A couple of days ago, someone emailed me a photo of a reconstructed Baekje-style wooden pagoda [Flickr] that’s gone up in Buyeo-gun, the last capital of the Baekje kingdom (and, coincidentally, one of my favorite towns).
At least on the surface, it looks like a pretty impressive piece of work. The pagoda is part of the “Baekje History Reconstruction Complex” [JoongAng Ilbo, Korean, see also the Segye Ilbo, Korean], located in Gyu’am-myeon, Hapjeong-ni, slated for completion in 2010. Here are some more pictures [Unjuyuak Blog, Korean] from the site. Overseeing the construction of the pagoda was Choe Gi-yeong, one of Korea’s master carpenters.
Unfortunately, there are no surviving examples of wooden pagodas left in Korea. The pagoda-like building [Flickr] at Ssangbongsa Temple in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do is actually a main hall, while the Palsangjeon [Wikipedia] of Beopjusa Temple in Boeun-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do is, well, a palsangjeon (Hall of Eight Images). In fact, the closest thing the world has to a surviving example of Korean wood pagoda construction is the five-story pagoda of Horyuji [Wikipedia] in Nara, Japan*.
There is never-ending talk of reconstructing the nine-story pagoda of Hwangnyong-sa Temple [Naver cafe, Korean] in Gyeongju. Apparently, that project is still on, but I’ll believe it when I actually see the pagoda. Having said that, if you’re looking for a taste of Korean wooden pagoda construction, head to Botapsa Temple [Naver Blog, Korean] in Jincheon-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do (see also here [Naver blog, Korean], or in English, here [Jincheon Homepage, English]). A recently-built temple it may be, but it’s a very pleasant place, and it’s home to a three-story pagoda built according to traditional architectural techniques.
*There is a lot of Korean influence in the architecture and art of Horyuji—if you read Korean, the Sindong-A Magazine ran a lengthy feature on it in 2005.
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33 Comments
the first time you put up pictures of the pagoda-like structure at ssangbongsa, i was a bit surprised to find out the building was in korea snce i assumed it was japanese.
and here i thought those slender waists were unique to japan.
I’m no expert, of course, but I do believe that Korea—or at least Silla—did tend to build ‘em a bit wider around the middle, as you can see from the images of Hwangnyongsa and Botapsa (which was, I believe, an test run on a Hwangnyongsa reconstruction). It might be that the narrow-waisted wood pagodas were a Baekje thing, in which case it’s probably unsurprising that you’d see a similar style in Japan.
Of course, that’s just conjecture…
The Horyuji is also the oldest wooden structure in the world - I strongly recommend going to visit it, it is a fascinating place and far less touristy than Kyoto
Dirtydingus—You’re right. Horyuji is an absolutely fascinating place. Was lucky enough to visit it some eight years ago. Nara in general is a great place.
Yeah. Great little report, Robert, thanks!
For completion of this theme, also check out the relatively-new Baekje-stlye three-story wooden pagoda at SW (Gurye-gun) Jiri-san’s Munsu-sa:
http://www.san-shin.net/Jiri-SouthMunsusa.html
I agree about Buyeo. It’s also one of my favorite places.
Thanks, Robert for this. I have long wondered about why there are practically no wooden pagodas in Korea.
There are, of course, stone pagodas (seoktap) aplenty in Gyeongju (anywhere else?), but given their size and lack of colour, they just ain’t the same, even if some of them are very, very old (and in some cases quite unique, like Dabotap in Bulguksa).
No Baekje pagoda’s exist anymore. All were burned during the Mongol invasions. However, you would expect that Baekje pagodas to look quite similar to ones of Yamato Japan because both had the exact same floor patterns (according to Sarah Nelson’s book on Korean archeology). That probably means that Yamato pagoda architects were borrowed Baekje craftsman or immigrants or trained in Baekje.
So was Baekje into wooden pagodas, while Silla was into stone ones?
No, that’s not so. WangKon936 just meant that the *wooden* Baekje pagodas were burnt, obviously. There are plenty of extant stone Baekje pagodas in the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions. Including reconstructed remains of Korea’s *largest* stone pagodas, twins at Mireuk-san Mireuk-saji N of Iksan. Baekje’s stone pagodas show more variety of design than do Shilla’s, as you’d expect.
There are ancient stone pagodas all over South Korea (don’t know what remains in the N), including plenty from the Goryeo and Joseon epochs, and plenty 20th-Cen ones too. Mostly granite but occasionally marble, volcanic rock, etc. They are characteristic of Korean Buddhism, strikingly different from China, Japan, Vietnam, etc.
May I ask you, Sanshinseon-nim, what the story is with Dabotap, especially since it’s so different from its twin and from Silla-style stone pagodas in general? Does anyone know, or is it a mystery? Is it similar to the Baekje style of stone pagoda?
