Cheongju

Cheongju is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is located, ruins dating from the Old Stone Age to the Bronze Age have been found. Settlements associated with the Paleolithic Age have also been discovered at Cheongju such as the Durubong Cave Site. After the unification of the kingdoms by Shilla in 676, which caused various parts of Korea to adapt Buddhism including Cheongju, because the Shilla culture was connected with the Silk Road, which brought the Buddhist religion from Nepal across Northern China to the Korean Peninsula. In the Goryeo era during the reign of Gwangjong, several monuments related to Buddhism were created, among them are Cheol Danggan, built during the year 962 in the center of the city near the remains of Yongdu Temple, which is a flagpole to hang the Dang flag, which is raised to pay tribute to Buddha. Cheol Danggan was listed as a National Treasure in 1962 by the South Korean government. In the Joseon period, the Cheongju region began to adopt Confucianism as its main religion. Throughout the history of Cheongju, different temples were established during different periods in the history of the Korean peninsula such as the Buddhist Yonghwasa Temple dating back to the Goryeo period in addition to the Bulguksa Temple established in the 8th century during the Shilla Dynasty period. Cheongju temples were the first places where advances in Korean printing such as book printing were established, and one of these important documents was printed at Heungdeok Temple during the Goryeo Dynasty, specifically during the year 1377.