| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 藝術史研究所 === 100 === The purpose of this thesis is to re-evaluate the Korean Buddhist paintings of the Goryeo period (918-1392) in a wider context, by examining the characteristics of the East Asian Buddhist Painting in the Twelfth to Fourteenth centuries, focusing on the Amitabha Painting. This thesis is composed of three chapters, and the subjects of each chapter are as follows.
Chapter 1 deals with ‘The Stylistic Analysis of the Chinese and Korean Buddhist paintings in the Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries’. It has been known that there are approximately 150 Goryeo Buddhist paintings around the world, but the author found out 192 figures and another 9 records from the published catalogs.
Ever since Jun’ichi Kikutake (菊竹淳一) and Woo-thak Chung (鄭于澤) had published their own research work, the style of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings are categorized by two criteria, i.e. production year and the expression ways. According to one criterion based on the years of production, it is classified into early ‘Naturalism style’ and the late ‘Formalism style’. On the other hands, the second criterion is set by the expression ways and according to this criterion it is categorized into three types: ‘Royal court style’, ‘Temple style’ and ‘Folk style’.
However, it is hard to analyze the style of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings definitely in accordance with the categories mentioned above, because the earliest work of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings having an inscription is dated 1286. And since all the existing Goryeo Buddhist paintings have been dated to the late Goryeo Dynasty, the two-step periodization, that is to say former and latter, is also fairly ambiguous. In other words, in case of Goryeo Buddhist paintings listed in chronological order, there exist considerable uncertainties. Furthermore, due to the fact that only a few works have inscriptions or records, it is reasonable to consider that many works represent diverse features of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings at the time instead of confirming a work to belong to certain category.
In this chapter, the ‘Style’ of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings has been considered in various aspects, including ‘The composition of the tableau’; ‘The appearance of the deity’; ‘The body proportions and posture of the sacred image’: ‘The pattern on the clothes; ‘The design of the ornaments’ and ‘The background landscape’ and so on. Through detailed inductive reasoning of the massive Chinese and Korean Buddhist Painting materials, the author proposes the criteria for classification of Goryeo Buddhist Painting, focusing on the elaborate-style color painting, namely, the ‘Typical Goryeo Style’.
The ‘Typical Goryeo Style’ can be divided into two categories: the first is the composition format which combines many significantly different elements from Song and Yuan Buddhist works; the second is some shapes and elaborate descriptions of detailed features which are common in the Goryeo Buddhist paintings. Though it is difficult to assure an orthodox Goryeo Style which is found nowhere else, but I attempted to describe the common features of Goryeo Buddhist Painting in each category as stated above.
Chapter 2 gives an explanation of ‘The Iconographic and Iconological analysis of the Amitabha paintings of the Chinese, Korean and Japanese works produced in the Middle Ages’. The Goryeo Amitabha paintings have been considered to be accepted a strong influence from Dunhuang (敦煌) and Xixia (西夏) art. The author agrees that there are similarities between Chinese and Korean works, because many of them were based on the same prototype. Even so, there are also lots of differences in parallel. Many Goryeo Buddhist paintings had met with an amazing metamorphosis from imitation to transformation, even invented new types of expression. The new-expression is not only indicative of the aesthetic standards and the inclinations of the Goryeo people, but also reflects the unique local features of Goryeo from a religious and also a cultural perspective.
An Amitabha painting formerly in the collection of the Shimazu daimyo family in Satsuma Province, on the Japanese island of Kyushu (fig. 2) is a remarkable example of the ‘Goryeo’s own expression’. The deity appears to beckon the viewer, presumably guiding a viewer believing rebirth to a pedestal that seems to lead viewers toward a destination, i.e. Western Paradise, somewhere to the viewer’s right side. So, there are some explanations for this iconography such as ‘Amitabha leading a person who believe rebirth to the Western Paradise’ or ‘Returning Amitabha’, which indicates that it is related to the Buddhist Art in China or Japan. But this unique pose does not appear in Chinese or Japanese Amitabha works yet, also neither the faith of Returning Amitabha in Goryeo nor the relationship between the belief of Amitabha and Bodhisattva Leading the Way in East Asian Buddhism become known yet. Therefore the author regards this work as the Welcoming Descent of Amitabha which represents ‘Goryeo’s own expression’. Thus, I suggest that the uniqueness of this special Amitabha iconography may be differentiated with the Chinese or Japanese works, and that it reflects the thought of the Goryeo people regarding the Pure Land as a place in this world where they lives.
Moreover, I reconsidered the transmission route of the iconography. Because of the similarity of some Amitabha iconography, most senior scholars suggest that Goryeo might directly interact with Dunhuang, Xixia, Turfan, Ningbo and other regions of China at that time. But there is no concrete evidence about the exchanges between the two regions except the iconography, so I raised an objection. I think that they may have been drawn by Goryeo painters based on the ‘Manuscripts’ which were drawn before the Northern Song period (960-1127).
Over and above, I think that the social background is especially worthy of notice. Previous research suggested that some Amitabha paintings mightily reveals the ‘Imperial style’, because the patrons, like Yeom Seung-ik (廉承益), held enviable positions in the court and wielded enormous power. But I could not entirely accept this point of view. Because in the Goryeo period, the Amitabha belief was not the preserve of royalty and aristocracy only, it was a widely accepted belief which gained wide support that crossed social rank throughout the nation.
In addition, it is worth noting about the social environment. What is especially remarkable about the Iconography is the ‘Female Image’ based on the Sixteen Contemplations of the Visualization Sutra in the collection of Rinsho-ji temple in Aichi Prefecture (fig. 19) and Chion-in temple in Kyoto, Japan. (fig. 20) We can fathom out what the ‘Female Image’ could possibly mean. In actually, it indicates the social status of women, and from this fact it can be concluded that women were on an equal footing with men in Goryeo society. So I think the ‘Female Image’ has particular significance, as a symbol for women’s position in Goryeo society.
Chapter 3 describes ‘The Study of the Amitabha Belief in Goryeo’. During the Unified Silla period the Pure Land order of Buddhism were flourishing and had its golden age. After changing of the dynasty from Unified Silla to Goryeo, the Pure Land order was divided into several sects and gradually declined, but the heart of Pure Land thought had been absorbed by other orders such as Tiantai, Chan and Huayan and it was still widely permeated in all levels of Goryeo society. The Amitabha Belief is the key thought of the Pure Land order, and so the author draws a deduction that this religious background is closely related to the production of Amitabha paintings in Goryeo period.
To sum up, in this thesis the author investigated the interactions and influences among Chinese, Korean and Japanese Buddhist works in Middle Ages, especially concerning on the Goryeo Amitabha paintings. It is needed to study further for establishing the ‘Cultural Diversity’ and the ‘The Value of Each Works’ in the East Asian Buddhism Art. Because the scope of this research covers so wide that it still remains indeterminateness about this topic, the author hopes to contribute to the advancement of Korean art history and also wishes that Goryeo Buddhist Painting could attract worldwide attention for both scholars and public alike.
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