백련사 사적비 (圓妙國師碑) 귀부의 미술사적 의의

Abstract

Baekryun-sa temple’s memorial stele has an unusual history, as the body of stele has beenerected when this temple was renovated in the Joseon Dynasty but the pedestal dates back to theGoryeo Dynasty. The roof of this stele is presumed that also be made with the body together atthe late of 17 century. The turtle shaped pedestal must be originally for the stele of the monkRyoseh(了世) who was died at 1245 because it can be date at middle of 13th century by thestylistic analysis. And the most distinguishing part of this pedestal is a lion's mane around the neck and it is veryhard to find in other cases yet. It is difficult to explain why this pedestal of turtle shaped has alion's mane. However, the appearance of this lion mane may not be just a description of the hair,but it may be suggestive of some sacred aura coming out from the body, so further research aboutthis expression is needed. In order to recycle the old pedestal, which was for Ryoseh who was an important achievementin the history of Baekryun-sa temple, it is necessary to balance between the original pedestal andthe new stele monument, especially the size of the hole on the pedestal and the nip of the steleand so on. It is also noted that the dragon decoration of the roof is also referring to the old styleof the pedestal by some extent considering for the stylistic unity. Such recycling is thought to be a very natural, economical and rational way to think, but it isunusual in that it is hard to find such cases in other temples. Why was the part of destroyedmonument for the important monk Ryoseh did not reconstructed but recycled as a pedestal of thenew documental monument of Baekryun-sa temple like this? This situation is a reference forestimating the perception of the later generations of the obsolete stone to the temple and I hopeto leave this theme as a task to be studied further.