Reconsideration of the Construction Period of the Jeongnimsaji Temple Site

It was believed that Jeongnimsa temple was built after the capital was moved from Gongju to Buyeo. It was confirmed that it was built A.D. $625{\pm}20$ by conducting a paleomagnetic analysis on the fireplace, which was recently found at the bottom of Jungmunji(middle gate). Consequently, it is assumed that the temple was built in the early 7th century unlike the previous point of view. Therefore, this study evaluated if the fireplace at the bottom of Jungmunji was found at the geological stratum representing the Jeongnimsa temple. Moreover, the study examined when the fireplace at the bottom of Jungmunji was constructed on the soil stratum. It is possible that the fireplace was built in the early 7th century as shown in the paleomagnetic analysis. However, when we compared the soil strata of the Jungmunji and the existing five-story stone pagoda, it showed that the ground was prepared differently and they were built over a fairly long period of time. Furthermore, I discovered that there was a wooden pagoda under the five-story stone pagoda by examining the soil strata map. Therefore, previous studies evaluated the arrangement of auxiliary buildings of Jeongnimsa temple and concluded that it was built in the early 7th century. It is hard to determine when the temple was built based on the arrangement of auxiliary buildings, because it takes a long time to build a temple and auxiliary buildings can be relocated during this long construction period. Rather, we have to admit that there are various arrangement patterns through minor changes in buildings from the one pagoda and one main building(Geumdang) arrangement.

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