• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.223-229
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• 2011

Buddha painting cultural properties couldn't avoid the change of colors and the exfoliation phenomenon by the characteristic of material and environmental factors. Especially, because in the beginning of the fine crack and the decoloration phenomenon on the surface of pigment would be significantly decrease stability of the whole object, it is necessary to take particular measure. Therefore, this is a study on conservation of Avalokitesvara in Potalaka in Hyeondeungsa in Gapyeong. It treated damaged parts of the object, carried out backing papers and matching colors. And then, it examined scientific analysis of pigments. Also, it performed nondestructive testing like XRF, FT-IR, and image microscope to investigate the quality of the material of hanji using the object and the component and characteristic of pigments. As a result, FT-IR spectrum matching Korean traditional paper(hanji) was detected in hanji of Avalokitesvara in Potalaka in Hyeondeungsa. The black pigment making a thin layer over the white pigment would estimate carbon compounds of unconfirmed ink stick or soot as XRF and FT-IR. Also, the white pigment was lead white($PbCO_3{\cdot}Pb(OH)_2$) involving Pb(Lead) and a carbonate. It was observed that the crystal of blue pigment had the different sizes of the particles from the microscope. In the case of this blue pigment, it showed cobalt blue and lead white was mixed when it used because both Cu and Pb were highly detected in XRF data.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.125-154
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• 2023

Historically, commerce was a significant factor in the proliferation and development of Buddhism, which is especially manifest in the cult of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Iconographic and textual evidence testifies that maritime trade on the Indian Ocean played a fundamental role in the formation of Avalokiteśvara worship. The sea was also a major conduit through which elements of the Avalokiteśvara faith were transmitted from India through China to Korea and Japan, the easternmost ends of the Silk Road. These elements include Avalokiteśvara's role as a maritime savior, oceanic symbolism, and the concept of the bodhisattva's worldly abode, Potalaka. Cultic sites dedicated to maritime safety were established at important transport hubs in East Asia. Due to China's strategic location on the Silk Road, as well as its cultural influence, the most important cultic sites were founded in China, first on the Shandong Peninsula, then in the southern Jiangnan region, in present-day Zhejiang Province. Especially notable is the role that Korean seafarers played in this process by assisting monks in search of the Dharma, establishing temples, and transmitting religious beliefs across the ocean. The present study focuses on the role that maritime figures played in the cultural exchanges between Korea, China, and Japan examined through Avalokiteśvara faith. By this, it aims to demonstrate how Korean seafarers inherited and continued the traditional relationship between commerce and Buddhism, while extending the Maritime Silk Road to the "East Asian Mediterranean."