흥천사 扁額·懸板 연구

Abstract

This thesis reviewed a general status of hyeon-pan(hanging boards) and pyeon-aek (plaques) belonged in Heungcheonsa Temple(興天寺) and clarified their calligraphic meanings. Heungcheonsa Temple retains the most pyeon-aek and hyeon-pan - all of which were installed as ‘quadrilateral’ style considered as the top-class among the existing plaques in palace architecture. This made the temple keep its dignity as the Buddhist temple for the royal family. This reflects the temple’s elevated status as the royal temple supported by royal family such as Regent Heungseon Daewongun and powerful clans, even after Heungcheonsa was reconstructed as a royal tomb temple for Jeongneung (Queen Sindeok’s Tomb) at its current location. The pyeon-aek of Myeongbujeon has a red long-vertical middle tablet, which was unusual during Joseon Dynasty and is decorated with dragon head-shaped bars at the end of frames, adopting a form of funeral banner from Confucian funerals. In particular, the pyeon-aek in Myeongbujeon of Bongguksa Temple built around the same time also has similar characteristics such as a red long-vertical middle tablet, which could be the popular style at that time. Based on dragon head-shaped bar decoration of Myeongbujeon pyeon-aek in Heungcheonsa Temple, the origin of bar design of quadrilateral-style pyeon-aek in late Joseon period is defined in the study. While pyeon-aek from Goryeo Dynasty to early Joseon Dynasty were made by accepting formal characteristics of Chinese hyeon-pan, pyeon-aek in late Joseon era were simplified as bar decoration was attached at the end of panel-type frame. The origin of pyeon-aek style in late Joseon is assumed that pyeon-aek were simplified adopting Gwondu-shaped decoration of chairs including king’s chair or highchairs as many pyeon-aek were created while a large scale of reconstruction of palaces and important buildings was underway after Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592.