• Journal of architectural history
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• v.14 no.1 s.41
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• pp.89-105
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• 2005

The central aim of this thesis is to see if the structure of Palsangjeon(捌相殿) in Pubjoo Temple(法住寺), a five sto wooden pagoda in Chosen(朝鮮) Dynasty, was handed down from the ancient and middle ages. This study was performed through an analysis of Gilt-Bronze Pagoda built in Koryo(高麗) period. In other words, it is aimed at analyzing which lineage the structure of Palsangjeonbelongs to as a wooden pagoda. In analyzing the structure of Palsangjeon, I attempted to find out its source from the remains of Koryo period prior to the Chosen Dynasty. Examples are the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda, built during the Koryo period. I have also examined its relationship with other existing wooden pagodas and remains. The analysis of Palsangjeon, a five story wooden pagoda in Chosen Dynasty, focuses on the following: First, I explored the possibilities of whether the structure of Palsangjeon was newly invented in Chosen Dynasty, or if it had been derived from the wooden pagodas in the Koryo period. Secondly, I tried to find out if the stable vertical planes, with a great successive diminution ratio, were derived from the middle age, i.e. Koryo period. The results of the study of Palsangjeon through Gilt-Bronze Pagoda analysis are as follows: 1. The structure of Gilt-Bronze Pagoda, a wooden pagoda from the Koryo period, is roughly classified into the accumulation type, using pipe pillars, and the one story type using whole pillars. In the accumulation type, stories are connected in either a flat format or an intervening format. The Gilt-Bronze Pagoda is mainly composed of pipe pillars, with some whole pillars. However, the central pillar was omitted in the building structure. Generally, the upper and lower stories are connected by pipe pillars in a crutch format. All the pillars, whether they are pipe pillars or whole pillars, used Naiten(內轉) technology. The Eave supporter has the Haang type(下昻) and the Muhaang type(無下昻). In most cases, high balustrades are furnished, but few tables of high balustrades have been found. The slanting roof formats have been handed down from Paekche(百濟), Silla(新羅), or Koryo(高麗). However, the structure of the octagon is assumed to be derived from Koguryo(高句麗). The structure of the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda from the Koryo period is mainly composed of accumulated flat squares, with some spire types. intervening format, the structure of Palsangjeon used whole pillars in a half story format in which upper level side pillars are installed on the lower level tie beam. From the Bronze Pagoda from the Koryo period, we can assume that the half story format of wooden pagodas that has stable vertical planes with a great successive diminution ratio was created during the mid-Koryo period at the latest and had been idly developed by the time of the Chosen Dynasty. 3. The whole pillars in Palsangjeon are also found in Gilt-Bronze Pagodas from the Koryo period. Hence, all of the pillars in Palsangjeon seem to have been handed down from the ancient construction technology. They were also used in the construction of wooden pagodas from the Koryo period. Therefore, it is assumed that Palsangjeon was constructed using the construction technology of the Chosen Dynasty that had been developed from the wooden pagoda construction technology of the Koryo period. The stable vertical planes with a great successive diminution ratio in Palsangjeon are derived from ancient Korean wooden pagodas, which have developed into indigenous Korean wooden pagodas with fairly stable vertical planes and a great design, in the half story format of Koryo and Chosen Dynasty. Therefore, it is assumed that the structure of Palsangjeon has a systematic relationship with traditional Korean wooden pagodas and is one of the indigenous Korean wooden pagoda structures. 4. In China, the intervening format has been mainly used between stories in multi-story architecture since the ancient days. At the same time, the flat format as also used in ancient and middle ages. However, the flat format was replaced by whole pillars during the Ming(明) and Manchu(淸) Dynasties, in favor of simple and compact construction. The half-story format, in which upper level side pillars are installed on tie beams, has been found in some cases, but it doesn't seem to have been the primary construction technology. Few traces of the half-story format have been found in multi-story architecture in Japan, and it has not been used as a general construction format. By contrast, the half-story format, which seems to have been derived from the Koryo period, was used as a general construction format in multi-story architecture of the Chosen Dynasty. The construction technology of multi-story architecture is related to that of multi-story wooden pagodas, but they have different production technologies. It seems that the structure of Palsangjeon did not just adopt the construction technology of multi-story architecture in the Chosen Dynasty, but it was developed from wooden pagodas in the Koryo period, including the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda. 5. Since the ancient days, most Chinese and Japanese wooden pagodas have adopted an accumulation type of structure using pipe pillars, with accumulated pointed towers. On the other hand, though most Korean wooden pagodas have also adopted an accumulation type of structure from the ancientdays, one story type using whole pillars was created in the Koryo and Chosen Dynasties. The wooden pagoda structure of Palsangjeon, with stable vertical planes in a half story format, is a unique Korean construction technology, different from the construction technologies of Chinese and Japanese wooden pagodas. This thesis clearly determined the structural characteristics of Palsangjeon. However, various remains have yet to be analyzed in depth, to establish an accurate construction technology system. In the beginning of this thesis, I had difficulty in precisely interpreting the internal structure of the Gilt-Bronze Pagoda from its appearance. However, in the process of study, the more serious problem was that there are few remains or ruins of multi-story architecture in ancient and the middle ages of Korea. Therefore, it is urgent to discover various remains in the future. This thesis succeeded in determining the structural characteristics of Palsangjeon. However, it fell short of clarifying the structural lineage of the stable vertical planes, although they show indigenous Korean architectural taste, representing the unique national emotion, and the construction format of multi-story wooden pagodas in Korea. I hope this is clarified in the future research.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.4
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• pp.57-61
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• 2003

