The stone reliquary from temple site in Neungsan-ri, Buyeo () designated as the 288th National Treasure of South Korea, is an early 6th-century Paekche stone container crafted to house sacred Buddhist reliquaries. Unearthed in 1995 from the wood pagoda site at the Neungsan-ri temple site in Buyeo County, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, this artifact holds extraordinary historical and epigraphic value as it bears an inscribed date specifying its precise year of installation, the identity of its patron, and the political-religious context of Paekche during King Wideok's reign.
Discovery The stone reliquary was discovered during the 1995 archaeological excavation conducted by the Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage at the Neungsan-ri temple Site (a precinct adjacent to the Neungsan-ri royal tombs and the discovery site of the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje). Carved out of a single block of granite, it functioned as an arched protective niche that originally contained an inner reliquary vessel.
Characteristics The reliquary exhibits an arched architectural form reminiscent of cave temples or miniature shrine niches (niche grotto style) prevalent in ancient East Asian Buddhist art.
The top of the granite block is sculpted in a gentle arch, giving the outer structure an overarching dome appearance. A rectangular cavity is hollowed out in the center (measuring approximately 29 cm in height and 18 cm in width) to accommodate an inner sarira casket (usually made of glass, silver, or gold). The surfaces are smoothly carved, reflecting the refined, restrained aesthetic and sophisticated stonemasonry techniques characteristic of the Sabi period (538–660 CE) when the capital of the kingdom moved further south from Gongju area.
Epigraphy Carved on both sides of the front arched entrance are 20 hanja characters in two vertical lines (10 characters per line) written in the elegant script.
The explanation of epitaph is followed: King Chang (昌王) refers to King Wideok (위덕왕, r. 554–598 CE), whose personal name was 부여창 (Buyeo Chang). The epitaph clearly confirms the exact date of installation – the year of 567, making this the oldest dated stone sarira container discovered in Korea. It is comprehensible that the casket was enshrined by a royal princess to commemorate her deceased father, King Seong (성왕, r. 523–554 CE), who died at the battle of Gwansanseong in 554 CE.
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