Daeungjeon Hall of Chiljangsa Temple, Anseong

The Daeungjeon Hall of Chiljangsa Temple, Anseong, was reconstructed in 1790 (the 14th year of King Jeongjo) and relocated in 1828 (the 28th year of King Sunjo); it is of great historical and academic value as a clear illustration of the architecture of central Buddhist halls at temples in the Gyeonggi region in the late Joseon period. The overall plan is three bays across the front and three bays deep, with elaborate multiple-bracket sets placed only on the front and rear faces. The interior structure has a five-purlin frame carried on two short eave columns, while the sides form a gable-roofed structure with a five-purlin frame carried on two tall interior columns. This is broadly typical of Buddhist hall architecture in the late Joseon period, a time when the standing of Buddhism as a whole had contracted. The composition and carving of the bracket sets, the framing of the interior and the construction of the altar, the treatment of the ceiling — a coffered ceiling combined with an exposed-rafter ceiling and a canopy over the altar — the notable use of natural, unworked timber for the tall interior columns and the corner columns, and the arrangement of the windows and doors set into the walls on all four sides, all clearly reflect the state of Buddhist hall architecture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The stone platform, steps and plinth stones at the front also reveal masonry techniques of a high standard that hark back to an earlier period. The gilt dancheong with raised floral motifs, partly surviving on the panels of the coffered ceiling, is a rare survival, of which few examples remain. This raised, or gobun, dancheong is a decorative painting technique that builds up the design in relief with several coats of white pigment before it is coloured, giving it a three-dimensional effect.

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Where it is

Region

Anseong, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물