The perception of the Joseon literati seen throughthe records related to the five-story stone pagoda at the Jeongnim-sa temple site

This paper examines the perception of the Joseon literati through the records about the five-story stone pagoda at the Jeongnim-sa temple site. We first speculate the process of how the inscriptions were made on the stone pagoda. After pacifying Baekje, General Sojeongbang had to return to Tang and report to the emperor before proceeding to conquer Goguryeo. Therefore, there was only about a month of time available for him to compose his merit inscriptions and carve it onto a stone monument. As there was no time to prepare a stone monument, we presume the inscriptions were made on the stone pagoda as an alternative. In general, the Joseon literati called the five-story stone pagoda at the Jeongnim-sa temple site as the Pyeongjae-pagoda. After examining the names such as ‘Pyeong-jae-top(平濟塔)’, ‘Pyeong-baek-je-top(平百濟塔)’, ‘Pyeong-baek-jae-top-myeong(平百濟塔銘)’, ‘So-jeong-bang-bi(蘇定方碑)’, ‘Shin-la-pyeong-jae-top-bi(新羅平濟塔碑)’, ‘So-jeong-bang-peyong-jae-top (蘇定方平濟㙮)’, ‘Dae-tang-pyeong-jae-top(大唐平百濟塔)’, we show that the names are either abbreviations of “Dae-dang-pyeong-baek-je-guk-bi- myeong(大唐平百濟國碑銘)” or those regarding the person responsible for making the inscriptions. In addition, upon observing “Dae-dang-pyeong- baek-je-guk-bi-myeong(大唐平百濟國碑銘)”, the Joseon literatistood on the side of the people of Baekje and criticized the Tang dynasty for conquering the small nation of Baekje. Furthermore, they perceived the actions of General Sojeongbang who made the merit monument as a cruel tyranny. Finally, we show that the perspective on “Dae-dang-pyeong-baek-je- guk-bi-myeong(大唐平百濟國碑銘)” changed during the late Joseon dynasty due to the influence of the Qing historiography and epigraphy. We analyze the literary characteristics of the inscriptions and evaluate the script style and the level of the caligraphy. Through this, we address the issues related to the author while showing that it was considered one of the finest epigraphic materials in Korea.