Korean pagoda
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Korean pagodas are a traditional Korean architectural form that began in the Three Kingdoms of Korea period. Koreans created a unique and distinct pagoda tradition using stone.[1][2][3]
Pagodas were created in India using earth, then in China using wood, which spread to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and then Japan; however, the pagoda tradition of East Asia diverged, with China creating pagodas using bricks, Korea creating pagodas using stone, and Japan continuing to use wood.[4][5][6][7][8]
Korean stone pagodas were first created in Baekje during the early 7th century and then inherited by Later Silla; 90% of the pagodas in Later Silla were made of stone.[4] The stone pagoda tradition was propagated by the great abundance of high quality granite in Korea,[9] which also led to other granite creations such as the Seokguram and Cheomseongdae. Goryeo, a devoutly Buddhist state, also inherited the stone pagoda tradition.[10]
Examples of Korean wood pagodas are the Hwangnyongsa Pagoda and Palsangjeon of Silla.
Transition from wood to stone pagodas
One of the earliest stone pagodas built is the Mireuksa stone pagoda from Paekche kingdom in 639 A.D. When the idea of pagodas was first introduced from neighboring Buddhist countries China and India, the influence of pagodas was largely based on plans from wooden pagodas, which eventually led to a widespread use of wood for the construction of pagodas in the early centuries of the three kingdoms period.[11] However, around the 7th century, Paekche architects began shifting to stone pagodas and stone pagodas eventually became much more prominent around the 8th century. This is largely due to the reason that wooden pagodas were much more vulnerable to destruction from fire and quality stone materials were more accessible and readily available in Paekche during the early implementation of stone pagodas. Furthermore, architects began noticing how stone pagodas were much easier to maintain than wooden pagodas and stone pagodas are more sturdy than wooden pagodas.[12]
Initially, stone pagodas still kept many of the features of wooden pagodas. When looking at the Mireuksa stone pagoda, it utilized similar characteristics and techniques that were seen in the wooden pagodas from the early Paekche eras. The Mireuksa stone pagoda will be compared with the nine-story wooden pagoda at Hwangnyongsa Temple. As this wooden pagoda was destroyed in a fire during the Mongol invasion, only records are able to be used to provide analysis on the structure. However, both the stone and wooden pagoda utilized pillars and with narrow passageways at each four sides of the base enabling people during the time to enter and exit the pagoda for most likely spiritual and religious reasons. There is also great emphasis on the proportionality of the structures as they are squares with equal sides and although the base portion is the largest portion of the two structures, the following stories are all equal in size. Moreover, another feature that is adopted by the stone pagoda is the roof. The wooden pagoda is able to utilize carving techniques of the wood to develop symmetric and smooth surfaces to the roofs separating each story. This creates an angle on the roof which is consistent with Buddhist architecture as the roofs are slanted to emphasize the different stories. However, as this technique is harder to implement with stone material, the stone pagoda carves in the layers of the roofs by increasing the size at the middle of the roof to be greatest and creates step-like patterns which decrease as you move away from the middle of the roof. This creates similar layers as seen in the roof of the wooden pagoda but utilizes an entirely different technique. The use of varying roof techniques is important in emphasizing the scale of the two pagodas as these pagodas were much larger than other pagodas of the time. This emphasis on the scale of these two pagodas as much larger pagodas contributes to the idea that individuals with authority during the time utilize pagodas as indicators of their power, as larger pagodas indicate a stronger belief in the Buddhist religion and a more united kingdom.[11]
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