“Seokguram is an eternal masterpiece. It was created by the Silla people, who captured the vital spirit (靈) when East Asian culture was at its zenith.” (Yanagi Muneyoshi)

This is the ‘Seokguram eulogy’ by folk craft movement activist Yanagi Muneyoshi (1889~1961). (<Art>, vol. 2, no. 5, 1919) The art historian Go Yuseop (1905~1944) said, “Just as Britain said it could abandon India but not Shakespeare, we have Seokguram.” (October 13, 1934) Unreserved acclaim.

But what image has Seokguram conveyed to us since the 1960s? From a visitor's perspective, ‘Seokguram’ is something you enter as a building, glance over the principal Buddha enshrined inside and lit by artificial lights, and pass by. It is hard to shake the sense that it is imprisoned in a space of darkness. Here, a very fundamental question arises.

According to the <Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms>, Seokguram was founded by Kim Dae-seong (?~774) in 751 together with Bulguksa, and after his death in 774, the state completed the construction 23 years later. If so, is the Seokguram of its founding the same as what we see now?

Recently, an international academic conference commemorating the 2025 APEC in Gyeongju (hosted by Keimyung University) was held in Gyeongju. At this conference, several papers were presented that allow us to conjecture the ‘original form of Seokguram’. In conclusion, several papers argued that the Seokguram we see today is not the Seokguram completed in 751~774, but a ‘modified Seokguram’ resulting from large-scale repairs and restoration between 1958 and 1964. Then what was the original form of Seokguram, and how did it change?

■Seokguram under water torture?

“Although it was covered with reinforced concrete in 1913~15… from the following summer it ran down as if soaked by heavy rain and grew green moss… This is because the fog and clouds of the East Sea invaded the grotto and lost their way out….” (Chosun Ilbo, December 2, 1937)

“…Behind the wall stones of Seokguram, a thick layer of lime was inserted so that the grotto interior is filled with humidity… The sculptures are constantly wet.” (Dong-A Ilbo, October 14, 1948)

A survey of newspapers from the Japanese colonial period through after liberation exposes Seokguram as having endured decades of continuous ‘water torture’. In particular, the story of dismantling and restoring Seokguram in 1913~15 during the colonial period draws attention. “The construction manager at the time seems to have believed that finishing with concrete would make it last for ages, and breathed a sigh of relief….” (Chosun Ilbo, December 2, 1937)

A supplemental note on the concrete dome is in order. After the invention of Portland cement in the early 19th century, reinforced concrete with wire mesh in France in 1867 marked the real beginning of the ‘concrete method’. Thus, the concrete dome used by the Japanese for Seokguram's repairs in 1913~15 was a cutting-edge technique for the time.

Yet even with such new materials, trouble began the summer after completion (1916).

Because the concrete dome installed by the Japanese blocked ventilation, condensation not seen before ran down and flooded the grotto interior. No wonder.

Seokguram, at about 565 meters above sea level on Mount Toham (elevation 745 m), faces the sea winds of the East Sea head-on.

A year-long measurement of Seokguram's weather conditions in 1962 showed that out of 365 days, it rained every three days (134 days) or was shrouded in fog (123 days). There were only about 100 clear days. The rain and humidity blowing in from the East Sea relentlessly battered Seokguram.

■Double dome and tiled hall

As the problems of damage to Seokguram caused by leakage and exposure to the elements continued even after liberation, a large-scale repair and restoration project was planned.

In August~September 1958, the first Seokguram survey team set the direction for repair and restoration after an on-site survey. They first pointed out that “the cement applied during the Japanese colonial period inflicted more serious adverse effects than the damage accumulated over 1,000 years from Seokguram’s founding through the late Joseon.” They thus framed ‘the root of evil = faulty Japanese construction’.

They then made an important decision: to roof over the ‘front space of Seokguram’ to prevent damage from humidity, frost, and dust. From September 1961, the repair and restoration proceeded on three main principles. (Kang Hee-jung, Professor, Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University)

1) In addition to the concrete dome installed by the Japanese, install another concrete dome (a double dome); 2) straighten the last of the Eight Legions reliefs (the fourth on each side), which had curved inward in ┗ and ┛ shapes along both sides of the front; and 3) install a traditional Korean tiled hall in the newly secured rectangular space.

This is the structure of Seokguram as we see it today. The repair and restoration were completed in June 1964, after two years and ten months.

■Premises of the Seokguram project

In sum, the essence of the 1960s Seokguram repairs and restoration can be described as ‘protecting Seokguram in a war against water (humidity)’. Thus, from the planning stage (1958), ‘a double dome for Seokguram and a tiled hall in front’ became non-negotiable core premises.

