• Journal of architectural history
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.71-86
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• 2022

This study examines the process of the introduction of stupa, which has originated in India, to the Xinjiang Uyghur region and the features of the stupas in the Xinjiang Uyghur region in detail. This study examines the layout of the buildings in temple compounds and the types, structural elements, and construction methods of the stupas in the Xinjiang Uyghur region in particular by looking into the content of the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji and remaining stupas, which provide examples of stupas at the time. This study finds that due to the characteristics of dry deserts, stupas in Xinjiang Uyghur region, where assimilation between Eastern and Western cultures is seen, were mostly made by pressing clay into a mold and had no interior spaces. Also, construction materials and techniques had been developed and improved in a way that enabled stupas to combat the challenging desert conditions. However, the stupas in this region differed significantly from the wooden tower-like stupas discovered in central China(zhongyuan 中原). The shape of the dome of most stupas in Xinjiang Uyghur region was chosen under the influence of the Gandharan style. Some of the stupas in the region have taken the general forms of the wooden stupas and the others have taken many forms, from cylindrical drums to towers. Also, there have been forests of stupas and stupas similar in form to chaityas and stupas of Vajrayana. Such different forms were transformed and modified through regional history and it was related to the peoples and cultures that produced and used stupas. Stupas evolved into distinct forms in Xinjiang Uyghur region in this way.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.86-109
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• 2009

Mireuksa Temple was founded during the reign of King Mu of Baekje(AD 600-641). The circumstance of the construction of this temple is documented in "Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samgukyusa)". The pagoda named stone pagoda at Mireuksaji temple stands outside the main sanctuary of the western area. The south and west sides of the stone pagoda have completely collapsed, leaving only the eastern facade of six of its levels intact. Through the recent discovery of sarira reliquary we can see that the erection of this pagoda was in 639. So owing to accumulation of excavation results about Baekje temple site and vigorous academic exchange, it is possible that architecture of western pagoda at Mireuksaji temple can be understood in connection with the architectural development of wooden pagoda from 6th to early 7th century in East Asia. So this study is on the consideration of building of this pagoda putting first structure of upper part and cross-shaped space in 1st floor. It was considered that the material characteristics as stone could be applied to the temple pagoda architecture of large scale. The results are as follows. First, it had been built in recognition that the outer and inner part of pagoda should be separated. As it is the expression of structural system in temple pagoda architecture of large scale at that time. In pagoda there was a self-erected structure and the members of outer part of it were constructed additionally. Second, in Mireuksaji stone pagoda there is central column with stones. With inner part of pagoda it can be regarded as mixed structural system that constitutes central contral column and inner structural part. And it could be a kind of middle step to more developed structure of whole as wooden pagodas in Japan. Third, as the sarira reliquary was in central column on the first floor, the cross-shaped space could be made. The formation of this space was so on the natural meaning of sarira that the concept as memorial service of graves could be apllied to the pagoda. The style of tomb in Baekje was expressed to the space of 1st floor in pagoda where Sarira had been mstalled. That was not only effective presentation of symbolic space but also easier method in the use of same material.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.37
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• pp.151-168
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• 2004

The Mireuk Temple Stone pagoda is the largest scale of the existing Stone Pagoda in Korea. A research until now postulates that the Stone pagoda at Mireuk Temple site is composed of nine stories total. However it does not have any records of the detail, dimension, and related methods, etc, even though it is a tectonically large scale building. Only one source of the description is based upon a story which is a sort of Korean myth or traditional story (Samkukyousa, Mu dynasty), although a historical description from a myth or a story is a polemical issue and still needed research in order to prove the truth. One of the ways to make a proof of the truth is an architectural research from the typology of the plane. The types of the plane are differentiated from each era. Therefore, the typology of the plane presents a reason or a proof for the age of the pagoda. Furthermore, the typology of the plane is crucial part in the research of the historical style and it could help the historical style of the Mireuk temple stone pagoda. Research until now shows that the Mireuk temple stone pagoda is the genesis of the stone pagoda shaped after wooden one. It is impossible to find any previous one from the stone pagoda at Mireuk Temple site in Korea. So it is easier to find any previous example from the history of China because Buddhist pagoda-most pagodas are something to do with Buddhism-in Korea is introduced by India via China. This research presents the periodical variation of stone and brick pagoda in both countries. It concludes that the Mireuk temple stone pagoda has $7^{th}$ century's plane type.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.101
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• pp.12-46
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• 2022

