70 architectural studies, materials & analysis€¦ · three kingdoms period, the second period...

Preservation of the Korean masonry monuments

D. Abruzzese*, V. Molinaif, S. Rotondo'

"Department of Civil Engineering, University of Rome

'Tor Vergata', Italy

Department of Architecture & Urban Heritage, University of

Reggio Calabria, Italy

'Restoration Consulting Architect, Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

The south Korea has many interesting civil and religious historical buildings.Part of these are still in wood, another part, a few number are in stone.Between the latter ones we can put the Buddhist pagodas with theirinteresting structure, a local interpretation of the original Indian stupa.

The paper presents the preliminary results related with cooperativeresearch between Italians and koreans researchers and particularly thehistorical aspects and some consideration on the alteration of materials.

1 Introduction

In Korea the conservation and preservation of the historical buildings was forlong time very far from the culture of the people. There it seemed, until someyears ago, that did not exist the idea of the eternity and historical meaning ofthe art and pause between past and present. For this reasons it was verynormal to rebuild or transform the buildings, for new necessities, without theexigency to leave a sign or a documentation of the historic transformation. Inthis way all of the Korean monuments are a rebuilding of the original , in thesome drawings and style, except the "Pagoda" and "Stupa" because they aremade by stone (marble, granite). In the last years something is changed. Thecultural assets generally cover things that have cultural value, product ofhuman skills.

In Korea the first Stupa appears on the IV century, with the introductionof Buddhist religion that comes there from India trough China with a localand typical character. While the pyramidal design of the Indian pagoda has acontinuous form from the basement to the top, in the Korean ones the pyramidis made with a overlap of different measures of roofs and cornices. Thepagoda during the ninth century was divided in two categories: one in which

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70 Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis

was enshrined sacred remains of Buddha and the other one in which wasenshrined the remains of high priests (Stupa).

From the later IV century at the end of VI century A.D. the pagodaswere built in wood as it was possible to see in a recent archaeologicalexcavation in Kyongju, in the ancient site of Ilvangyon-sa Temple. The firststone pagodas reproduced the architectural style of the contemporary woodenpagodas. From the VI to the IX century were built a lot of a pure brickpagodas and mixed brick and stone pagodas. From the ninth century thepagoda degenerated into an ornament to the temple instead of a an object ofveneration, a handicraft work instead of an architectural monument. [1][2][3]

2 The Pagoda and Stupa through historical periods of thecountry.

The earliest documented historic period in Korea is dated on the foundationof Chinese colony by the name of Lo-lang in the North Korea in 108 BC andexisting until the 313.

The Three Kingdoms Period consist of Koguryo (37 BC-AD 668) in theNorth, Paekche (18 BC- AD 660) in the south-west, and Silla (57 BC- AD935) in the south-east of the country

The Chinese outpost had great influence on the native Koreansparticularly the Koguryios who lived around the Lolang area. Buddhism wasintroduced into Korea from China in 372 AD and spread fast over the entirepeninsula, as well became the national religion in each part of the ThreeKingdoms. Great temples were constructed and wooden and stone pagodawere erected everywhere and were all roofed with tiles when private houseswere only roofed. ( Min. Cult. R. K.[4] ) The Pagoda is an essential feature ofa Buddhist temple.

At the first wooden pagodas of multistories Chinese type wereconstructed. Today it is impossible to find wooden pagodas, except their sitesof beaten earth. Around VII century Koreans start to build stone pagodas likea copy of wooden pagoda and the evolution seems localised in south westernKorea. There are only two examples of the survived stone pagodas of thisperiod, preserved by National treasure: Stone Pagoda at the Site of Miruk-saTemple and Five storied stone Pagoda at the site of Chongnim-sa Temple inPuyo. The Stone Pagoda at the Site of Miruk-sa Temple (fig. 1) is built onlow platform, and the ground floor is three bays by three partitioned by squarepillars. Entrance are placed in the middle bay of each wall, connected to eachother by crossing passages. The pillars show an entasis like wooden ones, andcross-column beams support the corbels consisting of three steps to suggestthe bracket system. Storeys above the first are smaller in size and simplified instructural detail. Only the roof stone is supported by the same three tieredcorbels. Certainly it is a stone version of a wooden pagoda and probably itdenotes the process of changing from wood. Actually only the north easternportion of that was at the origin a seven story pagoda is survived.


Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis 71

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As -/.store that had at the origin.

The Great Silla Period started with the Silla dynasty which rose fromKyongju in south-eastern Korea, defeated Paekche and Koguryo in 660 and668 respectively and unified the entire peninsula into one Kingdom. Duringthis period the Korean art enjoyed its golden age. Many temple sites arelocated around the ancient capital of Silla. Temple arrangement is nowchanged to the so-called Twin pagoda plan in which two stone pagodas areerected in front of the main hall which faces the south.

The style of Paekche pagoda (Miruk-sa Temple) at the beginning waspartially adopted by Silla artists. But a new type of stone pagodas earlyemerged by combining the two different styles, wooden type and brick type inan unique style which became the prototype of Korean stone pagodas and thatreached the maximum expression in the seventh century.

The stone pagodas certainly came from wooden style and passingthrough the brick style how is possible to see in some details like decoratedroofing stones shaped in the form of stairs, (fig. 2). The prototype of Koreanstone pagodas elaborated in the Great Silla period (Min. Cult. R. K [4]) ischaracterised by:

a) a double platform;b) corner pillars and centre pillars, either separately installed or

suggested on the platform and the body of the pagoda;c) roofing stones graduated in form of stairs;d) roof line formed in a low slope;e) line of eaves not curved but straight;



f) the number of centre pillars gradually decreasing in later examples;g) from the ninth century the surfaces is carved and decorated by various

Buddhist figures and patterns.

Figure 2 The five-storied stone Pagoda in Ui-Song: it combines thewooden pagoda type and brick pagoda type.

If the mainstream of Korean pagodas is found in the prototypes and theirvariations, there are some pagodas which completely lack normalcharacteristics. One of masterpiece of this type is found at Hwaom-sa Templein Kurye, South Cholla Province and is called the Three-story four lion Pagoda(fig. 3). In it, 2 on the first story the corner stone pillars are replaced by fourlions, and the pillar at the centre is replaced by a standing Buddha figure. Thefour lions images were used at each corner of the pedestal in the previousperiod. The lions sit cross-legged on a lotus-flower seat facing outward, andare solid enough to support the three-stories of the pagoda on their heads.Each of the four walls of the pedestal is divided into three parts, on whichimages of fairies, some playing instruments and others dancing, are carved inrelief. The first story is carved in relief with guardian gods, four deva kings,and Bodhisattvas.

The Koryo dynasty took over power from Silla in 935 and moved thecapital to Kaesong in central Korea. Buddhism was equally prosperous duringthe five hundred years of this dynasty, and construction and rebuilding ofgreat temples continued throughout the period.

The history of Koryo architecture can be divided into two periods: thefirst from the beginning of Koryo (early tenth century) to the latter half of the



thirteenth century, and the second from the end of the thirteenth century tothe end of the fourteenth century

The first period is characterised by the traditional architecture of theThree Kingdoms period, the second period is generally knew as transitionalperiod for the adopted and transformed of a new architectural styles andtechniques. During the later part of the Kuryo period, a new style ofarchitecture called "Tien-chu" India) was introduced from southern Chinacharacterizzed by its column-head bracketing, the exposed ceiling withoutcoffering.

The pagodas in this period are built in metal, stone, wood, bricks. Todayno wood pagodas are preserved from the Kuryo period. Bricks pagoda are stillbuilt but they are not popular like in the Silla period. The stone pagodas aremore frequent. Besides the traditional square type a new variants arerepresented by circular, polygonal , and cross-shape plans.

