7世紀 燕岐地域 阿彌陀佛像의 西方淨土圖像 硏究

Abstract

In the 1960’s, total seven pieces of Buddhist stone sculpture were found in Yŏn’gi County, South Ch’ungch’ŏng Province. Among these, Korea’s earliest inscriptions of the name “Amitā(阿彌陀)” Buddha were found in three pieces: a stele of an Amitā triad made in the year of kyeyu (the Kyeyu Stele of Piam-sa, 673 C.E.) from Piam-sa, a triad made in the year of muin (the Muin Stele, 678 C.E.) from Yŏnhwa-sa and a stele of Amitā Buddha with a group of Bodhisattvas and others made in the year of kichuk (the Kichuk Stele, 689 C.E.) from Piam-sa. The Muin and the Kichuk Steles are also remarkable for bearing Korea’s earliest surviving images of the Western Pure Land on their backs, while showing common Yŏn’gi style images of multiple Buddhas in front. In China, the name “Amitā” appeared since Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Amitā Buddha was initially called “Wuliangshou” (無量壽, Buddha of Immeasurable Life) in Southern and Northern Dynasties China based on the perception of the icon combined with the indigenous belief in immortality, but the name “Amitā(阿彌陀)” gradually took over as Chinese understanding and perception of the icon improved by the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Such change of names was presumably due to the spread of beliefs in repeated chanting of Buddha’s name. Also by the Sui Dynasty, the cult of the Western Pure Land rose to popularity and reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the Western Pure Land images found in the Muin and the Kichuk Steles as well as the name Amitā tells that the group of Buddhist sculpture from Yŏn’gi region were made by the influence of the new Amitābha cult linked to the Western Pure Land from the Sui Dynasty. The image of the Western Pure Land on the Muin and Kichuk Steles depict images distinctively found or emphasized in the Visualization Sutra of the Buddha of Infinite Life (觀無量壽經), such as a Buddha over a lotus pond described in the ‘Thirteenth Visualization: the Tree Sages of the Realm of Ultimate Bliss’, or rebirth from the lotus flower. Such thematic association tells the steles were produced on the basis of the Visualization Sutra. The scene of the Western Pure Land based on the Visualization Sutra was produced from the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. However, the Buddha seated above the surface of the water in the Muin and Kichuk Steles are also found in a Sui Dynasty image in Dunhuang’s Mogao Cave No.393 as well as later Chinese pieces up to early Tang, inferring influences of Sui to early Tang Dynasty style Pure Land images to late 7th Century Korean pieces. In particular, the features on the face of the Kichuk Stele, such as the rebirth from lotus flowers in a kneeling position with gathered hands and depiction of people with temple buildings, show very close connections with the Western Pure Land image found in Mogao Cave No. 220 in Dunhuang. The 7th Century Yŏn’gi region around the production period of the Muin and Kichuk Steles was suffering chaos following the fall of Paekje Kingdom. The region had relatively easy access to Tang culture through exchanges that one can presume the new cult of Amitā associated with the Sui to early Tang period belief in the Western Pure Land grew popular through the series of battles and the eventual fall of the Paekje Kingdom. Also under the same influences, the appearance of a new name “Amitā” and a new version of Western Pure Land images seemingly took place in the 7th Century Yŏn’gi region. The Yŏn’gi version of the Western Pure Land scenes were occasionally depicted in combination with the Paekje cult of Maitreya, as exemplified by the pensive Buddha on the back of the Muin Stele, but later depictions of the theme probably followed stylistic evolution of later Chinese pieces which had more visual emphasis on architectural features. The Muin and Kichuk Steles are the earliest and only surviving Korean pieces of the Western Pure Land images, which precede a Koryo Dynasty depiction of the Visualization Sutra. Both steles bear inscriptions of the name “Amitā” and the images created by combining a new Western Pure Land image to the existing composition of multiple Buddhas, which was a common feature found in the Yŏn’gi Buddhist sculptures. These features tell the Yŏn’gi region had their version of the Western Pure Land image developed at least by the 7th Century with influences from Sui and early Tang versions of Western Pure Land images based on the Visualization Sutra.