경주지역 조선후기 승탑 연구

Abstract

Gyeongju is an officially recognized repositary of cultural heritage. Especially, many Buddhist relics have remained due to proactive encouraging Buddhism policy since Silla period. Therefore, Gyeongju is the center of a study on Buddhist art and many researches concentrated on Silla period. However, many temples of Gyeongju were transmissible to Goryeo period and the late of Joseon period and peculiar Buddhist cultural assets still remain. This thesis investigated the monk stupas built in the late of Joseon period. Monk stupas in Gyeongju in the late of Joseon period were mainly built in the following 3 regions - Mt. Toham-san with Bulguksa-Temple, Mt. Bongseo-san with Wonwonsa-Temple located in a traffic route between Gyeongju and Ulsan and Mt. Nam-san with Chungyongsa-Temple of Gyeongju. In terms of the built time, monk stupas were built between in the 17th century and in the late of the 18th century during the time of Buddhist stability in the late of Joseon period and in terms of type, 2 types of monk stupas, a bell-shaped style and a ball-shaped style exist. Among these, ball-shaped monk stupa is similar to the style of northern region of Gyeongsangbuk-do. On the other hand, as for bell-shaped monk stupa, it seemed that 2 different style coexisted. One type was widely popular in Gyeongsang-do region along with the ball-shaped monk stupa. However, there was a style that multi-staged the inner foundation into several levels and carved the various patterns on a body of the monk stupa. This feature was shown in the monk stupa in Wonwonsa-Temple and was also seen in other monk stupas in the same temple with transformation. That was a Buddhist master, Woowoondang that influenced such a style. He annotated in Tongdosa-Temple, fixed up ordination platform and was involved with the establishment of ordination platform of Yongyeonsa-Temple. Especially, after he reached nirvana, the many numbers of small crystals extracted from the monk were used for building sarira stupa and a monk stupa in the shape of the Buddhist ordination platform was built in some temples with putting his theory in it. In this thesis, it was assumed that the monk stupa built in Wonwonsa-Temple was one of his sarira pagodas and based on this assumption, the researcher investigated the meaning of establishment of the monk stupa in the shape of the Buddhist ordination platform in Gyeongju region. The number of monk stupas of the late of Joseon period that still remain in Gyeongju region is 18 units. It is certain that these monk stupas are inferior to stone works of Silla period in terms of formativeness and artistry. However, this monk stupa is meaningful as a symbol and an artwork that features the characteristics of each temple and it deserves the revaluation.