Interpretation and Meaning of Celadon Inlaid with Sanskrit Mantras in the late Goryeo Dynasty (고려 후기 범자 진언명 상감청자의 해석과 의미)
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- MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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- v.104
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- pp.70-100
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- 2023
The celadon made in the Goryeo era, a time when Buddhism was flourishing in Korea, naturally contains many elements of Buddhist culture. Among them, inlaid celadon with Sanskrit inscriptions bears a close relationship with esoteric Buddhism. However, the research on deciphering the Sanskrit inscriptions has made little progress due to the small number of extant examples. However, the four recent excavations at the No. 23 kiln site in Sadang-ri, Gangjin have yielded new materials that allow the existing materials to be categorized into several types. The results obtained through the reading and interpretation of the inscriptions are as follows: First, the Sanskrit characters inlaid on the celadon were parts of mantras. Inscriptions where only one character is apparent cannot be deciphered, but scholars have revealed that others are written in the manner of a wheel mantra represent the "Mantra for Purifying the Dharma-Realm," "Six-Syllable Mantra of the Vidyaraja," "Sweet Dew Mantra," "Jewel Pavilion Mantra," "Mantra of the Savior Bodhisattva," "Dharani of the Mind of the Budha of Infinite Life," and "Mantra for Extinguishing Evil Rebirth." Each mantra was written in Siddham script. Second, they are believed to have been produced during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries based on the arrangement of the inscriptions and the way the "Sweet Dew Mantra" is included in the "40 Hands Mantra." In particular, the celadon pieces with a mantra inlaid in a concentric manner are dated to the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries based on their production characteristics. Third, the interpretation of the inlaid mantras suggests that they all refer to the "Shattering Hell" and "Rebirth in the Pure Land." Based on this, it can be concluded that some of these inlaid celadon wares with mantras may have been used in Buddhist rituals for the dead, such as the ritual for feeding hungry ghosts (施餓鬼會). Also, because the Sadang-ri No. 23 kiln site and the "ga" area of the site are believed to have produced royal celadon, it is likely that these rituals were performed at the royal court or a temple under its influence. Fourth, this inlaid Goryeo celadon with Sanskrit mantras was not a direct influence of the ceramics of Yuan China. It emerged by adopting Yuan Chinese Buddhist culture, which was influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, into Goryeo Korea's existing esoteric practices. Fifth, the celadon wares inlaid with a Sanskrit mantra reveal a facet of the personal esoteric rituals that prevailed in late Goryeo society. Changes in esotericism triggered by the desire for relief from anxieties can be exemplified in epitaph tablets and coffins that express a shared desire for escaping hell and being born again in paradise. Sixth, the inlaid celadon with Sanskrit mantras shares some common features with other crafts. The similarities include the use of Siddham Sanskrit, the focus on Six-Syllable Mantra of the Vidyaraja, the correspondence with the contents of the mantras found on Buddhist bells, wooden coffins, and memorial tablets, and their arraignment in a similar manner with rooftiles. The major difference between them is that the Mantra for Extinguishing Evil Rebirth and the Sweet Dew Manta have not yet been found on other craftworks. I believe that the inscriptions of Sanskrit mantras are found mainly on inlaid celadon vessels due to their relatively low production cost and efficiency.
