석가탑의 황금비율

Abstract

The Sakyamuni Pagoda(or "Seokgatap" in Korean) is a three story stone pagoda of the Bulguksa temple built in the 8th century. This study tried to find golden ratios in the original part of the pagoda by checking an eastern side drawing with the photoshop 7.0. At first, the pagoda was found to be divided in six vertical parts, of which their upper and lower parts are cut in golden ratio. One of them is cut in 1:φ and others are in φ:1. Secondly, the lower parts of the six were found to be rectangles in the ratio of φ2:1 which we may get along with φ:1 rectangles by golden cut of squares. The front of the upper basement is a φ2:1 rectangle divided into four of φ-3:1 and three of φ-1:1 rectangles. Thirdly, there are three kinds of diagonals on a roof of each story. And their slopes were found to be the same as the diagonals of φ:1 and φ2:1 rectangles or their reciprocals. As the above three kinds of golden ratios(golden sections, golden rectangles and golden diagonals) are found in every part of the drawing and their errors are very small, we can safely conclude that the pagoda was designed and constructed on the principle of golden ratio. The golden ratios of the pagoda originated from squares. The basic outlines of the six vertical parts are squares and they are golden cut in φ:1 and φ2:1 rectangles. And the upper parts have been transshaped mainly with the diagonals which came from the two rectangles while the lower parts remained in the φ2:1 rectangles. Golden ratio is a term for quantitative comparison. However, 'yin and yang' is a term of the East Asian philosophy for non-quantitative comparison. If we take the φ:1 rectangles as yang(+) and the φ2:1 rectangles as yin(-), the golden cuts of the six divisions match the yin and yang principle from the view points of "top and bottom", "prominence and depression", “change and constancy" and "light and darkness". Consequently the pagoda might be noted as a case for "golden ratios of the yin and yang".