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Buddhist Sculpture of Late Silla and Early Goryeo Period at Myeongju and the Gulsan School of Seon Buddhism (명주지역 나말여초 불교조각과 굴산선문)

  • Choe, Songeun
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.45 no.2
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    • pp.54-71
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    • 2012
  • This paper investigates Buddhist sculptures of the Gulsan-sa School of Seon Buddhism, which was established by the priest Beomil(梵日) at Myeongju(溟州), present-day Gangneung(江陵) area, and prospered until the late Goryeo period. There are very few surviving Buddhist images at Gulsan2 temple-site showing the Buddhist art when Beomil or his disciples, Gaecheong(開淸) and Haengjeok(行寂), were active, except a set of huge stone pillars for temple-banners and a stone monk stupa. It is therefore necessary to focus on pieces of artworks in Gangneung and nearby areas to explore the characteristics of Buddhist art of Gulsan-sa from the late Silla to early Goryeo period. For example, the stone relief seated Buddha image, one of Four Buddhas of Four Directions, and a stone relief of standing Guardian King both from the stone pagoda at Mujin temple-site(無盡寺址) can be compared with stupa reliefs at the capital Gyeongju area in their high quality of carving. The stone octagonal base showing seven lions on each of seven sides at Boheon-sa(普賢寺) demonstrates that it was made as a part of an octagonal lotus pedestal for a Vairocana Buddha now lost. Since Boheon-sa was erected by Gaechung, a disciple of Beomil as a branch of Gulsan-sa, it is fair to assume that the Vairocana image at Boheon-sa might have been closely related to the Buddhist images at Gulsan-sa in its style and iconography. The stone seated Bodhisattva from Hansong temple-site(寒松寺址) displays a benign face, exquisite necklace, and exotic iconography in its hand gesture and high cylindrical crown. The stone seated Buddha at Cheonghak-sa(靑鶴寺), brought from a temple-site where fragments of roof-tiles with the inscription of Heukam-sa(黑岩寺) were discovered, displays the late Silla and early Goryeo period. Heukam-sa seems to have been related to Gulsan-sa or have been one of the branches of Gulsan-sa. Extant fragments of artworks at Myeongju implicate the high quality of Buddhist art of Gulsan-sa in its iconography and style as well as unique features of Gulsan-sa Seon School.

The Landscape Meaning and Literary Group Culture Carved in Danguedae and Samgaeseokmun of Imshil (임실(任實) 단구대(丹丘臺)와 삼계석문(三溪石門)에 새긴 의미경관과 단구구로회(丹丘九老會)의 아회(雅會)문화)