An intriguing passage appears in the <Seokguram Repair Report> (published 1967).

“We were conceiving the form of a wooden tiled hall in the front antechamber of the grotto. Then forms of a grotto antechamber (tiled hall) similar to what the engineers envisioned were found in pottery and paintings, and we shouted for joy.”

In other words, during the work they believed they had found grounds that a wooden tiled hall had originally existed in front of Seokguram. They said they found a ‘pottery shard’ and Gyeomjae Jeong Seon’s (1676~1759) ‘Golgul Stone Grotto’, held by the National Museum of Korea, as corroboration that Seokguram had a tiled building.

The <Repair Report> also presented as evidence the ‘Seokguram Repair Ridge-Beam Inscription’ supposedly found on a toilet door during the works. It records the details of the 1891 repairs and was read as containing traces of a tiled building. Based on these materials, construction of the tiled hall in front proceeded swiftly. Looking closely, it feels very much like the tiled building was posited first and the evidence fitted afterward.

■Jeong Seon’s Golgul Stone Buddha, what is it?

As pointed out at this conference, researchers increasingly raised doubts after the repairs. Let us delve in. Did a front antechamber in the form of a tiled building actually exist at Seokguram as today?

First, let us examine the artifacts (tile shards) said to have been excavated within the Seokguram precincts. In photographs taken in the early 1910s before the Japanese repairs, a tiled structure is visible above the grotto. The <Seokguram Repair Report> took this as evidence for a tiled building at the front of Seokguram.

However, as the photos show, this tiled structure was created not in front of Seokguram but above the dome of the principal Buddha. It looks like a tiled roof protecting the grotto. It is not a front tiled building….

And the tiled structure above the dome appears to have been added at the time of the 1891 repair or afterward. Can Jeong Seon’s ‘Golgul Stone Grotto’ serve as evidence for ‘Seokguram with a tiled building’? No. This is because Gyeongju has a separate temple called Golgulam and a Buddha belonging to it. Recently, the view that the ‘Golgul Stone Grotto’ depicts ‘Golgulam + Stone Buddha’ has gained traction. The layout in the painting also differs from the actual location of Seokguram. Old maps likewise show no Seokguram marked with a tiled building.

■A ‘grotto cosplay’

How can we be so definite? Remarks by Jeong Si-han (1625~1707), Lee Deok-pyo (1664~1745), Im Pil-dae (1709~1773), and Song Dal-su (1808~1858) from the 17th~19th centuries are striking.

“The stone Buddha was made by human effort… On both outer edges outside the stone gate are carved four to five images each on large rocks… The stone gate is trimmed like a rainbow… On top of the grotto lie a capstone and several stones, neat and clean, without any tilt or blemish at all…” (Jeong Si-han's <Mountain Diary>)

“At Seokguram… dressed stones were piled to form a cave-like space, like an earthen house, and on the stone faces to the left and right, all the Buddhas were carved…” (Lee Deok-pyo's <Uwa-jip>)

“Without ridge or eaves, stones were piled to make a grotto. The doorposts and threshold were not used to close it; stones served as the door.” (Im Pil-dae's <Travel Records of Dongto>)

“A room was made of stone, and from bottom to top it was encircled layer upon layer with stone, round like an umbrella… Earth was piled outside, rising high like a peak.” (Song Dal-su's <Southern Journey Diary>)

First we must shatter preconceptions. Visitors from the 17th~19th centuries spoke with one voice that ‘Seokguram is not a natural cave nor a hermitage hewn into a cliff face’.

They stated that stones were stacked and then covered with earth to create something like a grotto. In short, ‘Seokguram is not a cave’.

Another point: no travelogue describes a tiled building constructed in the space in front of Seokguram.

Here we glimpse the piety of Silla Buddhists. Buddhists often used caves as spaces for practice. The Indra Cave, where Shakyamuni Buddha emerged from samadhi and taught akra, is famous. As is well known, countless cave temples were built in India and China.

By contrast, on the Korean Peninsula, composed largely of hard granite, excavating caves was practically very difficult. Thus Silla people constructed grottoes with stone and earth to worship and practice. In today's parlance, they engaged in a kind of ‘grotto cosplay’ to express their devotion.

■A Confucian-style repair?

The 1891 ‘Seokguram Repair Ridge-Beam Inscription’, cited by the 1960s repair team as evidence for ‘a tiled building’, is no different. There is no phrase stating ‘in the past, a tiled building existed at Seokguram’.

Rather, only the structure of the stone Buddha ensemble is described.