The ten-storied marble pagoda at the site Kiong-ch'on-sa Temple wasbuilt with an unusual and original shape. The pagoda, on a triple-tieredplatform, has a cross-shaped plan on the the first three stories, and a squareshape plane on the remaining seven stories. The details of the roof, rafters andbrackets, are carved in relief and buddhistic figures cover the entire wallspaces. Somebody recognized in that the influence of Mongolian artist.

The Yi Dynasty (1392-1910) was founded by Yi Song-ke and the capitalwas moved from Kaesong to Seoul. The column-head bracket style of lateKoryo period was pratcised during the first half of the Yi dynasty until thebeginning of the sexteenth century.



The ten-story pagoda, at the old site of Wongak-sa Temple in Seoul isthe best one of the fifteenth century. It stands on a three storied stonefoundation, of the same size. The first three stories of the body of the pagodafollow the shape of the plane of the pedestal. All the post and the frames areshaped like a wooden structure, having a hand-rail at the edge of each floor.On each wall are Buddha or Bodhisattva images or some heavenly imagestogether with dragons and lotus flowers in the background.

3 Classification of the Pagoda

The invariable characteristic of all pagodas are the subdivision of the wholeconstruction in three fundamental parts:

a) basement, b) corner pillars, c) overlap of roofing stones with terminalsides curved in direction of the sky and usually on the five order of cornices,in odd sequence. Every pagodas has an evident verticality that shows theintention to give an ideal continuity among the earth and the sky in acontinue cycle of life.

The pagodas actually existing can be classified about the materialadopted, the drawing of the plan and the section. Until the X century the planwas generally of square type.

In the Three Kingdoms Period the pagoda was characterised by thebasement, that was a low platform, and by square pillars with an hint ofentasis. The entrance was placed in the middle bay of each wall, connected toeach other by crossing passages. Finally the roof stone was supported by thethree tiered corbels.

Normally the proportion among the wide and height is 1:2.The prototype of Korean stone pagodas in the Great Silla period is

characterised unlike by a double platform for the basement and by the cornerpillars and centre pillars separately installed on the platform A new onedesign is given to the roofing stones that are graduated in form of stairs. Theroof line is formed in a low slope and the line of eaves is straight.

There is also a variation of this prototype with a carved pedestal andfour lions instead of corner stone pillars to support the story body of thepagoda on their heads. Also the centre pillar is replaced by a standing Buddhafigure.

However, in the latter half of the eight century, scale and height of stonepagodas were generally reduced and minor parts were either omitted orsimplified, while the decorative elements began to cover the surface. Thepagoda was so much embellished that it somewhat lost its value as an objectof faith, and became a kind of commemorative statue.

Finally, in the Koryo Period Besides the traditional square type a newvariants are represented by circular, polygonal, cross-shape plans and threestoried stone foundation. The construction is reduced in wider but becomemore high. The proportion now is 1:3.



4 About the deterioration of masonry materials.

Generally all the masonry materials like stone, brick, mortar located inoutdoor environment have a natural alteration faster than the ones that are inindoor. This has due to the natural factors and ambience factors like rain,snow, wind, thermal shock, biological action that deteriorate the masonrysurfaces like the weathering of rocks.

Micro-organism and organism, like as lichens, algae, mosses, fungi andbacteria, implanted on the surface of a masonry material play an importantrole in the mechanism of weathering. The biodeterioration induced by themgive to works of art undesired and not aesthetic effects, but overall, aprogressive loss of cohesion and transformation of their component materials.(Caneva et al. [5 ])). A basic characteristic of biological activity is that it isalways associated with the presence of the water. Generally thebiodeterioration of materials is cannot be considered as an isolatedphenomenon but it occurs together with other physical-chemical deteriorationprocesses, with which it is strictly correlated.

Stone, brick, mortar are porous material constituted by an aggregate ofcrystalline particles of various size and specific characteristic, held together bythin layers of a cement that often is cryptocrystalline or micro crystalline.