  • Lee, Hyun-Woo;Lee, Jung-Han;Rho, Jae-Hyun
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.170-181
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    • 2011
  • This Research will explore the meaning indicated in the landscape meaning and feature of literary group culture, focusing in Gurujeong(九老亭: pavilion for nine elders) and Samgaeseokmun(三溪石門: stone gate in three valleys) located in Dundeok-myun, Imshil-gun, and will seek to understand the implications by studying the cultural landscape spread out in the area. The place where Gurojeong and Samgaeseokmun is located is the meeting point of the three valleys, Dunnam stream, Osu stream, and Yul stream, which is the main location to view the beautiful scenery, which has the nickname as the dwelling place of a celestial being. Especially, based on the description of old maps, "Samgae(three valleys)" and "Samgaeseokmun" possesses significance as a landmark and shows a characteristic feature of landscape structures of low hills. Dangugurohwe(丹丘九老會: nine elders gathering on the dwelling of a celestial being) originated from Hyangsangurohwe(香山九老會: gathering of nine elders on a fragrant mountain), where Baekgeoi(白居易) of China was one of the main people. This group was organized by nine elders over the age of 60 desiring to view the scenery of Doyeonmyeong. The group enhanced the literary spirit on the low hill, erecting a tower, and enjoying the beautiful scenery changing every season with scholars from the same region. This phenomenon seems to have been formed upon the positive response to gatherings of elders, which were prevalent in the Joseon Dynasty. If the internal idea pursued by the group was "longevity," the external idea pursued can be summarized as "the spirit the respect for the elders." Naming the groups as 'Dangudae(place where the celestial being lives), Guseondong(valley of seeking a celestial life), Bangjangsan(mountain of a high priest), and Daecheondae(place of communicating with God) was likely a device to introspect oneself and symbolize one's life process. Furthermore, the reason Samgaeseokmun, which is an imitation of Choi, Chiwon's work, was built near Soyocheo, was probably to yearn the celestial land and based on the desire to follow Choi, Chiwon, who was the most self-fulfilling being presumed to have become a celestial being by practicing the pursuit of freedom, escaping from the reality. After tracing the symbolizing meaning of the four letters carved in the left side of the stone wall of Dangudae, the conclusion that this place was not only a place for literary gatherings of the nine elders of Saseong(four families), but was a place where the celestial being dwelled could be inferred. Corresponding with Dangudae and Gurojeong, which are places where the order of human and nature is harmonized and where its meaning associated with the location intensifies, arouses strong bond, can be said to be the symbol of the traces of celestial beings where the spirits of attachment to a certain place is embedded. The acts performed in Dangugurohwe were those of traditional leisure including strolling, viewing the scenery, drinking, composing poems, and playing instruments, and sometimes listening to stories, tea ceremony, prayers, and fishing were added, which indicates that the gathering had a strong tendency towards pastoral and hermit life.

Study on Medical Records In ${\ulcorner}$the Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms${\lrcorner}$ ("삼국사기(三國史記)"에 기록된 의약내용(醫藥內容) 분석)

