Daeungjeon Hall of Gapsa Temple, Gongju

The oldest tradition regarding the founding of Gapsa Temple holds that it was established in the sixth century, during the reign of King Jinheung of Silla; and since Gapsa is confirmed in the Samguk yusa as one of the Ten Hwaeom Temples, it can be established that the temple was founded at least before the ninth century. The Daeungjeon of Gapsa was rebuilt immediately after the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598 and has survived to the present through several subsequent repairs. According to seventeenth-century records, there was a separate site known as the location of the original main hall, so the present Daeungjeon does not stand on the site of the main hall from the temple's founding in the Three Kingdoms period. It is thought, however, to be one of the first buildings rebuilt at Gapsa after the second Japanese invasion of 1597, and to have generally retained its form ever since. Furthermore, considering that the clay Buddha Triad of Gapsa (Treasure) enshrined inside the hall was made in 1617, that the Gwaebul Painting of the Three Bodies of the Buddha of Gapsa (National Treasure) — a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for major ceremonies — was painted in 1650, and that the Gapsa Stele of Temple History was erected in 1659, this confirms that the Daeungjeon of Gapsa was built in the early seventeenth century. As a seventeenth-century building, the Daeungjeon of Gapsa displays features characteristic of a transitional architectural style. Its scale, five bays wide at the front and three bays deep, is a relatively uncommon proportion, built up from simple ratios of 8 and 12 cheok, and on its gable roof the bracket-set forms of the front and rear are identical and evenly spaced. This shows that the building still retains conditions from before the architectural trends of the late Joseon period became widespread. The approach of exploring a new aesthetic by minimally working curved timber in the wooden frame can likewise be seen as a trend that newly emerged in this period. In this way, the Daeungjeon of Gapsa shares the typical form of the dapo-style gable-roofed halls that spread widely in the seventeenth century, while also pointing toward the architectural trends of the late Joseon period, giving it high value in the history of architecture. A range of records and relics documenting the history and origins of the Daeungjeon of Gapsa survive well, and the hall retains relatively intact the floor plan, bracket-construction techniques, upper timber frame and canopy above the altar characteristic of dapo-style gable-roofed buildings of the seventeenth-century reconstruction period. Inside the hall, precious relics that have shared the building's history, including Buddhist images and paintings, are also fully and well preserved. As the comparatively large, five-bay-wide main hall of Gapsa, a temple of ancient standing from the Unified Silla period that represents South Chungcheong Province, the Daeungjeon is judged to hold great architectural-historical value, including as a stylistic benchmark for the seventeenth century.

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Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물