When a masonry surfaces is in contact with water, the pores absorb thewater from outside to internal of material for capillary action, in a quantityand with speedy depending by their dimensions. The capillary ( the smallerpores) are very dangerous because they absorb much water than the big ones.The water inside the material can become freeze and for the expansion of thecrystals of ice the material has mechanical stress that can brook thecapillaries and, in the time, the phenomenon increased and the materialbecome always more poor. The same problem has given it by crystallisation ofsoluble salt. Other damage has given by chemical behaviour depending moreon the nature of the cement of the material composition. Normally we havefour kinds of cement in traditional masonry materials: calcium carbonate,silicates, silica and calcium sulphate. Calcium carbonate and most silicates areeasily decomposed by acid solutions, while calcium is somewhat soluble evenin pure water. All masonry materials, except those having a silica cement, aresensitive to an acidic environment. The water coming by rains or condensationis slightly acidic, even in the absence of air pollution, for the presence of thecarbon dioxide dissolved in it. The deterioration of masonry materials isincreased in the big town, where there is a polluted atmospheres. There rainand condensation water are more acidic because the presence of sulphuricacid, formed by the combustion of sulphur combining fuels. ( Torraca [6],[7]). One of the most dangerous effects of the polluted atmosphere are theblack crusts that appears like a thin coating, very homogenous and compact,adherent to the substrate of the stone. They change the original colour of thematerials but the most damage is the scaling, exfoliating and the swell upinduced in the stone o other masonry materials. The final effects of thedeterioration are breaking and cracking and the following loosing of materialand breaking up of the below material. (Lazzanni et al. [8] )



It is a recent new that the fifteenth century pagoda in Kyongbok Palaceshould be removed, once again, from its collocation because the effects byacid rains and air pollution.

The ten-story pagoda was placed in Mt. Puso in Chungyon-ri Kaepung-gun in Kyongi-o, in North Korea, in 1348. Taken to Japan by Japanese cabinetmember in 1905, it was returned to Korea at the end of the Japanese colonialrule, and left at the gallery of Kunjong-jon in Kyongbok Palace. In 1960,after the restoration, it was moved to the entrance of the palace.

Probably after restore it will be set up at a specific indoor location in thenational museum of the next realization.

5 Conclusion

The paper is the preliminary report on a still in progress study on the ancientmasonry pagoda in Korea. We wanted to present the problem of theseimportant monuments, dated from the VII century to the XV century, nowsubjected to a deterioration process mining the aspect and the characteristic ofthe material, compromising the structural behaviour.

Actually every pagodas and stupa are listed and preserved by NationalTreasure. They surviving now is compromised by the effects of acid rains andair pollution that accelerate the natural deterioration of the masonry materialsin outdoor location. Only the knowledge of materials used and of thetraditional technique of construction will give the possibility to slack thepathological alteration of the stones because it progresses at rates far greaterthan rates of natural erosion.

References

1. Ministry of Public information of Korea, 1963.2. Longhurst, A. R, The story of the Stupa, London , 1936.3. Cunningham, A. The Stupas of Bharhut, London 1879.4. Ministry of Culture and information Republic of Korea, The ancient Arts of

A orea, 1972.5. Caneva G., Nugari M. P., Salvadori O. Biology in the Conservation of Works

of Art, ICCROM , Roma 1991.6. Torraca G., "Interazione tra degrado degli strati di superficie e degrado della

struttura interna dei material! lapidei. Problemi di consolidamento", inBollettino dell'Arte, suppl. n. 41, 1984;

7. Torraca G., Brick, adobe, stone and architectural ceramics: deteriorationprocesses and conservation practices, in Preservation and conservation:principles and practices, Proc. of the North Amer. Intern. Regional Conf.,Williamsbourg, I/a, Sept. 10-16 1972, Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington,1976.

8. Lazzarini L., Laurenzi Tabasso M., // restauro della Pie tra, CEDAM ed.Padova


70 architectural studies, materials & analysis€¦ · three kingdoms period, the second period...

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