Daeungjeon Hall of Bulhoesa Temple, Naju

Judging from its ridge-beam inscription and construction techniques, the Daeungjeon Hall of Bulhoesa Temple, Naju, was rebuilt in 1799, the twenty-third year of King Jeongjo, a lavishly decorative dapo-style building of the late Joseon period, in which bracket clusters are placed both above the columns and between them, with a frontage of three bays and a side of three bays. Built on a natural-stone platform with a hip-and-gable roof, the front has four folding lattice doors with panelled lower sections; before the Korean War these had instead been decorated with flower-lattice patterns. The foundation stones supporting the columns are dumbeong-jucho, naturally shaped stones used as bases without further dressing, and are relatively large; the columns set upon them taper slightly from a wider base to a narrower top. Above the columns, following the general dapo-style technique, changbang and pyeongbang members, horizontal beams linking the columns beneath the bracket sets, are placed, and at each bay on the front and rear faces two sets of bracket clusters are arranged, with three outer and four inner tiers, while one set is placed on each side face; the outer ends of the bracket arms curve sharply upward, while on the interior they terminate in ornate lotus-bud forms. In the central bay of the front, an anchogong bracket, a supplementary bracket projecting from the column head, is carved with a dragon-head motif, its head projecting powerfully outward and its tail extending vigorously inward. At the centre of each side of the building, two chungnyang beams, auxiliary beams linking the side walls to the central roof frame, are laid into the interior, their heads carved as dragon heads resting on the main beam, a joinery method typical of the mid-to-late Joseon period. Inside, the ceiling combines a sloped section and a coffered, well-shaped section; on the sloped part, fish and lotus-flower motifs are very finely carved and attached. Above the columns a pyeongbang runs along the changbang with the brackets assembled above it, generally following the dapo-style technique, but it is unusual that two dragons are carved between the paired columns of the central bay: the dragon heads project outward with their tails inserted beneath the main beam on the interior side, and a further two dragons face each other in carved wood between the two main beams. This technique, together with the lavish lotus-bud decoration of the interior, follows the same lineage as temples centred on the Byeonsan Peninsula and their construction methods, such as the treasure-designated Daeungbojeon Hall of Naesosa Temple, Buan. In this way, the Daeungjeon Hall of Bulhoesa Temple, Naju, is an important building that well preserves its appearance from the time of its late-Joseon construction, carrying both historical significance and academic value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Naju, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Treasure · 보물