From the stupa of Sujongsa-Temple, located in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do province, was excavated a celadon jar with lid, a gilt-bronze nine-storied miniature pagoda and a silver-plate hexagonal miniature shrine, etc. Among them, the gilt-bronze miniature pagoda has been known as a gilt-bronze product since most of its surface has copper tint and the base part has bronze corrosion. Its formal title registered on the Cultural Properties Administration also begins with "a gilt-bronze". However, it was supposed to be a gold product in many aspects: the color and status of the surface, degree of the bronze corrosion creation and the metal thread joining the wind bell. So the necessity to prove its material by a scientific analysis was raised. We examined it with nondestructive method. The results were traces of open-working on many parts of the surface, but no traces of gilding. Moreover, as we perform an XRF analysis, the main component were gold and silver(16%) and some impurities such as copper and iron were found. Therefore, it could be inferred that this miniature pagoda is a gold product.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.7-26
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• 2007

This article is about restoring the wooden pagoda which located in Silsangsa Temple after historical research. The process of this study, first of all, the theoretical study was considered about similar examples of wooden pagoda and gilt-bronze pagoda in Gorye period and wooden pagoda in contemporary period. After that, the study was established by the present condition of Silsangsa wooden pagoda site, the characteristic of Silsangsa wooden pagoda, the form of arrangement, the scale and height. Finally, considering those studies, the wooden pagoda designed in detail. This restoring design tried to follow the inference in that time. Moreover, the design tried to involve the elements of characteristic of region and Silsangsa wooden pagoda. Therefore, the research establish period of Silsangsa wooden pagoda in Gorye period. Locally, it considered both elements of Silla and Baeckje. The arrange form of restoring wooden pagoda was freestyle arrangement that had two main building of a temple and one middle pagoda. The idea of structure was to establish of double Core system. This system inferred from the system of building structure in ancient wooden pagoda and middle and modern age of multistory wooden construction. According to measurement of foundation stone, the scale of restoring wooden pagoda followed the skill of Tang-scale. The connection structure of each floor followed laminated structure which was the general form of log frame in that time. After study of foundation's condition, the present writer deseeded to have restoring the wooden pagoda 9 stories tall. The final aim was to depend on the structural intuition of the present writer, the writer tried to restore beautiful wooden pagoda according to in those days which is solution for contradiction of unclear point. So, it could be make out a plane of restoring wooden pagoda.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.13
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• pp.59-69
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• 2012

The flower type ornament of the gilt bronze palace-type sarira reliquary among those sarira reliquaries of the East Pagoda at the Gameunssa Temple Site, which is the Treasure No. 1359 owned by the National Museum of Korea, was separated from the sarira reliquary in November 2010, thus conducting conservation treatments to be done on two items including the gilt bronze palace-type sarira reliquary during the period of March-October 2011. Those conservation treatments were carried out by following the process of removing the coated areas having excessive gross and bubbles, re-coating with Incralac, and then strengthening both the cracked areas and the separated flower-type ornaments with woven glass fiber after rejoining. For those areas where removal of gloss and bubbles at the coating and adhesive areas was not possible, the gloss and bubbles were made less perceivable through matting treatment and coloring.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.4
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• pp.17-21
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• 2003

We performed conservation treatment for the sarira reliquary from the pagoda of Hwangnyongsa temple site. The sarira reliquary is in the shape of gilt-bronze octagonal miniature pagoda. Through radiography, it was newly proved that a radial design exists on the roof part. The gilded layer was plated with amalgam. Each part was plated first before being put together. We restored the lost parts and made supports, and then assembled it in the following order: base, upper part of the base, shaft and roof part.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.24
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• pp.215-227
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• 2003