Purpose In nuclear medicine examination,
Khori(高麗) refers to the Chaabog(reindeer) that live on lichens(蘚) on Mt. Soyon(鮮) in which pastures are the cold and dry plateau of North Eurasia. Thus, the origin region of the Khori or Koguryo that are the ancestors of the reindeer-herding pastoral nomads(馴鹿 遊牧民) can be said to be the Steppe-Taiga-Tundra pastoral areas of North Eurasia and North America. When the pastoral nomads moved on to the great mountain(大山) zone of the Jangbaek(長白) to the Baekdu(白頭) Mountains, they could have been in contact with pastoral farmers or agricultural farmers living there and they became the farmers remaining on agricultural farms. They were the Koryo people, the ancestors of Korea. Staying in one place, they gradually forgot the origin of their reindeer-herding pastoral nomadic history in the Northwest area of Mt. Soyon, the small mountain(小山) zone of the Steppe-Taiga-Tundra pastoral areas. In other words, they lost their identity as reindeer-herding pastoral nomads when they entered the agricultural area after leaving the pastoral area. However, since their basic genes had already formed when they lived on the cold and dry plateau of North Eurasia, it is possible to study their pastoral nomadic history focusing on 'the minority living in the broad area(廣域少數)', by utilizing highly advanced biotechnological science and focusing on genes and information technology innovation, and removing various past hindrances in research. Therefore, it is not so difficult to restore the reindeerherding pastoral nomadic history of the Koguryo(高句麗) people and secure their pastoral nomadic identity, of which the first steps have already been taken into their historical stages. The Eurasian continent and the Korean peninsula, especially the cold and dry plateau of North Eurasia and the Korean peninsula have been closely related to each other ecologically and historically. They can never be a separate space at all. The Eurasian continent lies horizontally east to west and thus, the continent forms an isothermal zone. Also, since the time of producing their own foods, it was relatively easy for people with their technology to move to other places owing to the pastoral nomadic characteristic of mobility. Unlike the Chungyen(中原) region, western Asia and the regions covering the Siberia-Manchu-Korean peninsula where food production revolution was first made were connected to the Mongolian lichens route(蘚苔之路: Ni, ukinii jam) and steppe roads. Although the ecological conditions of nature have changed a bit throughout a long history, it was natural for the many tribes in North Asia living on the largest Steppe-Taiga-Tundra area in the world to have believed 'the legends related to animals in relation to their founders and ancestors(獸祖傳說)'. Assuming that Siberian tigers and the tigers living on Mt. Baekdu were connected ecologically and genetically because of the ecological characteristics of the animals, and their migration from plateau to plateau, we would suspect that the Chosun(朝鮮) tribe living on Mt. Baekdu were ethnically and culturally more closely connected to the farther removed Ural-Altai tribes that lived on the cold and dry plateau region than to the Han(i14;) tribe who lived in Chungyen(中原) that was close to Mt. Baekdu. More evidence is the structure of the Korean language which has the form of 'Subject + Object + Verb', which is assumed to have originated from the speedy lifestyle of the reindeer-herding pastoral nomads. The structure is quite different from that of the Han(漢) language, which is based on agricultural life. Also, it is natural for reindeer riding reindeerherding pastoral nomads or horse-riding sheep-herding pastoral nomads(騎馬, 羊遊牧民) to have held military and political power over the region and eventually to have established an ancient pastoral nomadic empire in the process of their conquest of agricultural regions. The stages for founding global empires in the history of mankind maybe largely divided into two, in terms of ecological conditions and occupations. They are the steppes and the oceans. Of course, the steppe-based empires were established based on the skills to deal with horses and the ability to shoot arrows while riding horses, along with the use of iron ware in the 8th century BC. The steppe-based empires became the foundation for an oceanic empire, which could have been established by the use of warships and warship guns since the 15th Century. Based on those facts, we know that Chosun, Puyo(夫餘), and Koguryo are the products of a developmental process of pastoral nomadic empires on the steppes. Maybe we can easily find the pastoral nomadic identity of the Koguryo more than we expected when we trace the origins and history of the Korean tribe living in the pastures located in the northwest area of Mt. Jangbaek by focusing on