle.
Even though more than 1000 years have passed, the whole shape was well preserved.
In general the carving was very deliberate.
Before getting to the monument, there were two stone carvings seemed to be eroded by the wind and the rain. So it was hard to identify what the stone carvings were. In my guess, those were toads symbolized as the wealth in Korean Society.
The fifth stone pagoda near the monument seemed to be made in early or mid Goryeo dynasty.
