Gochang Five-Crossroads Dangsan (Village Guardian Stones)

About this place

The Gochang Five-Crossroads Dangsan (village guardian stone pillars) consists of guardian stones placed at the five cardinal directions — east, west, south, north, and center — within Gochang town, made of both natural standing stones and shaped standing stones. The five-crossroads dangsan was simultaneously established in 1803 (March) at three locations in the center of what was then Gochang County. Originally it was not a five-crossroads but a three-crossroads dangsan; the three crossroads referred to upper, middle, and lower sections, each marked with a carved stone pillar (hwapyo seokju). The present five-crossroads dangsan now includes the original three-crossroads along with the natural village guardian stones of Cheonbuk-dong and Gyochon-ri. Of the shaped stone pillars, the lower-crossroads dangsan bears the inscription 'Jinseo Hwapyo' (inscription of a signpost at the southern crossroads), while the central dangsan is called the 'Mireuk Dangsan' (Maitreya Guardian), reflecting strong Buddhist influences. The natural standing stones of Cheongbuk-dong and Gyochon-ri, used as grandfather and grandmother dangsan, reflect strong folk religious elements, combining Buddhism with folk belief. The five-crossroads dangsan is the only dangsan (village deity) site to use hwapyo (signpost pillars) as its guardian stones. The tradition of pulling tug-of-war ropes and then wrapping them around the guardian stones on Daeboreum (the first full moon of the lunar new year) continues to this day.