Completed in 1467, the Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda of Wongaksa Temple is the last Buddhist pagoda erected at the center of the capital (present-day Seoul) of the Joseon Dynasty. It was commissioned by King Sejo, the final Korean king to favor Buddhism. In this paper, I aim to examine King Sejo's intentions behind celebrating the tenth anniversary of his enthronement with the construction of the thirteen-story stone pagoda in the central area of the capital and the enshrinement of sarira from Shakyamuni Buddha and the Newly Translated Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (圓覺經). This paper provides a summary of this examination and suggests future research directions. The second chapter of the paper discusses the scriptural background for thirteen-story stone pagodas from multiple perspectives. I was the first to specify the Latter Part of the Nirvana Sutra (大般涅槃經後分) as the most direct and fundamental scripture for the erection of a thirteen-story stone pagoda. I also found that this sutra was translated in Central Java in the latter half of the seventh century and was then circulated in East Asia. Moreover, I focused on the so-called Kanishka-style stupa as the origin of thirteen-story stone pagodas and provided an overview of thirteen-story stone pagodas built around East Asia, including in Korea. In addition, by consulting Buddhist references, I prove that the thirteen stories symbolize the stages of the practice of asceticism towards enlightenment. In this regard, the number thirteen can be viewed as a special and sacred number to Buddhist devotees. The third chapter explores the Buddhist background of King Sejo's establishment of the Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda of Wongaksa Temple. I studied both the Dictionary of Sanskrit-Chinese Translation of Buddhist Terms (翻譯名義集) (which King Sejo personally purchased in China and published for the first time in Korea) and the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment. King Sejo involved himself in the first translation of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment into Korean. The Dictionary of Sanskrit-Chinese Translation of Buddhist Terms was published in the fourteenth century as a type of Buddhist glossary. King Sejo is presumed to have been introduced to the Latter Part of the Nirvana Sutra, the fundamental scripture regarding thirteen-story pagodas, through the Dictionary of Sanskrit-Chinese Translation of Buddhist Terms, when he was set to erect a pagoda at Wongaksa Temple. King Sejo also enshrined the Newly Translated Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment inside the Wongaksa pagoda as a scripture representing the entire Tripitaka. This enshrined sutra appears to be the vernacular version for which King Sejo participated in the first Korean translation. Furthermore, I assert that the original text of the vernacular version is the Abridged Commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (圓覺經略疏) by Zongmi (宗密, 780-841), different from what has been previously believed. The final chapter of the paper elucidates the political semantics of the establishment of the Wongaksa pagoda by comparing and examining stone pagodas erected at neungsa (陵寺) or jinjeonsawon (眞殿寺院), which were types of temples built to protect the tombs of royal family members near their tombs during the early Joseon period. These stone pagodas include the Thirteen-story Pagoda of Gyeongcheonsa Temple, the Stone Pagoda of Gaegyeongsa Temple, the Stone Pagoda of Yeongyeongsa Temple, and the Multi-story Stone Pagoda of Silleuksa Temple. The comparative analysis of these stone pagodas reveals that King Sejo established the Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda at Wongaksa Temple as a political emblem to legitimize his succession to the throne. In this paper, I attempt to better understand the scriptural and political semantics of the Wongaksa pagoda as a thirteen-story pagoda. By providing a Korean case study, this attempt will contribute to the understanding of Buddhist pagoda culture that reached its peak during the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods. It also contributes to the research on thirteen-story pagodas in East Asia that originated with Kanishka stupa and were based on the Latter Part of the Nirvana Sutra.