Jeongnimsa Temple Site
정림사지
The site of the principal temple of Sabi-period Baekje. The temple is gone; a five-storey stone pagoda from Baekje and a seated stone Buddha from Goryeo remain, and the north-south axis running from the middle gate past the pagoda and hall to the lecture hall is still legible across the open ground.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 정림사지
- Address
- 254 Dongnam-ri, Buyeo-eup, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do
History
538-660
The principal temple of Sabi Baekje
This is the site of the central temple of the period after Baekje moved its capital to Buyeo.
1028
A roof tile that names the temple
A tile excavated at the lecture-hall site carries an inscription naming Jeongnimsa in the eighth year of Taiping — 1028, the nineteenth year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo — which is how the name is known.
the plan
A straight axis, and a trapezoidal cloister
The middle gate, the five-storey pagoda, the main hall and the lecture hall stand on one straight north-south axis, wrapped by a cloister. Unusually, that cloister is not square but trapezoidal, wider across the north.
26 March 1983
Designated a Historic Site
Designated as a Historic Site covering 61,449 square metres.
1993
A shelter for the stone Buddha
A building was put up to shelter the seated stone Buddha made in the Goryeo period.
2015
Inscribed as World Heritage
Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the eight sites making up the Baekje Historic Areas.
What to see
The five-storey stone pagoda
A stone pagoda raised under Baekje, still standing in the middle of the site. With the temple gone, it is what marks where the axis ran.
The seated stone Buddha
A seated stone Buddha made in the Goryeo period — evidence of the Goryeo layer built on top of the Baekje temple.
The five-storey stone pagoda selected
Nearby
Buyeo National Museum
The national museum for the finds of Sabi-period Baekje, which gives the gilt-bronze incense burner a hall of its own.
Busosanseong Fortress
A mountain fortress wrapping Busosan on the south bank of the Baengma River. It guarded the palace after the court moved to Sabi and defended the capital until Baekje fell. Nakhwaam cliff and Goransa temple stand inside it.
Naseong City Wall
An 8 km wall raised to protect the Sabi capital. Taking Busosanseong as its centre, it runs east and west along the natural terrain around the outside of the Buyeo townscape. It was built of earth, and only slight traces of it remain today.
Buyeo Royal Tombs
Seven Baekje tombs on the south slope of Neungsan, set in two rows front and back. The ground has long been known as royal tombs, and finds from the temple site west of them reconfirmed it as a royal burial area. UNESCO lists it as the royal tombs in Neungsan-ri; the name the Korea Heritage Service uses today is Buyeo Royal Tombs.
Stories about this place
- Jeongnimsa: The Temple Is Gone and One Pagoda Still Holds the Axis
There is no temple at the Jeongnimsa site. What remains is a five-storey stone pagoda from Baekje and a seated stone Buddha from Goryeo — and because of where the pagoda stands, the north-south axis from the middle gate past the main hall to the lecture hall is still readable across bare ground. The pagoda also carries a conqueror's inscription that once cost it its name.
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