고려시대 초조대장경(初雕大藏經) 『어제비장전(御製秘藏詮)』 판화의 내용과 의미

Abstract

53 woodblock prints of the text Eojebijangjeon from the Goryeo-period first edition of the Tripitaka Koreana are currently housed at Nanzenji Temple in Japan. Unlike other Goryeo woodblock prints, which faithfully convey the content of Buddhist scriptures through pictorial engravings, those of Eojebijangjeon call to mind the form of a landscape painting. In this study, I attempt to reconsider the significance and value of Eojebijangjeon by examining the content and meaning of these prints. Their content is as follows: 1. Each book in Volumes 1-20 of Eojebijangjeon (Volume 17 is missing) contains five prints; most of these are located in the same page positions (1, 5, 9, 13 and 17). 2. The approximately 50 prints included in Volumes 1-10 are generally repeated in Volumes 11-20. 3. The prints in Volume 13 of a Northern Song copy of Eojebijangjeon in the collection of Harvard Library in the United States and in Volume 13 of the Goryeo period copy at Nanzenji differ in terms of iconography and page location. This implies that duplication of prints was possible, and that they could be rearranged if necessary. 4. The fact that the box number of the prints is marked as “6(六)”, “7(七)” suggests the possibility that scripture texts and pictorial engravings were produced separately. 5. The prints portray itinerant monks entering the mountains in search of enlightenment. The depiction of these monks is similar to that in Xuanzang qujingtu (“paintings of Xuanzang’s journey in search of the scriptures”), a genre popular at around the same time in China. It is therefore believed that the Eojebijangjeon woodcuts were influenced by Xuanzang qujingtu.