  • Shin, Soon-Shik;Choi, Hwan-Soo
    • Journal of The Association for Neo Medicine
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.35-54
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    • 1997
  • We tried to observe the features of ancient medical practice by analysing the records related to medicine in the book, ${\ulcorner}$the Historical Records of the Three Kingdom${\lrcorner}$ of which content includes the features of medicine in mythology, plague, delivery of twins, drugs, medical system, shamanism, constitutional medicine, psychiatry, forensic medicine, deformity, a spa, medical phrase, health and welfare work, religion, death. physiological anatomy, Taoist medicine, acupuncture, the occult af of transformation and etc. Our initial concern was about where to draw line as of medical field and we defined medicine in more broad meaning. The book ${\ulcorner}$the Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms${\lrcorner}$ describes the world of mythology by way of medicine which is not clearly a conventional one. There appears records of birth of multiple offsprings 7 times in which cases are of triplets or more. Delivering multiple offsprings were rare phenomenon though such fertility was highly admired. This shows one aspect of ancient country having more population meant more power of the nation. Of those medical records conveyed in that book includes stories of childbirth such as giving birth to a son after praying, giving birth to Kim Yoo-shin after 20 months after mother's dream of conception, and a song longing for getting a laudable child. Plagues were prevalent throughout winter to spring season and one can observe various symptoms of plagues in the record. Of these epidemic diseases, cold type might have been more common than the heat one. Appearance of epidemic diseases frequently coincided with that of natural disasters that this suggests a linkage between plague and underlying doctrine on five elements' motion and six kinds of natural factors. There exists only a few names of diseases such as epidemic disease, wind disease, and syndrome characterized by dyspnea. Otherwise there appeared only afflictions that were not specified therefore it remains cluless to keep track of certain diseases of prevalence. Since this ${\ulcorner}$Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms'${\lrcorner}$ wasn't any sort of medical book, words and terms used were not technical kind and most were the ones used generally among lay people. Therefore any mechanisms of the diseases were hardly mentioned. Some of medicinal substances such as Calculus Bovis, Radix Ginseng, Gaboderma Luciderm, magnetitum were also in use in those days. 53 kinds of dietary supplies appears in the records and some of these might have been used as medicinal purpose. Records concerning dicipline of one's body includes activities such as hunting, archery, horseback riding etc. In Shilla dynasty there were positions such as professor of medicine, Naekongbong(內供奉), Kongbong's doctor(供奉醫師), Kongbong's diviner(供奉卜師). As an educational facility, medical school was built at the first year of King Hyoso's reign and it's curricula included various subjects as ${\ulcorner}$Shin Nong's Herbal classic${\lrcorner}$, ${\ulcorner}$Kabeul classic of acupuncture and moxbustion${\lrcorner}$, ${\ulcorner}$The Plain Questions of the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine${\lrcorner}$, ${\ulcorner}$Classic of Acupuncturer${\lrcorner}$, ${\ulcorner}$The Pulse Classic${\lrcorner}$, ${\ulcorner}$Classic of Channels and Acupuncture Points${\lrcorner}$ and ${\ulcorner}$Difficult Classic${\lrcorner}$. There were 2 medical professors who were in charge of education. To establish pharmacopoeia, 2 Shaji(舍知), 6 Sha(史), 2 Jongshaji(從舍知) were appointed. In Baekje dynasty, Department of Herb was maintained. Doing praying for the sake of health, doing phrenology also can be extended to medical arena. Those who survived over 100 years of age appear 3 times in the record, while 98 appears once. The earliest psychiatrist Nokjin differentiated symptoms to apply either therapies using acupuncture and drug or psychotherapy. There appears a case of rape, a case of burying alive with the dead, 8 cases of suicide that can characterize a prototype of forensic medicine. Deformity-related records include phrases as follow: 'there seems protrudent bone behind the head', 'a body which has two heads, two trunks, four arms.', 'a body equipped with two heads' In those times spa can be said to be used as a place for he리ing, convalescence, and relaxation seeing the records describing a person pretended illness and went to spa to enjoy with his friends. Priest doctors and millitary surgeons were in charge of the medical sevice in the period of the Three Kingdoms by the record written by Mookhoja(墨胡子) and Hoonkyeom(訓謙). Poor diet and regimen makes people more vulnerable to diseases. So there existed charity services for those poor people who couldn't live with one's own capacity such as single parents, orphans, the aged people no one to take care and those who are ill. The cause of affliction was frequently coined with human relation. There appeared the phenomenon of releasing prisoners and allowing people to become priests at the time of king's suffering. Besides, as a healing procedure, sutra-chanting was peformed. There appears 10 cases of death related records which varies from death by drowning, or by freezing, death from animals, death from war, death from wightloss and killing oneself at the moment of spouse's death and etc. There also exist certain records which suggest the knowledge of physiology and anatomy in those times. Since the taoist books such as ${\ulcorner}$Book of the Way and Its Power(老子道德經)${\lrcorner}$ were introduced in the period of Three Kingdoms, it can be considered that medicine was also influenced by taoism. Records of higher level of acupuncture, records which links the medicine and occult art of transformation existed. Although limited, we could figure out the medical state of ancient society.

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A Study on the Wooden Seated Vairocana Tri-kaya Buddha Images in the Daeungjeon Hall of Hwaeomsa Temple (화엄사 대웅전 목조비로자나삼신 불좌상에 대한 고찰)

