The easiest way to learn about Korea s Buddhist culture is to visit the temples where the traditional practice of asceticism is still carried on today. People no longer live in other examples of traditional architecture, such as palaces and Confucian schools and academies; but in temples the monks and nuns eat, sleep and live in the traditional way, wearing traditional robes. Of all the countries in East Asia that share Buddhist culture, only in Korea is the traditional practice of asceticism strongly maintained. This book aims to discuss the part architecture plays in this traditional temple culture. While temple life and the practice of asceticism are integral to each other, this books attempts to isolate the architecture as a physical entity. Though several books taking a similar approach have been published in Korea, this one has been written with foreign readers in mind.