Late Joseon Buddhist statue 'Dongchuksa Stone Seated Buddha' and Unified Silla stone pagoda 'Andong Geumsori Three-Story Stone Pagoda' added to city's heritage list

The "Ulsan Dongchuksa Stone Seated Buddha" (left) and the "Andong Geumsori Three-Story Stone Pagoda" (right), designated Thursday as tangible cultural heritage sites by the city of Ulsan. [Ulsan city government]
The "Ulsan Dongchuksa Stone Seated Buddha" (left) and the "Andong Geumsori Three-Story Stone Pagoda" (right), designated Thursday as tangible cultural heritage sites by the city of Ulsan. [Ulsan city government]

The city of Ulsan on Thursday officially designated two cultural heritage items — the "Ulsan Dongchuksa Stone Seated Buddha" and the "Andong Geumsori Three-Story Stone Pagoda" — as Ulsan Metropolitan City-designated tangible cultural heritage.

The Dongchuksa Stone Seated Buddha was carved from bulseok, a zeolite-type stone quarried in Gyeongju. Its most distinctive feature is that the Buddha figure and its pedestal were fashioned from a single piece of stone.

The statue ranks among the larger bulseok Buddhist figures, is in good condition, and clearly exhibits the stylistic characteristics of bulseok statues from the first half of the 18th century — the late Joseon period — giving it strong academic, historical and religious value.

The Andong Geumsori Three-Story Stone Pagoda was originally located in Geumsori, Imha-myeon, Andong, before being moved in 2014 to Yukjijangsa temple in Jung-gu, Ulsan. It follows the classic ninth-century Unified Silla stone pagoda form, with a three-story body set atop a two-tier base. The upper section of the base is carved with the Four Heavenly Kings — guardian deities of Buddhist law — while the lower section features "juak gongyangsang," figures of celestial beings or bodhisattvas playing musical instruments.

Although the pagoda was not made in the Ulsan area, the city said it decided to designate it as a city-level tangible cultural heritage because it faithfully reflects the stylistic traits of late ninth-century Unified Silla pagodas, and because the distinctive decorative carvings, original location and relocation process have all been clearly documented.

With the two new additions, Ulsan's roster of city-designated tangible cultural heritage sites has grown to 47, bringing the total number of national and city-designated cultural heritage assets under the city's management to 172.


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