Hwangryongsa reconsidered: A Korean mirror to the medieval Chinese Buddhist ritual-architectural transformation

Abstract

This article investigates the one-century construction history of Silla’s state monastery Hwangryongsa, understanding its architectural transformation in relation to the changing ritual-spatial concept within the context of the medieval Sino-Korean cultural exchanges. The initial construction between 553 and 569, supervised by the Koguryǒ émigré monk Hyeryang, followed the sixth-century Northern Chinese model to build Hwangryongsa as a dormitory-enclosed compound, in which the One-Hundred-Seat Assembly was enacted in the image hall as the earlier Chinese Buddhist tradition would do. This plan was soon altered under the increasing popularity of the newly developed Southern Chinese paradigm. An extensive reconstruction started in 574 for the purpose of imitating the Chen imperial performance of the One-Hundred-Seat Assembly at Taijidian compound of Jiankang palace, while the archaic, oddly-empty organization of the central image hall reveals a hidden connection between Hwangryongsa and Tongtaisi, the state monastery of the Liang and also the first Chinese monastery modeled after the Taijidian compound. Hwangryongsa was eventually transformed into a corridor-enclosed ceremonial courtyard fronted by three image halls and one nine-story pagoda by 645, and the transformation profoundly mirrored China’s medieval architectural reform of Buddhist ritual space between the sixth and seventh centuries.

Key words： Hwangryongsa; Taijidian; Tongtaisi; Sino-Korean exchange; Silla; Chinese Northern and Southern dynasties