• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.176-187
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• 2007

Buddhist paintings in the late Joseon dynasty are characterized by diversification and subdivision of subject matters. Buddhist paintings rapidly declined since 19th century, being miniaturized and showing complicated composition. Figures that identified the shape of shoes in Buddhist paintings of late Joseon dynasty included sacheonwang that were placed in the left and right bottom of Buddhist paintings, sinjung, gwiwang and pan-gwan of siwangtaeng. Sacheonwang, an Indian folk god, was depicted as a noble person in "ahamgyeong", an early sutra, but was depicted as an armored warrior in Mahayana Buddhism world. The style of shoes sacheonwang in Korea were different depending on the times. The shoes of the sacheonwang sculpture in Seogguram of Shilla dynasty are sandal type. The sacheonwang that was drawn on Jijangbosaldo in Goryeo dynasty wears non-showy armor and red yi(履). The sacheonwang that was expressed on Buddhist paintings in Joseon dynasty wears showy armor and decorated hwa. Comparing the yi of Goryeo Jijangbosaldo sacheonwang with the yi of Bodhisattva on the Dunhuang yeolbanbyeonsangdo, Jijangbosaldo sacheonwang's shoes are Korean style in which the sole is flat and the front part has no decoration, but in the shoes of Bodhisattva on the Dunhuang yeolbanbyeonsangdo the sole is not flat, the front part is lifted. The style of shoes of pan-gwan, who is depicted on Siwangtaeng, is hwa. However, unlike the decorative hwa of sacheonwang, its front is not lifted and it has no decoration. It is assumed that the shoes of sacheonwang or pan-gwan represented obangsaek based on the idea of eumyang-ohaeng. Depiction of shoes shown in Buddhist paintings reflected the phases of the social life. In addition, the sandals of Shilla sacheonwang implies that sourthern culture in addition to Buddhism was introduced. Having expressed the shoes of Goryeo sacheonwang with conventional yi implies that Buddhism governed the inner world of the people, and the shape and material of the shoes reveals aristocracy. It is assumed that that an armored warrior wore yi, not hwa implies that the then society was stable. Also, it is assumed that that the shoes of sacheonwang on Buddhist paintings in Joseon dynasty were hwa implies that the role of tutelary god was stressed in the disordered society.