조선후기 통도사의 僧侶門中과 畵僧 任閑

Abstract

This study examines correlations between Dharma clans and their influence on the performance and formation of styles of monk-painters. It focuses primarilyon Imhan(任閑), a prominent monk-painter of Tongdosa on Yeongchuksanduringthe first half of the eighteenth century. In the late Joseon period, Dharma clans residing at majorBuddhist temples in each regionwere heavilyinvolved in the repair of temple buildings and the enshrinement of Buddha statues and Buddhist paintings,in addition to religious rituals and spiritual practice. Monk-painters enhanced their statuses by participating in the enshrinement of Buddhist paintings as members of Dharmaclans and masters of Buddhist art, while also assisting enshrinement projects as hwaju (director of fundraising) or donors. At Tongdosa, Dharma clans, including the Samyeong, Soyo, Byeogam and Pyeonyang clans, coexisted and led Buddhist communities amidchanging hegemony after the Japanese invasions. Between the end of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, a leadership change took place among these clans. Rising as a primary clan after the Japanese invasions, Soyo Dharma clan put forward a number of temple constructionprojects, working together with Byeogam clan in the Honam region, while Samyeong clan, which had previously led the restoration of temples, lost its momentum. The emergence of Pyeonyang clan led to a variety of developments among the four major clans. Along with the changes among the Dharma clans, it can beinferredthat Imhan who is assumed to have been a member of the Samyeong Dharma clan, rather thansimply adopting the Yeongnam style which had been passed down in the Yeongnam region since the seventeenth century, remained open-minded and collaborative as a monk-painter in his relationships with other clans. Thisaccommodating natureallowed Imhanto develop his own stylethrough hisembrace of the Honam clan style,developed bymonk-painters from the Honam region, who extended their influence into Tongdosa in the earlyeighteenth century thanks to the Byeogam clan. This, in turn, presumably encouraged support from the Soyo clan, which maintained friendly relations with the Byeogam clan during the early partof Imhan’sactive period. In addition, around the mid-eighteenth century, Imhan was able to rise to the position of suhwaseung, or head monk-painter, and hisinfluence was extended to the mid-northern area of the Yeongnam region, based on stable support from SeolsongYeoncho and his disciples inthe Pyeonyang clan, who had settled down at Tongdosa and Seoknamsa in the first half of the eighteenth century. Buddhism in the late Joseon period was primarily led by Dharma clans, which played a pivotal role in building and reconstructing structures of major Buddhist temples in each region. By gaining a more thoroughunderstanding ofthe hegemony of the Dharma clans which ledconstruction projects on temple buildingsat Tongdosa during the period in whichImhan worked, a more multi-facetedinterpretation of the formation of Imhan’s painting style, and the process of his ascent to the position of suhwaseung, may be developed.