Abstract
The harsh economic conditions of Buddhist temples in late Joseon dynasty, and the prevalence of the Buddhānusmrti(念佛) practice, which is a practice of reciting Amita Buddha(阿彌陀佛), led Buddhist temples to organize the Buddhānusmrti association(念佛契) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For the practices and the activities of organization, an architectural facility was required; thereby, many temples had a Yeombul-dang(念佛堂). However, only a few of the Yeombul-dang have survived and are known today. This research investigates the ways temples tried to acquire Yeombul-dang buildings during the period and their architecture characteristics by reviewing historical records and documentary works of literature. In this research, Yeombul-dang is found to have various types of building names and building forms. Different hall names such as Amitābha Hall(佛殿), Yosa(寮舍) and Daebang(大房) were used as Yeonbul-dang. The commonalities and differences in terms of building forms, spatial elements composition and layouts were found depending on how they were acquired. The Yeombul-dang were most commonly built as multi-complex buildings consisting of worshiping rooms and residential areas. Most of Yeombul-dang were located in the central areas of the temple site. On this basis, this research suggests the possibility that many Yeombul-dang is still being used under different names and for different purposes.