pastoral nomadic mobility and organization just as we have investigated the historic origins of Anglo-Saxons in America by focusing on the times before the 15th Century. In the process, we should keep in mind that English culture originated from the Industrial Revolution and was directly delivered to the American continent, although America was far from England and was not an intermediate point on long sojourns either. Further, American culture came back to England in a more advanced form later. The most important thing currently to be resolved is to cause Koreans to look back on their own history in a freer way of thinking and with diverse, profound, and sharp insight, taking away the old and existing conventional recognition that is entangled with complicated interests with Korean people and other countries. The meanings of Chosun, Khori, and Solongos have been interpreted arbitrarily without any historic evidence by the scholars who followed conventional tradition of fixed-minded aristocrats in an agricultural society. If the Siberian cultural properties of the stone age, the earthenware age, the bronze age, and the iron age are analyzed in such a way, archaeological discovery will never be able to contribute to the restoration of the Koguryo's pastoral nomadic identity. One should transcend the errors that tend to interpret the cultural properties discovered in the pastoral nomadic regions as not being differentiated from those of agricultural regions and just interpret them altogether from the agricultural point of view. A more careful intention is required in the interpretation of cultural properties of ancient Korean empires that seem to have been formed due to mutual interactions of pastoral nomadic and agricultural cultures. Also, it is required that the conventional recognition chain of 'reverse-genes' be severed, which has placed more weight on agricultural properties than pastoral nomadic ones, since their settlement on agricultural farms was made after the establishment of their ancient pastoral nomadic empires. There is no reason at all to place priority on stoneware, earthenware, bronze ware, and iron ware than on wooden ware(木器) and other ware which were made of animal skins(皮器), bones and horns(骨角器), in analyzing the history in the regions of reindeer or sheep pastures. Reading ancient Korean history from the perspective of pastoral nomadic history, one feels strongly the instinctive emotions to return to the natural 'mother place'. The reindeer-herding pastoral nomadic identity of the Koguryo people that has been accumulated in volumes in their genes and hidden deep inside and have interacted organically could be reborn with Burqanism(Burqan refers to 不咸 in Chinese), which was their religion by birth and symbolized as the red willow(紅柳=不咸). The mother place of the Koguryo's people is the endless vast green pastures of North Eurasia and North America, where we anticipated the development of Korean livestock farming following the inherent properties in the genes of the reindeer-herding pastoral nomads with Korean ancestors. We anticipate that the place would be the core resource that could contribute to the development of life of living creatures following the inherent properties of their genes and biotechnological factors. In other words, biotechnology used for a search for clues on the well-being of humans could be the fruit brought by Burqanism of the Koguryo people and the fruit of the globalization of Korean livestock farming. It is the Chosun farmer in China come from the vast nomadic reindeer pastures of North Eurasia that resolved the food problem of a billion Chinese people with lowland paddy rice seeds (水稻) by transforming Heilongjiang Province(黑龍江省) into an oceanic lowland paddy rice field(水田). Even Mao Tse-tung(毛擇東) could not resolve the food problem by his revolution campaigns for tens of years. Today is the very time that requires the development of special livestock farming following the inherent properties of the ancient Korean reindeer-herding pastoral nomads that respected the dignity of life on the cold and dry plateau of North Eurasia and the America continent. I suggest that research should be started from the pastures of the Dariganga Steppe in East Mongolia that was the homeland of Hanwoo(韓牛) and the central horse-herding steppe place(牧馬場) of Chingis Khan's Mongolia. The Dariganga Steppe is awash with an affluent natural environment for pastoral nomadic living however, the quality of life of the pastoral nomads there is still low. I suggest we Koreans, the descendents of the Koguryo, should take our first steps for our livestock farming business project and develop the Northern nomadic pastures, here at the pastures of the Dariganga Steppe, which is the Mongolian core place of state-of-the-art technology for military weapons.
