Daeungjeon Hall of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae

Judging from records of its reconstruction and its architectural style, the Daeungjeon Hall of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae is thought to have been built in 1666, the seventh year of King Hyeonjong of Joseon, by the monk Ilhyang, with repairs completed in 1773, the forty-seventh year of King Yeongjo, in the form in which it survives today. It is a dapo-style building, with brackets clustered both on and between the columns, under a hip-and-gable roof, three bays wide and three bays deep. Taking the lie of the land into account, the platform was built high, in two tiers, at the front, and in a single tier at the rear and sides. The corner pillars on all four sides are larger than the intermediate pillars, and the pillars diminish in size from front to back to sides, emphasising the frontal aspect of the building; at the four corners, octagonal corner braces are set on octagonal plinths to give the structure stability. The bracket sets project three steps outward and four steps inward, and the intermediate bracket clusters are suitably placed - two each on the front and rear, one on each side - to regulate the spacing of the brackets and enhance the building's overall coherence. The brackets as a whole give a strongly ornate impression, and their arms are carved with highly decorative lotus flowers and lotus buds. The beam ends are carved with the heads of phoenixes and dragons, well illustrating the decorative taste of the eighteenth century. The roof is built on a considerably grander scale than the size of the building would suggest, giving a solemn, imposing impression when viewed from the front. The interior high pillars are set slightly back from the line of the side pillars, an eighteenth-century technique that allows a wider space for the altar. The frame is of the one-high-pillar, five-purlin type, with the main beam running as a single continuous timber from the interior high pillar to the rear eave pillar, and the tie beams on either side are likewise single continuous timbers, guarding against the stress that tends to spread the structure from front to back. In particular, the ceiling of the Daeungjeon Hall is carved with turtles, crabs, fish, seaweed and other motifs symbolising the sea, clearly reflecting the character of a coastal building; similar features can be seen in the fish decoration on the sloped ceilings of the Cheonbuljeon Hall of Daeheungsa Temple in Haenam and the Daeungjeon Hall of Bulhoesa Temple in Naju. The Daeungjeon Hall of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae preserves fine techniques of embellishment in its floor plan, the expression of its bracket sets, its upper framework and the canopy over the altar, and this pinnacle of ornamentation is characteristic of the main halls of temples built from the eighteenth century onward, well illustrating a stylistic development in which the architectural trends of the south-western coastal region spread and evolved eastward. With its splendid architectural style and outstanding decorative technique in its framework and brackets, it is an uncommon and valuable piece of Buddhist cultural heritage among the surviving temple buildings of the south coastal region, and its great value for architectural history qualifies it as a State-designated heritage item, a Treasure.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물