토함산 석굴에 대한 건축사적 해석

Abstract

Architectural history has evolved with the progress of construction technology. Modern architecture in the West, in particular, has been developed on the basis of technological development that resulted from the Industrial Revolution. Developing an architectural structure of a new style can be successfully conducted only after obtaining complete technological knowledge via experiences. The birth of new architecture takes place only after a matrix has formed via experimentation with new technologies. However, no one can say that experimental effort always results in success. Good fortune may bring success in one’s first attempt, but that does not guarantee that it will bring the same results in actual works. That is why we sometimes witness an unexpected catastrophe in construction projects. Even today, it is not uncommon for Korean architects to invite experts from overseas to prevent such misfortune when they attempt new construction works. The status of Seokguram in Korean architecture is unique, and many art historians argue that it is one of the finest architectural achievements in the world; the perfect Buddha image enshrined at the center of the hall, the layout of the stone deities surrounding the Buddha, and the structural grandiosity that creates a solemn religious atmosphere are among the elements the building is praised for. Some add that the perfect location, particularly in connection with Daewangam (“Rock of a Great King”) which is known as the “underwater tomb” of King Munmu, and the proportion and balance between the principal Buddha image and the spatial dimension of the hall are also worthy of praise. One might argue that the most striking feature of this man-made grotto is the vaulted roof of its main hall, since Korea had no precedent of such construction until then. Art historians believe that the new architectural structure consisting of a circular plane with its matching dome was suggested to the Silla people as an ideal grotto temple for representing the world of Buddha. If that was the case, what difficulty did they have in the course of materializing their vision of the perfect Buddhist temple? Was the construction of the temple actually completed in just one attempt thanks to one architectural genius as it was recorded and as an ancient history book outlines? The History of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk Yusa) had this to say about Seokguram: “[He] built Bulguksa (“Temple of Buddhist Land”) for the parents of this world, and Seokbulsa (“Temple of Stone Buddha”) for the parents of the other world “When he was carving a large stone canopy to enshrine a stone Buddha, the stone suddenly split into three parts. Dae-seong Kim was vexed at this and then fell into a deep sleep. At that time a heavenly deity descended and completed it before returning.” Seokbulsa in this record means today’s Seokguram at Tohamsan Mountain. Then, we can surmise that the builders of the grotto incurred a major accident in constructing the vaulted roof (the canopy in the record). What is interesting here is that the dome was completed in a single night, not by Dae-seong Kim who was in charge of the construction, but by a deity sent from the Buddhist paradise. The ceiling of today’s grotto has its lotus-shaped capstone divided into three parts. This tells us that the record is not very far from the truth, although one can plausibly argue that the mention of the heavenly being was fabricated for religious purposes. What is certain here is that the builders had a difficult time in the construction of the dome. The typical ceiling of stone structures during the Three Kingdoms period was the corbelled vaulted ceiling, a style that had widely spread from the grotto temples in the Near East to the stone-chamber tombs of Goguryeo. However, building a hemispheric ceiling with stones over a circular floor plane was surely a new venture at the time. We can then infer from the record that the accident, in which a large stone fell from a 9m height and split into three parts, took place at the very moment when the builders were attempting to top the vaulted ceiling with a single capstone. Then, how were they able to complete the building after the accident? The size of the capstone (2.47m in diameter at the lower part, 3m in diameter at the upper part, and 1m in thickness) tells us that it must have weighed about 20 tons. That it still retains the three-part split reveals that they must have used the same stone they had dropped in the earlier effort. Topping the ceiling with a split capstone should have been a far more difficult task than using a new, unimpaired stone. But they succeeded in using the old stone. How did they accomplish this? The builders under the leadership of Dae-seong Kim thought that a solution may lie in using wedge-shaped stones. Hence, they put a number of “wedge stones” all over the ceiling including at both ends of the capstone. Carved in the shape of a nail, these stones were designed to support the capstone by being squeezed between other stones forming the ceiling. The result was so incredible that they thought it was achieved not by their concepts and efforts, but by the intervention of some heavenly deity. Gradually, their success became legendary to later generations who believed by the time the history book was written that it was a work of a heavenly being rather than human beings. For today‘s art historians, the builders who invented a new principle of structural dynamics are the ones that should be praised. It was a triumph achieved through the unyielding spirit of great architects.