The Structural Lineage of Palsangjeon in Pubjoo Temple Analyzed through Gilt-bronze Pagoda in the Koryo Period

고려(高麗) 금동탑(金銅塔)을 통해 본 법주사(法主寺) 팔상전(捌相殿)의 구조형식계통(構造形式系統)

  • Published : 2005.03.01

Abstract

The central aim of this thesis is to see if the structure of Palsangjeon(捌相殿) in Pubjoo Temple(法住寺), a five sto wooden pagoda in Chosen(朝鮮) Dynasty, was handed down from the ancient and middle ages. This study was performed through an analysis of Gilt-Bronze Pagoda built in Koryo(高麗) period. In other words, it is aimed at analyzing which lineage the structure of Palsangjeonbelongs to as a wooden pagoda. In analyzing the structure of Palsangjeon, I attempted to find out its source from the remains of Koryo period prior to the Chosen Dynasty. Examples are the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda, built during the Koryo period. I have also examined its relationship with other existing wooden pagodas and remains. The analysis of Palsangjeon, a five story wooden pagoda in Chosen Dynasty, focuses on the following: First, I explored the possibilities of whether the structure of Palsangjeon was newly invented in Chosen Dynasty, or if it had been derived from the wooden pagodas in the Koryo period. Secondly, I tried to find out if the stable vertical planes, with a great successive diminution ratio, were derived from the middle age, i.e. Koryo period. The results of the study of Palsangjeon through Gilt-Bronze Pagoda analysis are as follows: 1. The structure of Gilt-Bronze Pagoda, a wooden pagoda from the Koryo period, is roughly classified into the accumulation type, using pipe pillars, and the one story type using whole pillars. In the accumulation type, stories are connected in either a flat format or an intervening format. The Gilt-Bronze Pagoda is mainly composed of pipe pillars, with some whole pillars. However, the central pillar was omitted in the building structure. Generally, the upper and lower stories are connected by pipe pillars in a crutch format. All the pillars, whether they are pipe pillars or whole pillars, used Naiten(內轉) technology. The Eave supporter has the Haang type(下昻) and the Muhaang type(無下昻). In most cases, high balustrades are furnished, but few tables of high balustrades have been found. The slanting roof formats have been handed down from Paekche(百濟), Silla(新羅), or Koryo(高麗). However, the structure of the octagon is assumed to be derived from Koguryo(高句麗). The structure of the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda from the Koryo period is mainly composed of accumulated flat squares, with some spire types. intervening format, the structure of Palsangjeon used whole pillars in a half story format in which upper level side pillars are installed on the lower level tie beam. From the Bronze Pagoda from the Koryo period, we can assume that the half story format of wooden pagodas that has stable vertical planes with a great successive diminution ratio was created during the mid-Koryo period at the latest and had been idly developed by the time of the Chosen Dynasty. 3. The whole pillars in Palsangjeon are also found in Gilt-Bronze Pagodas from the Koryo period. Hence, all of the pillars in Palsangjeon seem to have been handed down from the ancient construction technology. They were also used in the construction of wooden pagodas from the Koryo period. Therefore, it is assumed that Palsangjeon was constructed using the construction technology of the Chosen Dynasty that had been developed from the wooden pagoda construction technology of the Koryo period. The stable vertical planes with a great successive diminution ratio in Palsangjeon are derived from ancient Korean wooden pagodas, which have developed into indigenous Korean wooden pagodas with fairly stable vertical planes and a great design, in the half story format of Koryo and Chosen Dynasty. Therefore, it is assumed that the structure of Palsangjeon has a systematic relationship with traditional Korean wooden pagodas and is one of the indigenous Korean wooden pagoda structures. 4. In China, the intervening format has been mainly used between stories in multi-story architecture since the ancient days. At the same time, the flat format as also used in ancient and middle ages. However, the flat format was replaced by whole pillars during the Ming(明) and Manchu(淸) Dynasties, in favor of simple and compact construction. The half-story format, in which upper level side pillars are installed on tie beams, has been found in some cases, but it doesn't seem to have been the primary construction technology. Few traces of the half-story format have been found in multi-story architecture in Japan, and it has not been used as a general construction format. By contrast, the half-story format, which seems to have been derived from the Koryo period, was used as a general construction format in multi-story architecture of the Chosen Dynasty. The construction technology of multi-story architecture is related to that of multi-story wooden pagodas, but they have different production technologies. It seems that the structure of Palsangjeon did not just adopt the construction technology of multi-story architecture in the Chosen Dynasty, but it was developed from wooden pagodas in the Koryo period, including the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda. 5. Since the ancient days, most Chinese and Japanese wooden pagodas have adopted an accumulation type of structure using pipe pillars, with accumulated pointed towers. On the other hand, though most Korean wooden pagodas have also adopted an accumulation type of structure from the ancientdays, one story type using whole pillars was created in the Koryo and Chosen Dynasties. The wooden pagoda structure of Palsangjeon, with stable vertical planes in a half story format, is a unique Korean construction technology, different from the construction technologies of Chinese and Japanese wooden pagodas. This thesis clearly determined the structural characteristics of Palsangjeon. However, various remains have yet to be analyzed in depth, to establish an accurate construction technology system. In the beginning of this thesis, I had difficulty in precisely interpreting the internal structure of the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda from its appearance. However, in the process of study, the more serious problem was that there are few remains or ruins of multi-story architecture in ancient and the middle ages of Korea. Therefore, it is urgent to discover various remains in the future. This thesis succeeded in determining the structural characteristics of Palsangjeon. However, it fell short of clarifying the structural lineage of the stable vertical planes, although they show indigenous Korean architectural taste, representing the unique national emotion, and the construction format of multi-story wooden pagodas in Korea. I hope this is clarified in the future research.

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