The gilt-bronze Sarira Reliquary was discovered when repairing three-stories east stone pagoda (Treasure No. 395) at Seungju-eup in Suncheon city in Jeollanam-do Province in August, 1986. Then it was appointed as Treasure in 1988. The Sarira Reliquary had been held in Seonamsa temple, but deterioration on the surface and corrosion had appeared affecting its surface detail. Consequently, the conservation treatment was carried out from November 2002 to March 2003.The corrosion and dirt on the surface of the Sarira Reliquary were cleaned with ethyl alcohol and Benzotriazole was applied to prevent further corrosion. Finally, NAD-10(Paraloid NAD-10), acrylic resin, was used to consolidate the structure. Moreover, after non-destructive analysis to confirm element of alloy, copper, gold, silver and mercury were discovered and this result tells us that it was plated with gold by amalgam. Fibers at the pedestal were examined under the microscope and identified as silk. The total height of this Sarira Reliquary is 6.0cm, the height of lotus pedestal and the roof is 2.7cm and 1.8cm, respectively. The roof and body are joined together, and the lotus pedestal can be separated, on which the octagonal reliquary is impaled. The pedestal consists of 3layers of petals and the surface is decorated with flower pattern. The reliquary is presumed to be created in the 14th century, and it becomes valuable historical material to reveal the secret of metal work in the late Goryeo Dynasty.

• 보존과학연구
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• s.19
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• pp.159-177
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• 1998

Three-story Stone Pagoda(East) on Kamǔnsa temple constructed in A.D. 682 during the reign of King Shinmun-wang of the Unified Shilla period(668~935) was repaired by Cultural Properties Office in 1996. At that time, 27 objectsincluding sari case, small Buddha etc. were excavated. The 26 objects on foundation parts have been treated. Several objects were analyzed by EDXRF. As a result, the small Buddha of gilt bronze was proved to be an gold amalgam. The degree of gold purity was about 22K, and the excellence of gold-refining technique of that day was verified.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.196-219
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• 2019

According to the Samguk Yusa, the nine-story wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple was built by a Baekje artisan named Abiji in 645. Until the temple was burnt down completely during the Mongol invasion of Korea in 1238, it was the greatest symbol of the spiritual culture of the Korean people at that time and played an important role in the development of Buddhist thought in the country for about 700 years. At present, the only remaining features of Hwangnyongsa Temple, which is now in ruins, are the pagoda's stylobate and several foundation stones. In the past, many researchers made diverse inferences concerning the restoration of the original structure and the overall architecture of the wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple, based on written records and excavation data. However, this information, together with the remaining external structure of the pagoda site and the assumption that it was a simple wooden structure, actually suggest that it was a rectangular-shaped nine-story pagoda. It is assumed that such ideas were suggested at a time when there was a lack of relevant data and limited knowledge on the subject, as well as insufficient information about the technical lineage of the wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple; therefore, these ideas should be revised in respect of the discovery of new data and an improved level of awareness about the structural features of large ancient Buddhist pagodas. This study focused on the necessity of raising awareness of the lineage and structure of the wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple and gaining a broader understanding of the structural system of ancient Buddhist pagodas in East Asia. The study is based on a reanalysis of data about the site of the wooden pagoda obtained through research on the restoration of Hwangnyongsa Temple, which has been ongoing since 2005. It is estimated that the wooden pagoda underwent at least two large-scale repairs between the Unified Silla and Goryeo periods, during which the size of the stylobate and the floor plan were changed and, accordingly, the upper structure was modified to a significant degree. Judging by the features discovered during excavation and investigation, traces relating to the nine-story wooden pagoda built during the Three Kingdoms Period include the earth on which the stylobate was built and the central pillar's supporting stone, which had been reinstalled using the rammed earth technique, as well as other foundation stones and stylobate stone materials that most probably date back to the ninth century or earlier. It seems that the foundation stones and stylobate stone materials were new when the reliquaries were enshrined again in the pagoda after the Unified Silla period, so the first story and upper structure would have been of a markedly different size to those of the original wooden pagoda. In addition, during the Goryeo period, these foundation stones were rearranged, and the cover stone was newly installed; therefore, the pagoda would seem to have undergone significant changes in size and structure compared to previous periods. Consequently, the actual structure of the original wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple should be understood in terms of the changes in large Buddhist pagodas built in East Asia at that time, and the technical lineage should start with the large Buddhist pagodas of the Baekje dynasty, which were influenced by the Northern dynasty of China. Furthermore, based on the archeological data obtained from the analysis of the images of the nine-story rock-carved pagoda depicted on the Rock-carved Buddhas in Tapgok Valley at Namsan Mountain in Gyeongju, and the gilt-bronze rail fragments excavated from the lecture hall at the site of Hwangnyongsa Temple, the wooden pagoda would appear to have originally been an octagonal nine-story pagoda with a dual structure, rather than a simple rectangular wooden structure.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.33
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• pp.136-161
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• 2000