  • Choe, Songeun
    • MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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    • v.100
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    • pp.140-170
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    • 2021
  • This paper investigates the Wooden Seated Tri-kaya Buddha Images(三身佛像) of Vairocana, Rushana, and Sakyamuni enshrined in Daeungjeon Hall of Hwaeomsa temple(華嚴寺) in Gurae, South Cheolla Province. They were produced in 1634 CE and placed in 1635 CE, about forty years after original images made in the Goryeo period were destroyed by the Japanese army during the war. The reconstruction of Hwaeomsa was conducted by Gakseong, one of the leading monks of Joseon Dynasty in the 17th century, who also conducted the reconstructions of many Buddhist temples after the war. In 2015, a prayer text (dated 1635) concerning the production of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images was found in the repository within Sakyamuni Buddha. It lists the names of participants, including royal family members (i.e., prince Yi Guang, the eighth son of King Seon-jo), and their relatives (i.e., Sin Ik-seong, son-in-law of King Seonjo), court ladies, monk-sculptors, and large numbers of monks and laymen Buddhists. A prayer text (dated 1634) listing the names of monk-sculptors written on the wooden panel inside the pedestal of Rushana Buddha was also found. A recent investigation into the repository within Rushana Buddha in 2020 CE has revealed a prayer text listing participants producing these images, similar to the former one from Sakyamuni Buddha, together with sacred relics of hoo-ryeong-tong copper bottle and a large quantity of Sutra books. These new materials opened a way to understand Hwaeomsa Trikaya images, including who made them and when they were made. The two above-mentioned prayer texts from the repository of Sakyamuni and Rushana Buddha statues, and the wooden panel inside the pedestal of Rushan Buddha tell us that eighteen monk-sculptors, including Eungwon, Cheongheon and Ingyun, who were well-known monk artisans of the 17th century, took part in the construction of these images. As a matter of fact, Cheongheon belonged to a different workshop from Eungwon and Ingyun, who were most likely teacher and disciple or senior and junior colleagues, which means that the production of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images was a collaboration between sculptors from two workshops. Eungwon and Ingyun seem to have belonged to the same community studying under the great Buddhist priest Seonsu, the teacher of Monk Gakseong who was in charge of the reconstruction of Haweonsa temple. Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images show a big head, a squarish face with plump cheeks, narrow and drooping shoulders, and a short waist, which depict significant differences in body proportion to those of other Buddha statues of the first half of 17th century, which typically have wide shoulders and long waists. The body proportion shown in the Hwaeomsa images could be linked with images of late Goryeo and early Joseon period. Rushana Buddha, raising his two arms in a preaching hand gesture and wearing a crown and bracelets, shows unique iconography of the Bodhisattva form. This iconography of Rushana Buddha had appeared in a few Sutra paintings of Northern Song and Late Goryeo period of 13th and 14th century. BodhaSri-mudra of Vairocana Buddha, unlike the general type of BodhaSri-mudra that shows the right hand holding the left index finger, places his right hand upon the left hand in a fist. It is similar to that of Vairocana images of Northern and Southern Song, whose left hand is placed on the top of right hand in a fist. This type of mudra was most likely introduced during the Goryeo period. The dried lacquer Seated Vairocana image of Bulheosa Temple in Naju is datable to late Goryeo period, and exhibits similar forms of the mudra. Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images also show new iconographic aspects, as well as traditional stylistic and iconographic features. The earth-touching (bhumisparsa) mudra of Sakymuni Buddha, putting his left thumb close to the middle finger, as if to make a preaching mudra, can be regarded as a new aspect that was influenced by the Sutra illustrations of the Ming dynasty, which were imported by the royal court of Joseon dynasty and most likely had an impact on Joseon Buddhist art from the 15th and 16th centuries. Stylistic and iconographical features of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images indicate that the traditional aspects of Goryeo period and new iconography of Joseon period are rendered together, side by side, in these sculptures. The coexistence of old and new aspects in one set of images could indicate that monk sculptors tried to find a new way to produce Hwaeomsa images based on the old traditional style of Goryeo period when the original Tri-kaya Buddha images were made, although some new iconography popular in Joseon period was also employed in the images. It is also probable that monk sculptors of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images intended to reconstruct these images following the original images of Goryeo period, which was recollected by surviving monks at Hwaeomsa, who had witnessed the original Tri-kaya Buddha images.

