• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.37
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• pp.65-89
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• 2004

Up to now, the studies for a pond of ancient palace of Korea are mainly achieved in a landscape architectural field. In fact, we can't grasp the general aspects but we are only heard about the fragmentary ruins and remains by the people who are in charge of an archaeological excavation. In this thesis, therefore, I attempt to grasp the relational categories of the ponds of an ancient palace of Korea, and find out the ideological backgrounds of the ponds of a palace construction through classify them excavated so far. The ancient ponds of Korea are divided to the class of square ponds(I) and curved ponds(II) according a shapes of planes. The class of square ponds(I) are subdivided to the form IA of the class of square ponds and form IB of the class of square ponds by whether it has an island, artificial hill and ornamental stone or not. And the class of the curved ponds(II) are divided to the form IIC that is only composed of curves in shore and the form IID that is composed of curves and straight lines. According the size, it is divided to a small size that is below the maximal diameter, 20m, and a large size that is more than 45m, after all, the ponds of the ancient palaces are devided to IAa, IAb, IBa, II Ca, IICb, IIDa. The square ponds and the curved ponds are co-exist from the initial stage when a pond of a place was found in our country and are succeeded or changed after Silla unified the three Kingdoms. In other words, we can infer a continuity from the earlier stage from the fact that there is a flat figure ground mainly constituted by the ponds of a palace mixed up of a straight line and a curved line in United Silla Kingdom while it succeeds the ponds of a palace that has a square form of Goguryo in Balhai. Different from the successional relation of the flat figure grounds, in an aspect of the elements of the construction, the site of the arbor at the top of the island and the bridge facilities in a field of a palace those are not exist in three Kingdoms period are appeared in United Silla Kingdom. The point that this aspect is simultaneously appeared in a neighboring country, or Japan, allows us to infer that there may be some motivations cause the changes in a construction of the ponds of a palace of Korea, China and Japan from the latter half of the 7th century to the first half of the 8th century. The ideological backgrounds of the ponds of a palace construction are divided roughly into Taoism and Buddhism. We can recognize that the ponds of a palace made up of the islands, the artificial hills and the garden rocks reflect Taiosm, considering the records of the ponds a palace of Korea and China are all use the term, Taoism, or the concrete statement represents that the islands, the artificial hills and the garden rocks are used in the description of the ponds of a palace of Korea. Both two are, therefore, obviously differentiated from the ponds of a palace that doesn't include them. We can conclude that the ponds of a palace that doesn't include them are colored by Buddhism since they are overtly distinguished from the class of curved ponds that reflect Taoism at the same period and they are identical with the site of an ancient temples in an aspect of their type and construction.