• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.126-147
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• 2018

The compositions and iconographies of the three Illustrations of the Sixteen Contemplations produced in the early Joseon Dynasty effectively manifest the transitional period of Joseon society as well as the Joseon people's perception of the Pure Land. In particular, the painting at titled Chionji (知恩寺) dated 1435 and another painting at titled Chion' in (知恩院) from 1465, which were commissioned by the Joseon royal family and high-ranking monk, embody the Pure Land faith of the Tiantai School of Buddhism (天台宗) which thrived during the late Goryeo period. This indicates that the Joseon royal court continued to favor the Pure Land faith that emphasized salvation through "self-power" (自力), which was popular among both the royal family and the nobility of Goryeo. On the other hand, in the painting at titled $H{\bar{o}}rinji$ (法輪寺), which is presumed to have been made in the sixteenth century, the compositions and iconographies shown in late Goryeo examples of the Illustrations of the Sixteen Contemplations are disassembled. Moreover, a new iconographical motif, i.e. "welcoming the dragon boat" (龍船接引), emerged with this painting. This motif symbolizes the idea that the souls of the deceased are guided by Amitabha Buddha to rebirth in the Pure Land of Extreme Bliss, which is based on the "other-power" of the Pure Land faith that emphasizes the power of Amitabha Buddha in attaining salvation rather than the educational "self-power" of the Pure Land faith. The emergence of this motif demonstrates the transformation of the Pure Land belief into a faith that relied on the "other-power" of Amitabha in Joseon's Confucian society.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.30
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• pp.131-163
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• 1997

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.159-169
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• 2011

This research aims to discover how the pure land(Sukkavati), which had the greatest impact on ordinary people since the Shilla period, are represented in the Buddhist temples. This study first looked into the seven landscapes of the pure land, which are written on the $Amit{\bar{a}}yurdhy{\bar{a}}na$ $S{\bar{u}}tra$ a reliance on $s{\bar{u}}tras$ of the Pure Land School. Then, their meaning in the modern world were interpreted. Next the research moved on to the next step to see how the spirit and ideas of the pure land are shown in temples of the Pure Land School. Korean temples of the Pure Land School were found to faithfully embody the landscapes of the pure land in the $Amit{\bar{a}}yurdhy{\bar{a}}na$ $S{\bar{u}}tra$. One might say that those landscape traits of the temples surveyed are common among all Korean buddhist temples, but in the temples of the Pure Land School. those traits consistently reflect special concepts, forming their landscape identity. But ponds, on which the $Amit{\bar{a}}yurdhy{\bar{a}}na$ $S{\bar{u}}tra$ and the picture of $Amit{\bar{a}}yurdhy{\bar{a}}na$ $S{\bar{u}}tra$ put huge emphasis and drawn without an exception, were hard to find among the temples surveyed. This means that previous idea that a pond was an indispensible part in the temples of the Pure Land School needs to be corrected.