Four-Lion Pagoda at Sajabinsinsa Temple Site (Jecheon)

In Songgye-ri, Hansu-myeon, Jecheon, on the road into the Songgye Valley of Woraksan, a single stone pagoda stands on an empty temple site. The Four-Lion Nine-Story Stone Pagoda at Sajabinsinsa Temple Site is an unusual Goryeo pagoda: four lions on the upper base hold up its body, with a hooded figure seated between them. An inscription on the lower base gives the year 1022 and the reason it was built, making it a benchmark for dating other stone pagodas.

A prayer against the Khitan

Carved on the panels of the lower base, together with the temple's name, is a text stating that in 1022, the 13th year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, a nine-storey pagoda was raised in the hope of defeating enemies through the power of the Buddha. Goryeo had endured three major Khitan invasions from 993 onwards, and the pagoda went up just three years after General Gang Gam-chan crushed the Khitan army at Gwiju in 1019, so it reads as a prayer to ward off another attack. Thanks to this inscription we also know that the pagoda, which today keeps only four roof stones, originally had nine storeys. The inscribed panel can still be seen today. It was designated a Treasure in 1963.

Almost nothing else is recorded about the temple. Only the pagoda stands on the wide empty site, and even the name Sajabinsinsa is known thanks to the inscription on it. It sits beside the road into Songgye Valley, so it is an easy stop on the way in or out. The valley runs along the east side of Yeongbong, the 1,097-metre main peak of Woraksan, so the mountain's slopes rise like a screen behind the pagoda.

The lions and the hooded figure

• Four lions: one lion sits at each corner of the upper base, carrying the body of the pagoda. The design follows the Unified Silla four-lion three-storey pagoda at Hwaeomsa in Gurye, a National Treasure. Only a handful of pagodas of this type survive, among them the four-lion three-storey pagoda at Gwaeseok-ri, Hongcheon, a Treasure.
• The central figure: the stone figure seated between the lions is, unusually, wearing a hood. Opinions differ on whether it is Vairocana Buddha, a bodhisattva or a monk. Its expression is lively and worth a close look.
• What remains: on the two-tier base stand five body stones and four roof stones. The top is lost, but because its date is certain, the pagoda is key to studying the structure and carving techniques of stone pagodas.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: 15–30 minutes for the pagoda. Walk around the base and compare the four lions' faces and the front and back of the central figure.
• Best angle: the figure sits deep between the lions, so it is easier to see from an oblique angle than straight on. The inscription is on the panels of the lower base.
• Combine with: pair it with Songgye Valley, Deokjusa Temple and Deokju Fortress on the southern side of Woraksan for a full day. Woraksan's Yeongbong is known, along with Baekdusan, as one of the peaks traditionally called a "spirit peak". In summer the road gets busy with people heading to the valley to swim.
• Getting there: Jecheon city buses 980 and 982 run towards Songgye Valley but take more than two hours, so driving is the realistic option.
• When to go: autumn, when the hillside behind the pagoda changes colour, is especially fine. The open site has little shade, so in midsummer come early in the day.