Note 4 — KOREAN BUDDHISM: HISTORY
Reading edition
Gale finds that the history of the erection of the Seoul pagoda was originally inscribed upon the turtle-borne slab that accompanies it. Of the pagoda itself, he says:
1. The Pagoda was therefore built in 1464-1466 A.D.
2. The builder was King Se-jo, who reigned from 1456-1468 and all the workmen were Koreans.
3. The form of it was modelled after the Pagoda in Pung Tuk County, which had already been standing nearly a hundred years, and had been built by Chinese workmen. There is no evidence that this pagoda had ever been brought from Peking though it finds its final resting place now in Tokyo.
4. It was built to commemorate the excellence of the Wungak Sutra from which it takes its name.
5. It is by far the most interesting Buddhist monument in Korea. p. 22.