This paper is a study on the design of the gilt-bronze sarira caskets discovered in 1959 and 1996, from a east and a west three-story stone pagodas in Gameunsa Temple site which was built in 682. One of the most interesting discoveries is the ceiling with Bokdu(覆斗) design which can be seen in Dun-Huang grotto of China, reflected upon the ceiling structure of the cover (outer casket) and the square box (inner casket). The structure of these sarira caskets, as art crafts, directly represents architectural structure of Dun-Huang grotto that was made during the early T'ang period of China. Moreover, the sarira caskets are decorated with ornate designs and these designs also can be seen on the murals of Dun-Huang grotto. Accordingly, those sarira caskets tell us creative ability and international taste of Silla's craftsmen. By tracing the origin of structure and design pattern of the sarira caskets to Central Asian and Chinese architectures, it is able to understand international style of the sarira caskets of Gameunsa Temple site.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.7-29
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• 2010

The form of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda site is that of the traditional form of the wooden pagodas constructed during the Baekjae Period. Likewise, it is an important ruin for conducting research on the form and type of the wooden pagodas constructed during the Baekjae Period. In particular, the method used for the installation of the central pillar's cornerstone is a new technique. The purpose of this research is to restore the ruin of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda of the Baekjae Period that remains at the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda site. Until now, research conducted on the wooden pagoda took place mostly centered on the Hwangryongsa Temple's wooden pagoda. Meanwhile, the reality concerning Baekjae's wooden pagoda is one in which there were not many parallel cases pertain to the design for restoration. This research paper wants to conduct academic examination of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda to organize the intention of design and design process in a simple manner. This research included review of the Baekjae Period's wooden pagoda related ruins and the review of the existing wooden pagoda ruin to analyze the wooden pagoda construction technique of the era. Then, current status of the Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda site is identified to define the characteristics of the wooden pagoda, and to set up the layout format and the measure to estimate the size of the wooden pagoda in order to design each part. Ultimately, techniques and formats used for the restoration of the wooden pagoda were aligned with the wooden pagoda of the Baekjae Period. Basically, conditions that can be traced from the current status of the Wangheungsa Temple site excavation using the primary standards as the standard. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda was designed into the wooden pagoda of the Baekjae's prosperity phase. The plane was formed into $3{\times}3$ compartments to design into three tier pagoda. The height was decided by factoring in the distance between the East-West corridors, size of the compartment in the middle, and the view that is visible from above the terrace when entering into the waterway. Basically, the origin of the wooden structure format is based on the Goguryeo style, but also the linkage with China's southern regional styles and Japan's ancient wooden pagoda methods was factored in. As for the format of the central pillar, it looks as if the column that was erected after digging the ground was used when setting up the columns in the beginning. During the actual construction work of the wooden pagoda, central pillar looks as if it was erected by setting up the cornerstone on the ground. The reason that the reclaimed part of pillar that use the underground central cornerstone as the support was not utilized, was because the Eccentric Load of the central pillar's cornerstone was factored in the state of the layers of soil piled up one layer at a time that is repeated with the yellow clay and sandy clay and the yellow clay that were formed separately with the $80cm{\times}80cm$ angle at the upper part of the central pillar's cornerstone was factored in as well. Thus, it was presumed that the central pillar was erected in the actual design using the ground style format. It is possible to presume the cases in which the reclaimed part of pillar were used when constructed for the first time, but in which central pillar was installed later on, after the supplementary materials of the underground column is corroded. In this case, however, technique in which soil is piled up one layer at a time to lay down the foundation of a building structure cannot be the method used in that period, and the reclamation cannot fill up using the $80cm{\times}80cm$ angle. Thus, it was presumed that the layers of soil for building structure's foundation was solidified properly on top of the central pillar's cornerstone when the first wooden pagoda construction work was taking place, and that the ground style central pillar was erected on its upper part by placing the cornerstone once again. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda is significant from the structure development aspect of the Korean wooden pagodas along with the Hwangryongsa Temple's wooden pagoda. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda construction technique which was developed during the prosperity phase of the Baekjae Period is presumed to have served as a role model for the construction of the Iksan Mireuksa Temple's wooden pagoda and Hwangryongsa Temple's wooden pagoda. With the plan to complement the work further by excavating more, the basic wooden pagoda model was set up for this research. Wangheungsa Temple's wooden pagoda was constructed as at the Baekjae Kingdom wide initiative, and it was the starting point for the construction of superb pagoda using state of the art construction techniques of the era during the Baekjae's prosperous years, amidst the utmost interest of all the Baekjae populace. Starting out from its inherent nature of enshrining Sakyamuni's ashes, it served as the model that represented the unity of all the Baekjae populace and the spirit of the Baekjae people. It interpreted these in the most mature manner on the Korean peninsula at the time.