“…On the stones, red and green moss have grown unevenly… The pavilion once like gems (樓) is now buried in a yard piled high with straw…”

There are lines about moss growing on the stones and dilapidation, but nothing about wood rotting, for example.

However, one line reads, “(With this repair)… the system of the Dragon Palace (龍·temple) was largely restored.” ‘The system of the Dragon Palace’ refers to the traditional East Asian architectural method of ‘upper beam and lower rafters (a ridge beam above, rafters below)’. The inscription adds, “With axing and sawing, the scale is large and splendid.” Both phrases were borrowed from the Confucian classics <The Book of Songs> and <The Book of Changes>.

Thus the 1891 repair appears to have been carried out in line with Confucian architectural concepts by adding a tiled feature above Seokguram's main chamber (the principal Buddha space). (Choi Young-sung, Professr, Korea National University of Cultural Heritage)

■A wet Buddha

At this conference, a strikingly interesting story was introduced. (Heo Hyeong-uk, Curator, National Museum of Korea) It is a passage written by Lee Deok-pyo (1664~1745), an official of the Gyeongju Confucian school, after visiting Seokguram on September 16, 1704 (King Sukjong 30).

Lee relayed what an old monk had said at the time.

“…In old times, copper tiles were laid over the stone Buddha. But one day, the stone Buddha appeared in a monk's dream. The Buddha said, ‘I do not dislike getting wet by nature. The rain and dew of heaven fall as drops to wash my body and flow down into the spiritual source (靈), so that their benefit may reach all sentient beings. How can you seek to cover this?’ The monk awoke and removed the tiles.”

Another anecdote exists. Baek Sun-u (1863~1942) wrote in <Southern Journey Record>, “In the past at Seokguram, heavenly drops fell from the ceiling, and it is normal for the interior to have humidity, but owing to the Japanese despoiling it, it was polluted by moss, which is lamentable.” What does this mean? Is it not saying that Seokguram is supposed to have humidity inside by nature?

If so, what does it mean that during the colonial period (a concrete dome) and in the 1960s (a double concrete dome) a dome was stacked and a tiled building erected in front to thoroughly block external moisture? Does it not suggest that, failing to fathom the Buddha’s deep intent to wash the bodies of sentient beings with heaven’s rain and dew, humans presumptuously intervened?

■The Eight Legions straightened into a row

There remains another debate concerning the Seokguram repairs.

Old sources suggest that Seokguram may originally have consisted only of a single architectural space enshrining the principal Buddha.

There is no mention of a tiled building.

Then what about the Eight Legions reliefs flanking Seokguram like guardians? Were they simply set up in the open air?

The Eight Legions images depict the eight guardian deities of Buddhism (Deva, Naga, Yaksha, Gandharva, Asura, Garuda, Kinnara, Mahoraga).

These Eight Legions are thought to have been created in the late 8th century. (Cha Yoon-jung, Chief Curator, Bulguksa Museum)

Now look at photos from around 1910, before the Seokguram repairs.

Above the Vajrapani on the front and the Eight Legions on the sides, stone slabs serving as eaves are visible. This shows that the Eight Legions and Vajrapani on both sides of Seokguram, installed in the open air, stood under the protection of stone eaves. However, during the 1960s repairs and restoration, these Eight Legions were straightened into a single line on each side.

Before that, they were bent in ┗ and ┛ shapes. That is, as seen from outside, the fourth on the left (Asura) and the eighth on the right (Garuda) were inflected inward.

Research shows that unlike nos. 1~3 and 5~7, nos. 4 (Asura) and 8 (Garuda) differ in size and pictorial format.

This is because 1~3 and 5~7 were placed in a straight portion, while 4 and 8 were placed in the bent portions. Why are 4 and 8 of different size? The explanation is that their widths were reduced to align with the edge of the eaves. (Kang Hyun, Curator, National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage)

By narrowing the entrance to the main chamber (principal Buddha space), did they perhaps impress upon worshippers that they were entering a distinct precinct? In the 1960s repairs and restoration, however, nos. 4 (Asura) and 8 (Garuda) were straightened into line.

There were objections at the time. Kim Won-yong (Seoul National University), then a Cultural Heritage Committee member, argued, “We cannot straighten the Eight Legions images on inconclusive grounds.” But supervising director Hwang Soo-young (Dongguk University) insisted on the straight-line arrangement, and it was carried through.

Citing various reasons and invoking ‘the doings of the Japanese’, the straight-line layout of the Eight Legions was pushed ahead. It seems likely that the fourth images on each side were straightened to secure a broader space for the tiled hall in front of Seokguram.

