| Title |
The Earliest Pattern of East Asian Buddhist Temples |
| Abstract |
The history of early Korean Buddhist architecture was not an independent development, but, basically, took its formal conceptions after the development of Chinese Buddhist architecture. This paper attempts to uncover the layout pattern and design ideas of the earliest Chinese Buddhist temples of the second and third century A.D The findings will help us understand the beginning of Korean Buddhist architecture within the historical context of East Asian Buddhist architecture.Due to the shortage of archeological evidences, the study had to rely much on the pieces of written materials as well as a few architectural sites and remains of ancient China. The pattern of the earliest temples, however, is identified to be a central multi-storied building surrounded by covered square gallery. This system began in the second century in the Han China, and continued through the third century. Based on these findings, further research is needed to identify the development of the fourth century when Buddhism was introduced to Korea. |