Stone Elevation of Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju

According to the Samguk yusa, Bulguksa Temple was founded in the tenth year of King Gyeongdeok (751), when the minister Kim Daeseong began its construction; the temple is recorded as having been completed by the state after Daeseong's death in the twelfth month of 774. From the mid-eighth century, in the Unified Silla period, until just before the Japanese invasions of the late sixteenth century, Bulguksa Temple underwent nine reconstructions and repairs in all. The temple was entirely destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasions, leaving only its stone structures standing. The stone structures dating from the temple's founding include the stone elevation in front of the temple, Yeonhwagyo and Chilbogyo Bridges, Cheongungyo and Baegungyo Bridges, two stone pagodas, a stone lantern, a relic stone pagoda, a flagpole support, a stone trough, and the platforms and foundation stones of the various buildings. The stone elevation at Daeungjeon Hall of Bulguksa Temple had fallen into serious disrepair through neglect from the late Joseon period onward; it was repaired, together with other stone structures, in 1923, during the Japanese colonial period, and an excavation survey was carried out in 1969 in preparation for restoration, which was completed in 1970. In front of Jahamun Gate stand Cheongungyo and Baegungyo Bridges, in harmony with the beautifully built post-and-lintel stone elevation; before them, on level ground slightly to the west, once lay Gupumnyeonji Pond, now buried and no longer visible. The precinct centred on Geungnakjeon Hall, to the west of the temple compound, is set one level lower than the Daeungjeon precinct; here Anyangmun Gate stands at the front, with the stairs of Yeonhwagyo and Chilbogyo Bridges built before it. A covered corridor surrounds Geungnakjeon Hall and connects with Anyangmun Gate; on the east it joins the corridor of the Daeungjeon precinct, so no separate corridor was built there. Beautifully finished post-and-lintel stone elevations stand to the east and west, in front of Jahamun Gate and Anyangmun Gate respectively, achieving harmony with one another; the one in front of Jahamun Gate to the east changes level above the stairway of Baegungyo Bridge, its upper stonework varied to create a harmonious effect. In front of Anyangmun Gate the stone elevation is built vertically from the ground up, its bays formed at intervals with dressed stone posts and lintel stones assembled in post-and-lintel fashion, the spaces between filled with natural stone. The lower stone elevations in front of Jahamun Gate and Beomyeongnu Pavilion take an unusual form: massive natural stones are piled up from the base, with dressed stones assembled in post-and-lintel fashion above them; beneath the projecting pillar of Beomyeongnu Pavilion, tapering stones are stacked layer upon layer to form a stone column, and beneath the stone bridge a finely worked arch is formed. This also includes the lower stone elevation of the western corridor in the Daeungjeon and Geungnakjeon precincts; in construction, vertical stone posts, together with horizontal cap stones, short posts, foundation stones and coping stones, form a rectangular grid frame, within which natural stones are densely packed — a technique in which the Daeungjeon elevation is built in a single tier and the Geungnakjeon elevation in two tiers, showing a slight difference between the two. Cheongungyo and Baegungyo Bridges, and Yeonhwagyo and Chilbogyo Bridges, which connect with these post-and-lintel stone elevations, have long been recognised for their value and designated as National Treasures; the stone elevation now proposed for designation is likewise a stone structure built in the mid-eighth century, and, given its architectural beauty of form and the highly distinctive technique employed, it demonstrates well the high level achieved by Silla stone construction, and is accordingly designated as a Treasure.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물