■The original of shoddy construction?

While we are on the subject, let us look further into Seokguram's mysteries.

Above the principal Buddha's head in the ceiling is a canopy stone (2.5 m in diameter) carved with a lotus pattern. It is the capstone placed last after building the circular dome.

Looking at this canopy stone, one notices three fracture lines. Too significant a flaw to call a mere ‘flaw in jade’. The reason appears in the Seokguram founding tale in the <Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms>.

“While dressing a single great stone to make the canopy, the stone suddenly split into three pieces. Kim Dae-seong was enraged and dozed off; then at night, a heavenly being descended and completed it before returning….” (‘Filial Piety and CharityKim Dae-seong Filially Served Two Generations’)

In short, Kim Dae-seong split the capstone into three pieces while dressing it, but pretended not to notice and finished the job. Was Kim Dae-seong the original culprit of shoddy construction?

Thereafter, worshippers looking up at the fractured canopy over the principal Buddha must have felt anxious. At the same time, seeing that it has not collapsed for nearly 1,300 years, they likely felt it to be the Buddha's numinous power and a deep mystery.

However, at the crown of a dome, tensile forces pulling outward do not act; only compressive forces are present. So although the fracture looks unsettling, the pieces do not actually fall.

As noted earlier, after the 1960s repairs the interior of Seokguram was altered into an indoor space, darkened considerably. The principal Buddha of Seokguram is as if confined in a dark grotto. But look at photos from the 1910s.

Seokguram, exposed outdoors, does not look so dark. What if we compare the floor illuminance (light per unit area per unit time) of the interior of the Pantheon in Rome and of Seokguram's interior? One study finds Seokguram's floor illuminance more than three times brighter than the Pantheon's. Yet people today assume Seokguram without candles or lighting is a place of darkness. A major misconception. But this is what shapes Seokguram's current image. (Yoon Jae-shin, Emeritus Professor, Ewha Womans University)

To summarize: the Silla people piled stone and covered it with earth to create the so-called Seokguram in the form of a grotto. It was not made inside a natural or excavated cave.

And its composition placed the main chamber enshrining the principal Buddha as the core, with the guardian Eight Legions arranged in ┗ and ┛ shapes. There was no tiled building in front. In short, it comprised a single space consisting of the original main chamber (principal chamber) with an entrance, and no ‘tiled buiding’ (anteroom) existed. (Professor Kang Hee-jung)

Therefore, the principal Buddha of Seokguram, ‘lit by lamps in darkness’ as today, is not the original appearance. Rather than a bone-dry Buddha without humidity, perhaps heaven’s rain and dew washed the Buddha’s body and flowed down into the spiritual source (靈), so that their benefit might reach all beings. Are we not now straining, with vain human intent, to block that? If so, what should be done about Seokguram, which has lost its original form? It seems time to put our heads together.

(For this article, helpful comments and materials were provided by Professor Kang Hee-jung of Sogang University's Institute for East Asian Studies; Curator Kang Hyun of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage; former Professor Yoon Jae-shin of Ewha Womans University; Professor Woo Dong-seon of the Korea National University of Arts; Curator Heo Hyeong-uk of the National Museum of Korea; Chief Curator Cha Yoon-jung of Bulguksa Museum; and Professor Choi Young-sung of the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage.)

<References>

Kang Hee-jung; Kang Hyun; Heo Hyeong-uk; Woo Dong-seon; Kim Bong-ryeol; Hyun Seung-uk; Hong Seong-geol; Lee Joo-hyung; Ha Jeong-min et al., ‘From the Quintessence of Unified Silla Buddhist Art and Architecture to a World Heritage Site’ (papers from the 2025 APEC Gyeongju Silk Road Humanities International Conference), Keimyung University, 2025

Yoon Jae-shin, ‘An Analysis of the Myth of Seokguram and a Study on the Restoration of Its Architectural Space’, <Journal of Architectural History> 32, no. 4, Architectural Institute of Korea: Architectural History, 2023

National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, <Seokguram, The Photographs>, 2020

Choi Young-sung, ‘A Study of the Seokguram Repair Ridge-Beam Inscription’, <Bojo Thought> 47, no. 47, Bojo Thought Research Institute, 2017

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Cho Cheol-je, <A Stroll Through Joseon-Era Gyeongju>, Hagyeon Munhwasa, 2023

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Cha Yoon-jung, ‘A Study of the Seokguram Eight Legions: Reconsidering the Production Date through Stylistic Analysis‘, <Art History and Visual Culture> 31, no. 31, Korean Society of Art History and Visual Culture, 2023