Myogilsang on Diamond Mountain, signed and dated (2000) by Seon-u Yeong (1946-2009), is the first work by a North Korean artist to enter the collection of the National Museum of Korea (fig. 1a). The donor acquired the painting directly from the artist in Pyeongyang in 2006. In consequence, there are no issues with the painting's authenticity.This painting is the largest among all existing Korean paintings, whether contemporary or from the Joseon Dynasty, to depict this iconography (see chart 1. A Chronological List of Korean Myogilsang Paintings.) It is ink and color on paper, measures 130.2 × 56.2 centimeters, and is in a hanging scroll format. Since this essay is intended as a brief introduction of the painting and not in-depth research into it, I will simply examine the following four areas: 1. Seon-u Yeong's background; 2. The location and the traditional appellation of the rock-cut image known as Myogilsang; 3. The iconography of the image; and 4) A comparative analysis of Seon-u Yeong's painting in light of other paintings on the same theme. Finally, I will present two more of his works to broaden the understanding of Seon-u Yeong as a painter. 1. Seon-u Yeong: According to the donor, who met Seon-u at his workshop in the Cheollima Jejakso (Flying Horse Workshop) three years before the artist's death, he was an individual of few words but displayed a firm commitment to art. His preference for subjects such as Korean landscapes rather than motifs of socialist realism such as revolutionary leaders is demonstrated by the fact that, relative to his North Korean contemporaries, he seems to have produced more paintings of the former. In recent years, Seon-u Yeong has been well publicized in Korea through three special exhibitions (2012 through 2019). He graduated from Pyeongyang College of Fine Arts in 1969 and joined the Central Fine Arts Production Workshop focusing on oil painting. In 1973 he entered the Joseon Painting Production Workshop and began creating traditional Korean paintings in ink and color. His paintings are characterized by intense colors and fine details. The fact that his mother was an accomplished embroidery specialist may have influenced on Seon-u's choice to use intense colors in his paintings. By 1992, he had become a painter representing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with several titles such as Artist of Merit, People's Artist, and more. About 60 of his paintings have been designated as National Treasures of the DPRK. 2. The Myogilsang rock-cut image is located in the Manpok-dong Valley in the inner Geumgangsan Mountain area. It is a high-relief image about 15 meters tall cut into a niche under 40 meters of a rock cliff. It is the largest of all the rock-cut images of the Goryeo period. This image is often known as "Mahayeon Myogilsang," Mahayeon (Mahayana) being the name of a small temple deep in the Manpokdong Valley (See fig. 3a & 3b). On the right side of the image, there is an intaglio inscription of three Chinese characters by the famous scholar-official and calligrapher Yun Sa-guk (1728-1709) reading "妙吉祥"myogilsang (fig. 4a, 4b). 3. The iconography: "Myogilsang" is another name for the Bhodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The Chinese pronunciation of Myogilsang is "miaojixiang," which is similar in pronunciation to Mañjuśrī. Therefore, we can suggest a 妙吉祥 ↔ Mañjuśrī formula for the translation and transliteration of the term. Even though the image was given a traditional name, the mudra presented by the two hands in the image calls for a closer examination. They show the making of a circle by joining the thumb with the ring finger (fig. 6). If the left land pointed downward, this mudra would conventionally be considered "lower class: lower life," one of the nine mudras of the Amitabha. However, in this image the left hand is placed across its abdomen at an almost 90-degree angle to the right hand (fig. 6). This can be interpreted as a combination of the "fear not" and the "preaching" mudras (see note 10, D. Saunders). I was also advised by the noted Buddhist art specialist Professor Kim Jeong-heui (of Won'gwang University) to presume that this is the "preaching" mudra. Therefore, I have tentatively concluded that this Myogilsang is an image of the Shakyamuni offering the preaching mudra. There is no such combination of hand gestures in any other Goryeo-period images. The closest I could identify is the Beopjusa Rock-cut Buddha (fig. 7) from around the same time. 4. Comparative analysis: As seen in
