Tabot'ap and Sokkat'ap

Tabot'ap and Sokkat'ap While other Korean temple and temple ruin sites (such as Kamunsa) possess twin pagodas, none has a pair so different from one another than are Tabot'ap and Sokkat'ap. Indeed, these two works of art, individually and in contrast to one another, account for a good measure of Bulguksa's art historical significance. The Sino-Korean word "t'ap" is used to gloss what in Sanskrit would be called a stupa. Most broadly, it is important to see Tabot'ap and Sokkat'ap, as well as other Korean pagodas, within a wide tradition of Buddhist art and practice that extends from the Indian subcontinent to Japan. In India, pagodas mark the symbolic landscape of Gautama Buddha's life course and enshrine his sarira or remains. In Korea, pagodas of wood or stone (of which only the latter have survived time and Korea's many wars and invasions) have formed an integral part of temple architecture since the introduction of Buddhism in the Three Kingdoms period. In fact, archaeologically speaking, it is no exaggeration to say that where a surviving stone pagoda may be found, a temple once stood. Korean pagodas also enshrine sari (the Korean pronunciation of the Sanskrit "sarira"): calcified remains, after cremation, of Sakyamuni Buddha, his disciples, or important monks, or sometimes the remains of Buddha's teachings in the form of texts of sutras. Historically, this fact, or rather the knowledge of this fact in difficult social conditions, has unfortunately often enough led to the damage or destruction of many of Korea's pagodas, for the sacred remains are sometimes further enshrined in containers of gold or silver (examples are to be found in the Kyongju National Museum and elsewhere) that have offered a target for thieves. Legend has it that Bulguksa's twin pagodas were carved at the same time as the temple itself was originally built. The sculptor was named Asadal, and he hailed not from Silla itself but from Paekche, in the southwest of the Korean peninsula. His wife, Asanyo, had been left at home while he traveled to Silla to undertake his work, but missing her husband greatly, she followed him to Bulguksa yet could not bring herself to violate the strict prohibition against seeing him directly while the carving was in progress. Instead, she attempted to catch a glimpse of her husband at work in the reflection of the temple courtyard in a nearby pool. But while she could see the reflection of Tabot'ap, Sokkat'ap, on which her husband was working at the time, remained out of view. Finally, in despair, she flung herself into the pool and drowned. Because of this legend, Tabot'ap and Sokkat'ap are sometimes called Yongt'ap and Muyongt'ap, or "Shadow Pagoda" and "No Shadow Pagoda," respectively. *Tabot'ap (National Treasure No. 20) The ornately-carved Tabot'ap stands to the right as one faces Bulguksa's Taeungjon. "Tabo" means "many treasures," and the Tabot'ap is dedicated to the Tabo Yorae, or the Buddha of Many Treasures. Tabo was a disciple of Sakyamuni who eventually achieved enlightenment. During his life he dreamed of rising from the ground as a pagoda, and he requested that such a pagoda be built after his death to house his remains. Historically, there are records of a Tabot'ap being built in China in 732; the pagoda at Bulguksa was built less than twenty years later. However, while there are other Tabota'ps, there is no pagoda in the world whose appearance can really be called similar to the Tabot'ap at Bulguksa. Tabot'ap has an overall height of 10.4 meters. Although the complexity of Tabot'ap's architecture can make this difficult to see, scholars usually consider it to have a base and three main stories (a distinction between base and body stories is conventional in describing pagodas). The square base includes a miniature eight-step staircase on each side. Above this, the first story's main section is formed by four thick square posts and it open in the middle. It is thought that formerly a Buddha statue or other image may have been enshrined here. One carved stone lion also remains on one side of this section; originally there was one on each side. The first story continues with a square roof and then a square fence-like structure carved of stone. The second story consists of various elements with an overall octagonal shape. One section of this story is made up of eight posts carved to look like bamboo. The third story consists of a round disk with a lotus-flower design. Finally, there is an octagonal roof and a pillar. Although this is clearly quite complex, what is significant about the overall design of the body is the transition from square shapes (representing the mundane world), through an octagonal intermediate stage, to the round section that represents the perfection of enlightenment (indeed the circle is a common Buddhist image). Tabot'ap is surrounded by eight lotus-shaped stones, which some scholars maintain formed the base of a stone fence-structure that enclosed the pagoda. This has not been restored, however. *Sokkat'ap (National Treasure No. 21) In comparison to the ornate and unique Tabot'ap, the 8.2m three-story Sokkat'ap represents the typical style of Korean stone pagodas: an alternation of unadorned square body sections and their rooves, laid upon a square base, with a thin finial at the very top. Indeed, along with the twin pagodas at Kamunsa, Sokkat'ap is said to represent the "golden mean" of Silla pagoda architecture; it is considered Korea's most "typical" stone pagoda and is even pictured on the ten won coin. The reason for this has to do with the ratio between the heights of the body sections. This ratio varies in different pagodas constructed at different times. In Sokkat'ap (and in the Kamunsa pagodas) it is 4:2:2 (first:second:third), which is analogized to the ratio of the human body and held to represent a sort of classical perfection against the more "mannerist" appearance of late Silla and early Koryo pagodas, for example. During restoration work in 1966, a wood-block printing plate containing a section of the Dharani Sutra was found in Sokkat'ap. This is considered to be the world's oldest surviving wood-block printing plate.