해남 대흥사 북미륵암 마애불상 도상에 보이는 중기밀교적 특징

Abstract

The Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage(北彌勒庵) in Daeheungsa Temple(大興寺) of Haenam(海南) is a rock-carved Buddha constructed on the top of the Duryunsan Mountain located in Samsan-myeon, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do Province. While maintaining the traditional expression continued from the seated Buddha statues with Bhumisparshamudra of the 8th century, this statue shows a distinctive composition where four Bodhisattva images are arranged in the left and right sides of the large space outside the halo of the principal Buddha. Thus, this study aimed to intensively reveal the background or the meaning of this icon. As a result of analyzing the overall figurative features of the Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage in Daeheungsa Temple of Haenam, it reflected the factors of the new Middle Esoteric Buddhism in the composition aspect, but the expression of the actual principal image and the Bodhisattva images on top of that was found to be continuing the traditional features of the previous period. What is most noticeable from the Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage is the composition where four offering Bodhisattva images are displayed in a large form outside the halo centering on the principal Buddha with Bhumisparsha-mudra. The composition arranged with the four offering Bodhisattva images is deemed to have reflected the factors of the Middle Esoteric Buddhism's images and is comparable to the East India's Jaipur Akshobhya Statue and the Akshobhya-carved sides of “The Silver Chest Carved with 45 Sacred Images(鎏金四十五尊造像盝頂銀函)” that was discovered in the underground chamber of Famen Temple(法門寺), China. Through this contemplation, it was suggested that the factors of the Middle Esoteric Buddhism influenced the composition of the statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage. Moreover, the influence of Middle Esoteric Buddhism was also partly examinable on the pedestal of the principal Buddha statue. However, the style of the principal Buddha statue itself showed common features of the Buddha statues from the late Silla Dynasty, and these could be confirmed in the expression of the dress mode, hand seal, and halo. Therefore, it was also suggested through the style comparison that the construction period of the Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage does not go beyond the Unified Silla period. Although there is no identifiable material on the direct background of the construction of the Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage, the overall comparison with the influence of the Esoteric Buddhism portrayed in the Vairocana Buddha Statues(毘盧遮那佛像) of the late Silla Dynasty, etc. signifies that the Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage in Daeheungsa Temple was constructed in the process of the expanding influence of the Middle Esoteric Buddhism as well. However, as such examples are difficult to find in other seated Buddha statues with Bhumisparsha-mudra of this period, the Rock-carved Buddha Statue at Bugmireugam Hermitage in Daeheungsa Temple is considered to be an extremely unique case of the time. The above contemplation implies that while the Middle Esoteric Buddhism was not established as a religious sect in the Unified Silla Dynasty, it had consistently yielded great influence on the construction of Buddhist statues of those days.