• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.100
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• pp.50-80
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• 2021

This paper critically examines the history of the theories connected to the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda that have developed over the last 100 years focusing on the original number of stories the pagoda would have reached. Part II of this paper retraces the dynamic process of the rediscovery of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda by Westerners who traveled to Korea during the port-opening period. Koreans at the time viewed the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda as an object of no particular appeal or even as an eyesore. However, Westerners appreciated it as a wonder or magnificent sight. Since these Westerners had almost no prior knowledge of Buddhist pagodas, they were able to write objective travelogues. At the time, these visitors generally accepted the theory common among Joseon intellectuals that Wongaksa Temple Pagoda once had thirteen stories. Part III focuses on Japanese government-affiliated scholars' academic research on the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda after the proclamation of the Korean Empire and the Japanese Government-General of Korea's subsequent management of the pagoda as a cultural property during the colonial era. It also discusses issues with Japanese academic research and management. In particular, this portion sheds light on the shift in theories about the original number of stories of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda from the ten-story theory supported by Sekino Tadashi (關野 貞), whose ideas have held a great influence on this issue over the last 100 years, to the thirteen-story theory and then to the idea that it had more than thirteen. Finally, Part IV addresses the change from the multi-story theory to the ten-story theory in the years after Korea's liberation from Japan until 1962. Moreover, it highlights how Korean intellectuals of the Japanese colonial era predominantly accepted the thirteen-story theory. Since 1962, a considerable quantity of significant research on the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda has been published. However, since most of these studies have applied the ten-story theory suggested in 1962, they are not individually discussed in this paper. This retracing of the history of theories about the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda has verified that although there are reasonable grounds for supporting the thirteen-story theory, it has not been proved in the last 100 years. Moreover, the number of pagoda stories has not been fully discussed in academia. The common theory that both Wongaksa Temple Pagoda and Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda were ten-story pagodas was first formulated by Sekino Tadashi 100 years ago. Since the abrasion of the Wongaksa Temple Stele was so severe the inscriptions on the stele were almost illegible, Sekino argued that the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda was a ten-story pagoda based on an architectural analysis of the then-current condition of the pagoda. Immediately after Sekino presented his argument, a woodblock-printed version of the inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele was found. This version included a phrase that a thirteen-story pagoda had been erected. In a similar vein, the Dongguk yeoji seungnam (Geographic Encyclopedia of Korea) published by the orders of King Seongjong in the late fifteenth century documented that Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda, the model for the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda, was also a thirteen-story pagoda. The Wongaksa Temple Stele erected on the orders of King Sejo after the establishment of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda evidently shows that Sekino's ten-story premise is flawed. Sekino himself wrote that "as [the pagoda] consists of a three-story stereobate and a ten-story body, people call it a thirteen-story pagoda," although he viewed the number of stories of the pagoda body as that of the entire pagoda. The inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele also clearly indicate that the king ordered the construction of the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda as a thirteen-story pagoda. Although unprecedented, this thirteen-story pagoda comprised a ten-story pagoda body over a three-story stereobate. Why would King Sejo have built a thirteen-story pagoda in an unusual form consisting of a ten-story body on top of a three-story stereobate? In order to fully understand King Sejo's intention in building a thirteen-story pagoda, analyzing the Wongaksa Temple Pagoda is necessary. This begins with the restoration of its original name. I disprove Sekino's ten-story theory built upon flawed premises and an eclectic over-thirteen-story theory and urge applying the thirteen-story theory, as the inscriptions on the Wongaksa Temple Stele stated that the pagoda was originally built as a thirteen-story pagoda.

• 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.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.365-375
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• 2016

This study was interpreted the forming process of surface contaminants on ten-story stone pagoda of Wongaksa temple, Seoul. Results of research, we estimated that black contaminants were formed by graphite stuck carbon in air pollution substance after that gypsum was generated by chemical weathering on stone pagoda. White contaminants were built by recrystallization of calcite that were made by decomposition of finishing materials and structure on the stone surface. To preserve a long-term of stone pagoda in Wongaksa temple, there were required that continuous monitoring, anticorrosion treatment and contaminants cleaning of protective facilities.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.7 no.11
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• pp.298-308
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• 2007

While the cultural contents industry plays main role in global contents market recently, the market of Buddhist cultural property contents is still in insufficient state. Specially, despite most cultural properties is Buddhist cultural property in Korea, there is a lot of difficult problems in preserving, restoring and designing its prototype as cultural property. So, this research intends to contribute to the development of Buddhist design and Buddhist culture contents by developing the Pagoda Dharani contents using the Ten-storied Stone Pagoda on the Site of Wongaksa. The first thing is designing the Pagoda Dharani using the Ten-storied Stone Pagoda on the Site of Wongaksa. Also, using the Pagoda Dharani, we design and implement the Pagoda Dharani contents on the web. In this paper, by using the proposed the Pagoda Dharani contents, the previous activation problem of the Buddhist culture contents can be resolved.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.42-49
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• 2001

This design proposal was presented to a design competition for renovation of the Pagoda Park, located in Chongro-2ga, Chongro-gu, Seoul, where the first ˝Manse˝ (hurrah) Movement fighting against Japanese colonization, broke out on March 1st, 1919. The park has been considered to be the first modern park in Korea also. The objectives for the design were to make a sacred place to commemorate the 3.1 ˝Manse˝ Movement, to preserve and symbolically memorialize historic remains of the old ˝Wongaksa˝ Temple, an to provide natural and rest areas for citizen. For the space composition, three axes symbolic of, ´freedom and independence´, ´mercy´, and ´nature´, were created. For the freedom and independence axis, exiting facilities, such as statures and monuments related to the 3.1 Movement, were relocated centering around the octagonal pavilion, which was the starting point for the movement, to give order of the site. For the ercy axis, symbols of traditional temple structures, such as, ´Iljugate´-´Pian bridge´-´Chongwang gate´-´Haetal gate´-Pagoda-Buddhist sanctum, were created to symbolize the temple remains and placeness. For the nature axis, tree groves, walking trails, and rest areas for citizen were provided around the site. As a whole the design provided structural orders from secular spaces outside to sacred spaces inside.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.23
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• pp.95-112
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• 2002

Seoul City built a facility for conservation of the Wongaksajisipcheungseoktap (Ten storied stone pagoda of Wongaksa Temple site, National treasure No. 2). It has speciality glass(thickness 21.5㎜) between steel-frames(8.4m, length 8.4m, height 15.4m). So we investigated the inside of facility to know whether the environment alvariation exists. We measured continuously the temperature and relative humidity, twice for the particulate, once for the $SO_2$(sulfur dioxide), $NO_2$(nitrogen dioxide)and $O_3$(ozone) from September $1_st$, 2000 to August $31_st$, 2001.The temperature and relative humidity, have a tendency to vary, and they have no difference between the inside and the outside. As dewy phenomenon doesn appear on the surface of the Pagoda and facility we know that the inside air is moving. As a result of the particulate is $64\mug$/$m_3$ of average concentration, the particulate fluxed inside don’t flow out because air-velocity of the outside is faster than that of the inside. The air pollutants are 0.036ppm/hr of SO$_2$average concentration, 0.028ppm/hr of $NO_2$ average concentration and 0.008ppm/hr of $O_3$ average concentration which are lower than the Environmental Air Quality Standards($SO_2$ : 0.15ppm/hr, $NO_2$ : 0.25ppm/hr,O3 : 0.1ppm/hr).