Sovereignty and Wine Vessels: The Feast Culture of the Goryeo Court and the Symbolic Meaning of Celadon Wine Vessels (고려 왕실의 연례 문화와 청자 주기(酒器)의 상징적 의미: 왕권과 주기(酒器))

  • Kim Yun-jeong
    • MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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    • v.104
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    • pp.40-69
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    • 2023
  • This paper examines the relationship between celadon wine vessels and royal banquets by focusing on their unique forms. It explores the symbolism in their forms and designs and the changes that took place in the composition of these vessels. By examining the royal annals in Goryeosa (The History of the Goryeo Dynasty), the relation of celadon wine vessels and royal banquets is examined in terms of the number of banquets held in the respective reigns of the Goryeo kings, the number of banquets held by type, and the purpose of holding them. A royal banquet was a means of strengthening the royal authority by reinforcing the hierarchy and building bonds between the king and his vassals. It was also an act of ruling that demonstrated the king's authority and power through praise of his achievements and virtues. Royal banquets were held most often during the reigns of King Yejong (r. 1105-1122), King Uijong (r. 1146-1170), King Chungnyeol (r. 1274-1308), and King Gongmin (r. 1351-1374). Particular attention is paid here to the changes in the types and forms of celadon wine vessels that occurred starting in the reigns of King Yejong and King Chungnyeol, which is also the period in which the number of royal banquets increased and royal banquet culture evolved. The king and his subjects prayed for the king's longevity at royal banquets and celebrated peaceful reigns by drinking and performing various related acts. Thus, the visual symbolism of vessels for holding, pouring, or receiving alcohol were emphasized. Since the manner of drinking at a banquet was exchanges of pouring and receiving alcohol between the king and his subjects, the design of the ewers and cups had a significant visual impact on attendees. It can be seen, therefore, that decorating wine vessels with Daoist motifs such as the immortals, luan (a mythological bird), turtle dragons, fish dragons, and gourd bottles or with Confucian designs like hibiscus roots was intended as a visual manifestation of the purpose of royal banquets, which was to celebrate the king and to pray for both loyalty and immortality. In particular, the Peach Offering Dance (獻仙桃) and Music for Returning to the Royal Palace (還宮樂), which correspond to the form and design of celadon wine vessels, was examined. The lyrics of the banquet music embodied wishes for the king's longevity, immortality, and eternal youth as well as for the prosperity of the royal court and a peaceful reign. These words are reflected in wine vessels such as the Celadon Taoist Figure-shaped Pitcher housed in the National Museum of Korea and the Bird Shaped Ewer with Daoist Priest in the Art Institute of Chicago. It is important to note that only Goryeo celadon wine vessels reflect this facet of royal banquet culture in their shape and design. The composition of wine vessel sets changed depending on the theme of the banquet and the types of liquor. After Goryeo Korea was incorporated into the Mongol Empire, new alcoholic beverages were introduced, resulting in changes in banquet culture such as the uses and composition of wine vessel sets. From the reign of King Chungnyeol (r. 1274-1308), which was under the authority of the Yuan imperial court, royal banquets began to be co-hosted by kings and princesses, Mongolian-style banquets like boerzhayan (孛兒扎宴) were held, and attendees donned the tall headdress called gugu worn by Mongol women. During the reign of King Chungnyeol, the banquet culture changed 132 banquets were held. This implies that the court tried to strengthen its authority by royal marriage with the Yuan court, which augmented the number of banquets. At these banquets, new alcoholic drinks were introduced such as grape wine, dongnak (湩酪), and distilled liquor. New wine vessels included stem cups, pear-shaped bottles (yuhuchunping), yi (匜), and cups with a dragon head. The new celadon wine vessels were all modeled after metal wares that were used in the Yuan court or in the Khanates. The changes in the celadon wine vessels of the late Goryeo era were examined here in a more specific manner than in previous studies by expanding the samples for the study to the Eurasian khanates. With the influx of new types of wine vessels, it was natural for the sets and uses of Goryeo celadon wine vessels to change in response. The new styles of celadon wine vessels linked the Goryeo court with the distant Khanates of the Mongol Empire. This paper is the beginning of a new study that examines the uses of Goryeo celadon by illuminating the relations between royal banquets and these unique celadon wine vessels that are stylistically different from everyday vessels. It is to be hoped that more studies will be conducted from diverse perspectives exploring both the usage of Goryeo celadon vessels and their users.

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