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…

In any way, I think it’s tasteless to “re-build” buddhist stractures without monks and followes envolved…

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.

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.

Our wood would become famous around the world. There are immensely long, knot-free beams in the Imperial Palace in Beijing, China, cut from Burrard Inlet lumber by famed Jerry Rogers and his men. (Source

This would have been in the late 1860s or early 1870s.