남원 선원사 시왕도의 태극기 연구

Abstract

This paper is a study on the Taegeukgi (Korean flag) depicted in the Ten Kings of Hell painting of Seonwonsa Temple in Namwon. Ten Kings of Hell painting is a type of Buddhist painting that depicts a scene in which a person goes to the netherworld after death and judges the world of hell to determine whether or not they will go to paradise or hell by finding the sins they committed before they die. This Ten Kings of Hell painting was created in 1917 and was discovered after 105 years, and is the first Buddhist painting depicting Taegeukgi with the four standard ruled lines and the Tai Chi pattern. Taegeukgi was born in September 1882 and was announced by King Gojong on March 6, 1883, and is a nickname that has been sung since the Joseon Dynasty. Unfortunately, Taegeukgi suffered extermination and suffering during the 36 years of Japanese colonial rule, along with the suppression of Buddhism. During this dark period of history, Namwon Seonwonsa Temple created the Ten Kings of Hell painting and secretly drew Taegeukgi on ByeonseongDaewang's hat to express his will for independence. The hell presided over by ByeonseongDaewang is the Dosan hell, which is the king of hell who tortures sinners who have tormented others with a sword by making them walk the path of the sword and inflicting pain. In other words, the sin of usurping someone else's country with weapons will surely be punished with weapons. Thus, in August 1945, Japan, the war maniac in Asia, surrendered to the Allies after being punished by an atomic bomb that humanity had never experienced. The great significance of this Ten Kings of Hell painting is that it was painted by Manchong, who is well-known as the successor of Buddhist painting in the early modern century, and endorsed by Jineunghyechan, who was revered as a great Buddhist teacher and anti-Japanese monk. In addition, as a result of the analysis of pigments and coloring techniques using conservation scientific methods, it was proved that the pigments and coloring techniques of the Ten Kings of Hell painting painted in 1917 were the same. First, it was argued that Taegeukgi should be preserved as a Korea Heritage in consideration of the rarity and value of Taegeukgi in the Kings of Hell painting and the fact that Jineunghyechan guaranteed it. Second, he emphasized the need to study more diligently the Buddhist pictorial aspects, the historical aspects that informed the anti-Japanese military activitie and the spirit of the independence movement in Namwon, and the history of Taegeukgi during the Japanese colonial period. Third, he suggested the need to develop various contents based on the unique characters of Ten Kings of Hell, such as Buddhist comics, anime, movies, novels, and Taegeukgi storytelling depicted in Ten Kings of Hell paintings.