KOREA

Geographical Location
Korea is located on the Korean
Peninsula in North-East Asia.

 To the northwest, the

Amnok River (Yalu River)
separates Korea from China
and to the northeast, the
Duman River (Tumen River)
separates Korea from China
and Russia.

LANGUAGE
Korean is the official language of both
North and South Korea, and (along with
Mandarin) of Yanbian Korean Autonomous
Prefecture in Manchuria area of China

RELIGION
Throughout Korean history and culture,
regardless of separation; the influence of
traditional beliefs of Korean Shamanism,
Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and
Taoism have remained an underlying religion
of the Korean people as well as a vital aspect of
their culture.

THE SEPARATION OF NORTH AND SOUTH

KOREA
After the World War II,
the Democratic
People's
Republic of Korea, a Sovietstyle socialist regime, was
established in the north while
the Republic of Korea, a
Western-style republic, was
established in the south.

 THE FLAG OF NORTH

KOREA: The red stripe expresses
revolutionary traditions; the red
star is for Communism. The two
blue stripes stand for sovereignty,
peace and friendship. The white
stripes symbolize purity.

THE FLAG OF SOUTH

KOREA: The white background
symbolizes "cleanliness of the
people". The Taegeuk represents the
origin of all things in the universe;
holding the two principles of yin
and yang in perfect balance.

KOREAN ARCHITECTURE
FROM THE THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD TO
THE END OF THE CHOSON PERIOD:
Korean architecture is the link between the
classical traditions of Chinese building form and
the unique transformations thereof in Japan.

THE THREE KINGDOMS PERIOD:

(57BC-668)
No wooden structures survive
when Korea was divided into three
kingdoms (Koguryo, Paekche
and Shilla) only a few stone
buildings, including two pagodas
of Paekche and one of Shilla
construction.

TIMBER BUILDINGS
Koguryo structures often had round pillars
with entasis, supporting simple executed
brackets. Most of the houses depicted in the
murals have tiled roofs.

 On the Paekche Kingdom, its architecture

was no doubt influenced by that of the
southern part of china. Without examples of
architecture of this period, it is guessed that
it resembled Japans Horyuji Temple.

 Little is known
about the wooden
architecture of the
Shilla Kingdom
(57BC-935) but the
excavation of the
Hwangnyongsa
Temple in Kyongju,
the capital of Shilla,
suggests Koguryo
influence.

STONE BUILDINGS
Two pagodas remain
from the Paekche
period. One is at Iksan
and the other is a five
storey structure on the
site of the Chongnimsa
Temple in Puyo.

 The Miruksa
Pagoda, the earliest
known example in
stone, is believed to
have had seven or
nine storeys though
only parts of six now
remain.

There are two major stone buildings in Kyongju.

One is the
Chomsongdae
Observatory, the
cylindrical monument,
slightly convex in
outline, rises in
meticulous courses
and has square
windows at high level.

 Dating from the same period is a

pagoda on the site of Punhwangsa
Temple. It is made of stones cut to the
size and shape of bricks and resembles
a brick pagoda.

The Unified Shilla Period (668-935)

STONE BUILDINGS:
The major stone edifice of Shilla
construction is Sokkuram, a
man-made grotto built in the
middle of the eight century. It
has rectangular antechamber
and an arched rotunda, at the
centre of which is Buddha.

 Most Shilla pagodas

are three-storey
pagoda, the earliest
being the twin pagodas
on the site of
Kamunsa Temple in
Wolsong.

 The finest pagoda

is a three storey
pagoda called
Sokkatap at
Pulguksa
Temple in
Kyongju

 Stupas to house
the sarira (the
remains of very
holy persons) and
relics of highranking monks
were an
important part of
Buddhist
Architecture

The Koryo Period (918-1392)

TIMBER BUILDINGS:
Wooden buildings preserved from the Koryo
Period include the Kungnakchon (Nirvana
Hall) of Pongjongsa Temple in Andong and
Muryangsujon (Amita Hall) of Pusoka Temple
in Yongju, both of which date from the
thirteenth century.

Nirvana Hall

Amita Hall

STONE BUILDINGS:
The use of
Bodhisattvas as
decorative reliefs
which had begun in
the Shilla period is
also continued, for
example on the threestorey at Chunghung
Sansong Fortress in
Kwayng-yang.

 Chinese influence from the Song and Liao

dynasties is evident in polygonal such as that at
Kumsansa Temple in Kimche which is
hexagonal, and in the octagonal, nine storey
pagoda of Wolchongsa Temple in
Pyongchang

KUMSANSA TEMPLE

THE CHOSON PERIOD

TIMBER BUILDINGS
The Namdaemun (South Gate) and the
Tongdaemun (East Gate), the ancient
entrances to the city of Seoul, have two-storey
roof structures of similar size built in the multicluster bracketed style.

NAMDAEMUN (South Gate)

STONE BUILDINGS
Variations from the different
traditional styles are found in
the octagonal, five-storey
pagoda of Sujongsa Temple in
Yangju and the ten-storey
pagoda of Won-goksa Temple
in Seoul.

 Bell-shaped stupas continued during the Choson

period.

 HONGSALMUN
- a gate for
entering a sacred
place in Korea. It
is arranged by 2
round poles and
2 horizontal
lines.