Unified Silla, or Great Silla, period (668–935)

In 660 and 668, respectively, the Paekche and Koguryŏ kingdoms fell to the allied armies of the Silla king and the Tang Chinese emperor, creating a new political and cultural era referred to as the Unified Silla period. This was the golden age of ancient Korean art. Buddhism enjoyed a renewed prosperity, and great temples sprang up one after another in the Kyŏngsang province region. Monks and scholars traveled to Tang China to partake of its brilliant cosmopolitan culture. The capital city of Kyŏngju (like the contemporary Japanese capital of Heian-kyō, later Kyōto) was modeled after the Tang capital of Chang’an, with broad, straight avenues laid out on a rectangular grid pattern. From this time on, southern Korea, particularly the southeast, became the centre of Korean artistic development. Northern Korea, where once an energetic Koguryŏ art had flourished, diminished in importance.

The Unified Silla period produced more granite Buddhist images and pagodas than any other period. Architectural ornamentation, such as roof tiles decorated with floral and animal designs, was of high quality. The bronzesmiths of Unified Silla did excellent work, as exemplified in numerous huge temple bells, sharira boxes (containing sacred ashes of the Shakyamuni Buddha), and Buddhist statues. Toward the end of the reign, bronze seems to have been in short supply, and statues were cast in iron. One Buddhist painting has survived from the Unified Silla period. It depicts a Buddhist sermon held in a temple. Figures and architecture are represented in fine gold lines on blue-brown paper.

Many temples were built during the Unified Silla period, and existing ones were enlarged. The low skyline of Kyŏngju must once have been dominated by towering pagodas. The original layout of a Unified Silla temple is best preserved in the Pulguk Temple to the southeast of Kyŏngju. The temple, constructed in the mid-8th century, is situated at the foot of a mountain and is divided into two adjoining complexes. The approach from the south is by a pair of stone staircases. The main complex is the eastern courtyard defined by the covered walks that connect the entrance gate, the main hall in the centre, and the lecture hall in the rear. This whole area is further divided into two by the projecting covered walks from either sides of the main hall. In the courtyard in front of the main hall, there are two pagodas, one on the east, and the other on the west of the courtyard’s north-south central axis. The western pagoda (Sŏkkat’ap) is in the typical square and three-story Silla style and represents Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha. The other pagoda (Tabot’ap) is more elaborate and symbolizes the Prabhutaratna Buddha, or the Buddha of the Past. The arrangement apparently symbolizes the Buddhist legend that, when Shakyamuni preached the Avatamsaka-sutra, the pagoda of Prabhutaratna emerged out of the earth in witness of the greatness and truth of his preaching; representing the two Buddha images in the form of a pagoda is unique to Korean Buddhism. The western complex symbolizes paradise and has a “Hall of Paradise” at its centre. This complex was also once surrounded by a long corridor. The present wooden structures of the temple date from the 17th century, but the stoneworks, such as platforms, staircases, and foundation stones, all date from the Unified Silla period. The lecture hall and the surrounding covered walks were reconstructed in 1973.

A special annex to the Pulguk Temple complex is the artificial cave temple, Sŏkkuram, on the crest of Mount T’oham about 1 mile (1.6 km) away. The cave temple is a domed circular chamber with a rectangular antechamber connected by a short corridor, built of granite blocks. The square anteroom houses eight classes of divine guardians (p’albujung), two diamond volt bearers, and the four guardians of the cardinal points. The main chamber is 26 feet (8 metres) high and about 23 feet (7 metres) across. A large seated Shakyamuni (Amitabha, according to some) about 11 feet (3.5 metres) high, carved out of a single block of granite, occupies the centre on an elevated lotus pedestal. On the surrounding wall are 15 slabs in relief depicting 5 bodhisattvas and 10 disciples in attendance. Above the relief panels, there are 10 niches, 8 of which contain a seated image of a bodhisattva and Vimalakirti, a semilegendary Indian sage. Iconographically, Sŏkkuram represents a microcosm of the Buddha-world. The sculpture of this cave temple is without doubt the finest achievement of Buddhist art in East Asia.

The Paekche type of stone pagoda was adopted in the Unified Silla period, but certain architectural details of the earlier wooden pagoda were ignored and others simplified. The number of stories was reduced to three in most cases, and the main structure stands on a highly elevated, two-tier base. The roof stones have five-stepped corbels, or five projecting blocks supporting a superstructure. In the Shakyamuni pagoda at Pulguk Temple, a good example of the typical Unified Silla pagoda of the 8th century, the ratio of the widths of the stories from the bottom upward is 4:3:2, and the width of the lower base is equated with the height of the main structure above the upper base. This deliberate layout, unique to the Unified Silla period, makes the 8th-century pagoda a well-balanced and beautifully proportioned structure.

The Prabhutaratna pagoda at Pulguk Temple is an exceptional case that demonstrates the skill of Unified Silla masonry. It is actually an enlarged stone version of an elaborate sharira shrine. The main shrine, surrounded by railings, is supported by a rooflike square slab resting on four pillars with massive brackets, or supporting elements, to carry a projecting weight. The pillars in turn stand on an elevated platform approached by four staircases with lions. Only one of the four original lions remains. On top of the octagonal main shrine is a small, similarly shaped roof adorned with a complex finial, or crowning ornamental architectural detail.

In addition to Buddhist architecture, other forms, including palatial architecture, flourished. Evidence of the magnificence of the Silla palace in Kyŏngju can be seen in the restored Anapchi (Korean: Goose and Duck Pond), a man-made pond originally constructed during the reign of King Munmu (661–681). When the pond was dredged in 1976, the original stone-built banks and a complex device for regulating the intake and outflow of water were discovered. Sites of pond-side pavilions as well as huge natural rocks that had been placed on the slopes of islets and on the banks of the pond also were uncovered, revealing the original layout of the 7th-century royal garden.