Well, it was in fact built by a dude from the former Baekje area (around 750), according to the written stories. But there is no extant antecedent there or anywhere in Korea; it seems to be an original design. His name was Asadal (no relation to the supposed capital city of Gojoseon of the same pronunciation). There’s a tragic legend of his dear young beautiful wife killing herself at a pond a few km away, as she despaired waiting for him too long — typical Korean /han/ tale.
He was employed by Prime Minister Kim Dae-seong, credited with overall design and construction of Bulguk-sa and Seok-gul-am — Kim’s origin and motivations are another fascinating legend found in the Samguk-yusa. I always teach it when i’m guiding there…
Dabo-tap cannot be understood apart from its partner Seokga-tap, and in the layout-design of Bulguk-sa as a whole, which is amazingly geometricly precise and complex, with many and various symbolic meanings — it and its special cave-hermitage above are truly the greatest ancient architectural treasures of Korea, Mandalas of profound philosophy set in beautiful stonework, including the famous foundations and bridge-staircases in front. It takes several hours to really properly show & it to tour-groups.
Those two pagodas can primarily be seen as an /eum-yang/ pair, with all the connotations therein attached. Austere/elegant masculine Seokga-tap represents human spirituality aspiring up from the Earth towards Heaven, while the lavish/complex feminine Dabo-tap represents heavenly energy diversifying into all the “10,000 things” of this world, treasures for the virtuous and enlightened beings to enjoy.
The probable Buddhist background-meaning for their architectural arrangement (in front of the hall enshrining Sakyamuni) is that Seokga-tap represents Sakyamuni Buddha himself in the act of preaching the Lotus Sutra, while Dabo-tap represents the Dabo-bul [Buddha of Many Treasures], a kinda semi-official Buddha, from a story of a wealthy-layman-turned-monk enlightened while hearing that sermon and then swearing a vow to appear as a splendorous Buddha displaying all the “treasures” of the world as they appear to an enlightened being (and represent characteristics of Buddha) whenever and wherever the Lotus Sutra is taught.
There are also several other interpretations…
i don’t know if you’ve seen this picture, robert, but damn it looks just like the pagoda-like structure at ssang bong sa.
http://www.dreamstime.com/shin.....mage491817
the picture is from shintennoji
hope you don’t mind me giving you another link. i know you’re interested in asian architecture and probably already know about this site but just in case. lots of photos from many historical sites throughout asia.
btw, all the pictures i can find of chinese pagodas look very different from korean and japanese ones. did china ever make pagodas that looked like korean and japanese pagodas? and no disrespect to the chinese, but i don’t find their version very pleasing to the eyes. grand, yes. pretty? no.
http://www.orientalarchitectur.....iindex.htm
Can anyone answer why the Korean government has not spent the proper funds to restore the missing wooden structures? Like so many other cultural aspects that Japan has purloined from Korea, it would seem that national pride would kick in and bring them back to their home-spun glory?
> did china ever make pagodas that looked
> like korean and japanese pagodas?
Don’t think so, no. Seems to have been an entirely new style that sprouted in the NE — esp the square-based square-roofed stone pagodas. How much was it a deliberate “new style”? - we don’t know. It would be interesting if we knew what Goguryeo pagodas looked like… it there was a transitional form or two…
> and no disrespect to the chinese…
> grand, yes. pretty? no.
“Grand” is what the Ch were generally into. Frequently going for that “awe-inspiring, gonna overwhelm you with our vast wealth & godly power” motif. Like St Peter’s Basillica in Rome… Koreans certainly could have built ‘ultra-monumental’ stuff like that, but after the early Hwangryong-sa and Mireuk-sa, chose not to — kept things human-scale. It’s a distinctive characteristic.
Sanshinseon, thanks very much for your replies 12 and 13!
sanshinseon, thank you very much for the information you provided. i really appreciate it.
‘Grand” is what the Ch were generally into. Frequently going for that “awe-inspiring, gonna overwhelm you with our vast wealth & godly power” motif. Like St Peter’s Basillica in Rome… Koreans certainly could have built ‘ultra-monumental’ stuff like that, but after the early Hwangryong-sa and Mireuk-sa, chose not to — kept things human-scale. It’s a distinctive characteristic.’ sanshinseon
their architecture may be grand but i don’t find it appealing to the eye. for instance, korean temples are tranquil in their appearance while chinese temples seem to screaming for attention. i prefer the korean variety. oh, and btw, i think japanese temples are the most beatiful. the people of japan just make wonderful art. koreans could too if they only cared enough to do so.
# 20, Nice to see the “sop” to the Japanese - they do make great art.
Yes sewing, to answer your question, Korea has gone through so many external invasions (namely the Mongol and Japanese invasion of the 16th century that pertain to former Silla and Baekje lands) that wood structures older then the 16th century are virtually non-existant as they were burned by the invaders.
Japan is fortunate in that they have the oldest surviving wood structures in the world still around because they never had any far reaching invasions by any foreign powers on their land.