A costume reveals the social characteristics of the era in which it is worn, thus we can say that the history of change of the costume is the history of change of the living culture of the era. Since the Three States era, the costume structure of this country had been affected by the costume system of the China's historical dynasties in the form of the grant therefrom because of geographical conditions, which affection was conspicuous for the bureaucrat class, particularly including but not limited to the Kings' familities. Such a grant of the costume for the bureaucrat class (i.e., official uniform) was first given by the Dang-dynasty at the age of Queen Jinduck, the 28th of the Shilla-dynasty. Since then, the costume for the bureaucrats had consecutively been affected as the ages had gone from the unified Shilla, to the Koryo and to the Yi-dynasty. As the full costumes officially used by government officials (generally called "Baek Gwan") in the Yidynasty, there existed Jo-bok, Gong-bok and Sang-bok. Of such official costumes, Gong-bok was worn at the time of conducting official affairs of the dynasty, making a respectful visit for the expression of thanks or meeting diplomatic missions of foreign countries. It appears no study was made yet with regard to the Gong-bok while the studies on the Jo-bok and the Sangbok were made. Therefore, this article is, by rendering a study and research on the styles of costumes of civil servants' stone images erected at the Kings' tombs of the Yi-dynasty, to help the persons concerned understand the Gong-bok, one of the official costume for Baek Kwan of that age and further purports to specifically identify the styles and changes of the Gong-bok, worn by Baek Gwan during the Yi-dynasty, consisting of the Bok-doo (a hat, four angled and two storied with flat top), Po (gown), Dae (belt), and Hol (small and thin plate which was officially held by the government officials in hand, showing the courtesy to and writing brief memorandums before the King) and Hwa (shoes). For that purpose, I investigated by actually visiting the tombs of the Kings of the Yi-dynasty including the Geonwon-neung, the tomb of the first King Tae-jo and the You-neung, the tomb of the 27th King Soon-jong as well as the tombs of the lawful wives and concubines of various Kings, totalling 29 tombs and made reference to relevant books and records. Pursuant. to this study, of the 29 Kings' tombs the costume styles of civil servants' stone images erected at the 26 Kings' tombs are those of Gong-bok for Baek-gwan of the Yi-dynasty wearing Bok-doo as a hat and Ban-ryeong or Dan-ryenog Po as a gown with Dae, holding Hol in hand and wearing shoes. Other than those of the 26 tombs, the costume styles of the Ryu-neung, the tomb of the Moon-jo who was the first son of 23rd King Soon-jo and given the King's title after he died and of the You-neung, the tomb of the 27th King Soon-jong are those of Jobok with Yang-gwan (a sort of hat having stripes erected, which is different from the Bok-doo), and that of the Hong-neung, the tomb of the 26th King Go-jong shows an exceptional one wearing Yang-gwan and Ban-ryeong Po ; these costume styles other than Gongbok remain as the subject for further study. Gong-bok which is the costume style of civil servants' stone images of most of the Kings' tombs had not been changed in its basic structure for about 500 years of the Yi-dynasty and Koryo categorized by the class of officials pursuant to the color of Po and materials of Dae and Hol. Summary of this costume style follows: (1) Gwan-mo (hat). The Gwan-mo style of civil servants' stone images of the 26 Kings' tombs, other than Ryu-neung, Hong-neung and You-neung which have Yang-gwan, out of the 29 Kings' tombs of the Yi-dynasty reveals the Bok-doo with four angled top, having fore-part and back-part divided. Back part of the Bok-doo is double the fore-part in height. The expression of the Gak (wings of the Bokdoo) varies: the Gyo-gak Bok-doo in that the Gaks, roundly arisen to the direction of the top, are clossed each other (tombs of the Kings Tae-jong), the downward style Jeon-gak Bok-doo in that soft Gaks are hanged on the shoulders (tombs of the Kings Joong-jong and Seong-jong) and another types of Jeon-gak Bok-doo having Gaks which arearisen steeply or roundly to the direction of top and the end of which are treated in a rounded or straight line form. At the lower edge one protrusive line distinctly reveals. Exceptionally, there reveals 11 Yang-gwan (gwan having 11 stripes erected) at the Ryu-neung of the King Moon-jo, 9 Yang-gwan at the Hong-neung of the King Go-jong and 11 Yang-gwan at the You-neung of the King Soon-jong; noting that the Yang-gwan of Baek Kwan, granted by the Myeong-dynasty of the China during the Yi-dynasty, was in the shape of 5 Yang-gwan for the first Poom (class) based on the principle of "Yideung Chaegang" (gradual degrading for secondary level), the above-mentioned Yang-gwans are very contrary to the principle and I do not touch such issue in this study, leaving for further study. (2) Po (gown). (a) Git (collar). Collar style of Po was the Ban-ryeong (round collar) having small neck-line in the early stage and was changed to the Dan-ryeong (round collar having deep neck-line) in the middle of the: dynasty. In the Dan-ryeong style of the middle era (shown at the tomb of the King Young-jo); a, thin line such as bias is shown around the internal side edge and the width of collar became wide a little. It is particularly noted that the Ryu-neung established in the middle stage and the You-neung in the later stage show civil servants in Jo-bok with the the Jikryeong (straight collar) Po and in case of the Hong-neung, the Hong-neung, the tomb of the King Go-jong, civil servants, although they wear Yang-gwan, are in the Ban-ryeong Po with Hoo-soo (back embroidery) and Dae and wear shoes as used in the Jo-bok style. As I could not make clear the theoretical basis of why the civil servants' costume styles revealed, at these tombs of the Kings are different from those of other tombs, I left this issue for further study. It is also noted that all the civil servants' stone images show the shape of triangled collar which is revealed over the Godae-git of Po. This triangled collar, I believe, would be the collar of the Cheomri which was worn in the middle of the Po and the underwear, (b) Sleeve. The sleeve was in the Gwan-soo (wide sleeve) style. having the width of over 100 centimeter from the early stage to the later stage arid in the Doo-ri sleeve style having the edge slightly rounded and we can recognize that it was the long sleeve in view of block fold shaped protrusive line, expressed on the arms. At the age of the King Young-jo, the sleeve-end became slightly narrow and as a result, the lower line of the sleeve were shaped curved. We can see another shape of narrow sleeve inside the wide sleeve-end, which should be the sleeve of the Cheom-ri worn under the Gong-bok. (c) Moo. The Moo revealed on the Po of civil servants' stone images at the age of the King Sook-jong' coming to the middle era. Initially the top of the Moo was expressed flat but the Moo was gradually changed to the triangled shape with the acute top. In certain cases, top or lower part of the Moo are not reveald because of wear and tear. (d) Yeomim. Yeomim (folding) of the Po was first expressed on civil servants' stone images of the Won-neung, the tomb of the King Young-jo and we can seemore delicate expression of the Yeomim and Goreum (stripe folding and fixing the lapel of the Po) at the tomb of the Jeongseong-wanghoo, the wife of the King Young-jo, At the age of the King Soon-jo, we can see the shape of Goreum similar to a string rather than the Goreum and the upper part of the Goreum which fixes Yeomim was expressed on the right sleeve. (3) Dae. Dae fixed on the Po was placed half of the length of Po from the shoulders in the early stage. Thereafter, at the age of the King Hyeon-jong it was shown on the slightly upper part. placed around one third of the length of Po. With regard to the design of Dae, all the civil servants' stone images of the Kings' tombs other than those of the Geonwon-neung of the King Tae-jo show single or double protrusive line expressed at the edge of Dae and in the middle of such lines, cloud pattern, dangcho (a grass) pattern, chrysanthemum pattern or other various types of flowery patterns were designed. Remaining portion of the waist Dae was hanged up on the back, which was initially expressed as directed from the left to the right but thereafter expressed. without orderly fashion,. to the direction of the left from the right and vice versa, Dae was in the shape of Yaja Dae. In this regard, an issue of when or where such a disorderly fashion of the direction of the remaining portion of waist Dae was originated is also presented to be clarified. In case of the Ryuneung, Hong-neung and You-neung which have civil servants' stone images wearing exceptional costume (Jo-bok), waist Dae of the Ryu-neung and Hong-neung are designed in the mixture of dual cranes pattern, cosecutive beaded pattern and chrvsenthemum pattern and that of You-neung is designed in cloud pattern. (4) Hol. Although materials of the Hol held in hand of civil servants' stone images are not identifiable, those should be the ivory Hol as all the Baek Gwan's erected as stone images should be high class officials. In the styles, no significant changes were found, however the Hol's expressed on civil servants' stone images of the Yi-dynasty were shaped in round top and angled bottom or round top and bottom. Parcicularly, at the age of the King Young-jo the Hol was expressed in the peculiar type with four angles all cut off. (5) Hwa (shoes). As the shoes expressed on civil servants' stone images are covered with the lower edges of the Po, the styles thereof are not exactly identifiable. However, reading the statement "black leather shoes for the first class (1 Poom) to ninth class (9 Poom)," recorded in the Gyeongkook Daejon, we can believe that the shoes were worn. As the age went on, the front tips of the shoes were soared and particularly, at the Hong-neung of the King Go-jong the shoes were obviously expressed with modern sense as the country were civilized.