| Title |
The Architectural Layouts on Miruksa and Hwangyongsa |
| Abstract |
This study deals with the layout of Miruksa Temple in Iksan-gun, Chollabuk-do and the layout of Hwangnyongsa Temple in Kyongju, Kyongsangbuk-do, as determined from what remains on their sites.The layout of Miruksa is characterized by its lateral division into three areas which, for convenience, will be referred to as central, east and west areas. Each area has a hall with a pagoda in front. The layout is thus called the "three hall, three pagoda" style.The measurement from the center of the hall to the center of the gate of the central area is the module requlating the distance between the buildings and the size of the surrounding walls. Line segments of 2 and 3 are geometrically applied to the overall layout, the diagonal of the foundation of the wooden pagoda in the central area being the base line.As for the magnitude of the temple, its southnorth length is contained in an octagon whose sides are the same as the aforementioned module. If the east-west length of the layout is considered the base of a regular triangle, the south-north length of the layout is equal to its altitude.The layout of Hwangnyongsa Temple also shows three areas, but it differs from Miruksa in that it is of a "three hall, one pagoda" style with a hall and a wooden pagoda in the central area and only halls in the east and west areas. The width of the side of the upper foundation of the pagoda, 80 chok by the measurement of the times, is the module for the distance between the east and west corridors, which is 480 chok, or six modules. The east and west halls are each 160 chok, or two modules, from the temple's central axis.If the distance between the east and the west dormitories of the first temple is considered the base of a regular triangle, the altitude of the triangle is almost the same as the distance between the central gate and the lecture hall of the third and the fourth temples.The ratio of the east-west length and the south-north length of the temple has been determined to be of an even 3/2 segment.As this well shows, geometric concepts were important to the construction of these two ancient temples. |