| Title |
Yung Ning Ssu of the Northern Wei and the Buddhist Temple of the Three Kingdom`s Period, Korea |
| Abstract |
The first half of the sixth century was the period when the symbolic importance of the early East Asian Buddhist temples shifted from pagoda-centered site layout to the image hall-centered layout. In Korea, this period was marked by two ruined temple sites: one, the site of Chongam-ri of Koguryo dating from the late fifth century and the other, the site of Kunsu-ri of Paekje dating from the mid-sixth century. The changes of site pattern between these two sites, such as the reduction from the three-image hall plan to one-image hall plan and the inclusion of lecture hall into the central precinct, are very significant in the history of early Buddhist architecture in East Asia. The process of change, however, could not be clearly identified because no reliable evidence was found that falls into the period between the two sites. This can be answered, rather convincingly, through the interpretation of the Chinese record of Yung Ning Ssu, the famous temple of Northern Wei at Loyang, recorded in L0-yang ch'ieh-lan chi. |