'Cheongje' Reservoir Monument (영천 청제비永川菁堤碑)

'Cheongje' Reservoir Monument at Yeongcheon-gun County, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province 

영천 청제비 / 永川菁堤碑 

Found by an academic research team in 1968, the stele was erected to commemorate the construction of an irrigation reservoir called ‘Cheongje 청제菁堤’, literally meaning "turnip" pond. 

The front and back sides of this rectangle monument of granite have inscriptions carved at different times. 

According to the inscriptions of the front, the reservoir was constructed in 532 AD, the 23rd year of the reign of King Beopheung (reigned 514-540 A.D.) of the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.- 935 A.D.) 

The inscription on the back has it that the reservoir was restored in 798 AD, the 14th year of King Wonseong (reigned 785-798). 

To the west of the monument stands another stele which was erected in 1688 when King Sukjong of the Joseon Dynasty ruled the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). It contents that Choe Ilbong and three others re-matched the stele which had been divided in half in 1653. 

The stele also provides valuable information about the society of Silla and the irrigation system used for growing rice.