Daeungjeon Hall of Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju

Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju stands on the western slopes of Tohamsan Mountain, the eastern sacred peak of Silla, and faces south. The temple's terrain is high in the north and low in the south, and high in the east and low in the west; stone platforms were harmoniously built up in post-and-lintel fashion to suit this ground. In the eastern precinct, Jahamun Gate, Daeungjeon Hall and Museoljeon Hall are arranged along a north–south axis, the space enclosed within a covered corridor. Wing corridors extend from the east and west sides of Daeungjeon Hall to join the east and west corridors; Jwagyeongnu Pavilion stands at the eastern corner of the south corridor, and Beomyeongnu Pavilion at the western corner. South of Jahamun Gate, the stone stairways of Cheongungyo and Baegungyo Bridges were built to allow passage into and out of Daeungjeon Hall. Textual sources on Bulguksa Temple include the Samguk yusa, the Bulguksa Gogeum Changgi [Record of the Past and Present Founding of Bulguksa Temple] and the Daeungjeon Jungchang Danhwakgi [Record of the Reconstruction and Repainting of Daeungjeon Hall]. The Samguk yusa records that in the tenth year of King Gyeongdeok (751), the minister Kim Daeseong began the construction of Bulguksa Temple, and that when Daeseong died in the twelfth month of 774, the state completed the work; on this basis the temple is presumed to have been founded in the reign of King Gyeongdeok, in 751. According to the Bulguksa Gogeum Changgi, Daeungjeon Hall was repaired in 1436, the 18th year of King Sejong of Joseon, and again in 1490, the 21st year of King Seongjong, and in 1564, the 19th year of King Myeongjong, but was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasions of 1593, the 26th year of King Seonjo. It was subsequently rebuilt in 1659, the 10th year of King Hyojong, had its roof tiles replaced in 1677, the 3rd year of King Sukjong, had its western pillars replaced in 1708, the 34th year of King Sukjong, and had its roof tiles repaired in 1729, 1730 and 1731, the 5th, 6th and 7th years of King Yeongjo. Daeungjeon Hall was rebuilt in 1765, the 41st year of King Yeongjo, its dancheong decorative painting was completed in 1767, and the triad of Buddhist statues and the painting behind them enshrined in the hall were completed in 1769. The hall later fell into disrepair, and was restored under the supervision of the Governor-General of Korea between 1918 and 1925, during the Japanese colonial period, and again between 1934 and 1936. Having deteriorated severely once more, it was rebuilt in the 1970s on the orders of President Park Chung-hee. In front of Daeungjeon Hall, Dabotap Pagoda stands to the east and Seokgatap Pagoda to the west, and a typical octagonal stone lantern of the Unified Silla period stands before the hall. Daeungjeon Hall has a rectangular plan, slightly longer from east to west, with five bays on the front and five on the side, a single-storey hip-and-gable tiled roof, and is built in the dapo bracket style typical of the late Joseon period. On its exterior, the central bay is made more than twice as wide (17.7 cheok) as the flanking bays (8.7 cheok) or the end bays (8.2 cheok). The brackets are of the dapo type, with three sets placed in the central bay and one set each in the flanking and end bays. The tips of the bracket arms are carved with floral scroll patterns and phoenix heads, and dragon-head carvings protruding from the horizontal tie beam are especially lavishly worked. At the front, the central bay is fitted with four-panel folding doors of a flower lattice, the flanking and end bays with paired folding doors of a diagonal lattice, and the side walls with three-panel folding doors of a straight lattice; at the rear, the central bay has four-panel folding doors of a well-shaped lattice, the flanking bays are enclosed with solid walls, and the end bays have folding doors of the same well-shaped lattice, with ten of the building's twenty bays fitted with doors that open. The platform has corner and intermediate pillars set into its face stones and is capped with coping stones above, a post-and-lintel type platform characteristic of the Unified Silla period. Stairs are set at the centre of each of the platform's four sides, and the stones flanking the stairs are carved with a triangular pattern on their faces. The ceiling is a coffered "well" ceiling, stepped so that the centre is raised highest. Daeungjeon Hall of Bulguksa Temple preserves stone elements such as its platform and stone lantern from the time of its original construction, and stands on the foundations laid at that time, having been rebuilt in 1765; it is a highly significant building whose records of reconstruction and of its decorative painting have both been preserved together. As a five-bay by five-bay dapo-style hall, its interior space built without intervening pillars and its interior and exterior lavishly decorated with floral-scroll and phoenix-head carvings on the bracket arms and dragon-head carvings on the tie beam, it is an outstanding Buddhist hall of great value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물