My gut tells me that the reconstructed Baekje pagoda is a little more ornate and deorative then what was around in the 7th century AD. I’d think that the Baekje pagodas would look more similar to the Yamato ones that were build around the same time. The reconstructed one looks like it was built with Chosun era sensibilities in mind.
Comments 20/21: Wow, because I personally prefer the Korean temple style, mainly because of their one chief distinguishing characteristic: the dancheong, or multi-coloured painting.
That said, the Japanese do make nice art too; it’s just that western afficianados of it today seem to think that their architecture, ceramics, Zen buddhism, tea ceremonies, and the like arose ex nihilo out of some particular genius of the Japanese, when in fact it’s all heavily infused with continental (Chinese and Korean) influences. (Which there’s nothing wrong with, since every civilization in the world gets ideas and technology from its neighbours: Korea from China, Rome from Greece, Greece from Egypt, and so on.)
This kind of structure is simply impossible in Korea. There are no tree as tall and strong as Japanese Cypress. The only tree that is tall enough to withstand as the Horyuji-Style pagota in Korea is pines but they are not so good for large architecture like this because they are oily(heavy) and easy to crack when dry. I think Korean pagodas were fat and short from the ancient time.
kimcity3000: You make an excellent point that may well answer the question—but what about the Palsangjeon at Beopjusa (which Robert mentioned), or the pictured pagoda, which is supposed to be a reconstruction? Would they have imported timber from Japan (or in the modern day, from any number of possible places)?
Somewhat off-topic, but germane to #24/25 and also #15/17/20: I read somewhere once that one of the first lumber exports from the softwood rainforest of British Columbia in the 19th century was to China, for a reconstruction project in the Forbidden City—presumably because the size of the logs would have been ideally suited for posts or beams of a size befitting the Forbidden City.
(Only posting this to back up my last comment with a source)…here we go:
This would have been in the late 1860s or early 1870s.
Probably the best resource in English on this subject is “The Buddhist Architecture of the Three Kingdoms Period in Korea” by Richard R. Hollenweger.
Just a couple of comments: The Hwangyongsa Pagoda was probably built by artisans from Paekche. One Japanese scholar has proposed a reconstruction which looks more similar to current Japanese pagodas so either interpretation is conceivable.
The comment on ancient Korean wooden pagodas being only short and fat makes sense only if one is unaware of the archaeological and historical evidence that says otherwise.
sewing
I know all the Chinese and Korean Pagodas are made with the construction style similar to metal pipe gym structure at the playground. There is no center piece so you can use smaller logs to build each floor.
In Japan, most of pagodas including Horyuji, Toji, Shitennoji are made with the one super-long center column from top to bottom, supporting roofs on each floors along the way. This is possible because Japanese Cypress grows strong and straight enough at the height of 100m+. I think this method is unique to Earth-trembling Japan since the antient Jomon era. They says the original Izumo Shrine, built in the 3-4th century, was standing on the top of 96m pillars (equivalent of 30floor building!), and it was the tallest manmade structure at the time in the whole world
Unfortunately, Japanese had built too many wooden structures since then (80,000 shrine 70,000 temples and castles and housing…), and in case Horyuji Pagoda falls, the only tree that grows as long as the center column of the pagoda today, is the subspecies of Japanese Cypress grows in Taiwan. The both government has an agreement which Taiwan is preserving the untouched forest just for this use.
So…did Baekje have the wooden pagodas similar to Japan? Finding no remaining of long timbers next to the founding stones at the excavation site, it was too early for Koreans to build such a structure. Baekje learned Buddhism, with clay-roofing and woodcurving techniques, from Jin China, and it came to Japan 100 years later, . At this time, it’s uncertain that the wooden architectural style had came along away, because there are no structures like Horyuji left in China or Korea.
In any way, I think it’s tasteless to “re-build” buddhist stractures without monks and followes envolved…
That’s interesting info, thanks.
There are no surviving drawings or models of the great nine-story Hwangyong-sa Pagoda, so architectural-archaeologists have to guess what it must have looked like based only on the huge foundation stones out in that field south of Bunhwang-sa. That’s one reason why it hasn’t been reconstructed yet, as the experts don’t agree on how it was built (along with the expense that would be required, and the feeling among some Gyeongju-lovers that it’s just better to leave the stones in that field as they have been since the 13th century, because it’s “evocative’…
There are, however, two relief-carvings depicting large wooden pagodas of a fairly Chinese style from the sixth or seventh centuries, on granite boulders in Gyeongju. One is facing the main hall of Baengnyeol-sa on Sogeumgang-san, and the other is on the eastern face of the famous Tap-gol Boulder in a valley of northeastern Nam-san. There are fairly crude and a bit eroded, not so detailed. The problem is we cannot be sure whether they were intended to depict the Hwangyong-sa Pagoda or just an ideal image of a pagoda, as imported from China. I suspect that at least the many Tap-gol carvings had primarily a teaching function, and that would support the latter interpretation. But they are the best information we have…
Kimcity3000, thank you for all your information!
http://baike.baidu.com/pic/4/11480028007232669.jpg