• Journal of architectural history
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.59-82
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• 2011

Based on travel literatures written by the Joseon literati, the different picture of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Buseok monastery from the one today emerges. Not only do the buildings removed from the monastery today reappear, but the quite different way of the monastic operation comes to light. This observation leads to a speculation that the monastery was functionally and spatially divided into two territories; that of the Immeasurable life hall and of the Dharma hall. The Immeasurable life hall's precinct was built at the site open to the west providing a grand vista of mountainous area. This siting, originally having a close relation with the visualization such as the Sixteen contemplation, not simply gave such a special attraction that the first built architectural composition has lasted through the centuries to the late Joseon, but also granted to the Chwiweon pavilion located at the western side of the precinct a special meditative quality. As the monastery has suffered from a number of heavy duties in the Joseon period, the architectural attraction of the precinct was mobilized to promote the monastic identity as the legitimate monastery first built by Uisang, the founder of Hwaeom Buddhsim. Especially, the Chwiweon pavilion offered a mental space so that the literati might form an affirmative attitude toward the monastery and the monks. The Dharma hall's precinct was built based on the direct replication of the architectural layout presented in liturgy books for the Water and Land rite as well as the Vulture Peak rite. This layout is generally called the Court-type enclosed by four buildings, which has been widely fashioned in the late Joseon period. This characteristic gave to the Dharma hall precinct an arbitrary and anonymous quality, which helped not only avoid the tourism of the literati, but also secure the sacrality and ritual efficacy at occasions of Buddhist rites. This division of territories of the monastery can be understood as the strategic reaction from the monks in order to survive in the age of oppression against Buddhism. In result, the identity of Buseok monastery in the late Joseon was established as the Nine-rank sanctuary where Bodhisattvas permanently resided.