화계사 <천수천안관음보살변상도>에 반영된 19세기 불교의 신경향

Abstract

Among the large woodblocks of Hwagyesa Temple, the Transformation Tableaux of Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva(<千手觀音菩薩變相圖>, hereafter Transformation Tableaux) is known to be the original plate of the Embroidered Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva(<刺繡千手觀音菩薩圖>) of 1875 and 1910, made in the Joseon court and enshrined in the Gwaneumjeon Hall of Hwagyesa Temple. This paper first defines the publishers of the Transformation Tableaux of Hwagyesa; the beliefs and ideas they pursued, as well as the background of the appearance of gold lion(金犼) in Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva paintings, are examined thereafter from the perspective of recognition and acceptance of the Ming and Qing Buddhist cultures of the royal family and Joseon intellectuals in the late nineteenth century. The Transformation Tableaux of Hwagyesa seems to be produced in the same period with the Pagoda of the Universal Palace(<圓通宮殿塔圖>) and the Pagoda of Vairocana Pavilion(<毘盧遮那樓閣塔圖>), which are published in 1873. The publishers of these large woodblocks are monks and grhapatis, including Hwanong Hwanjin, Yu Seongjong, Jeong Hagyeong, Yu Huije, Seo Yungu, Go Sangjin and Yi Wongi, who were active in Seoul and surrounding areas in the nineteenth century; they are considered to participate in the production of the Transformation Tableaux. Hwanong Hwanjin, the Dharma-heir of Baekpa Geungseon, was respected as a Hwaeom philosopher and wrote the preface for the new version of the Pagoda of Vairocana Pavilion. Upon the enshrinement of the Embroidered Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva in Hwagyesa, he confirmed the deeds of the embroidered Buddha, which enabled the continued royal support and Avalokiteśvara belief in the temple. This paper suggests that the “Gentlemen of Lotus Society(蓮社諸賢)” mentioned in the preface are the likes of Yu Seongjong and Jeong Hagyeong, the members of the Myoryeon Buddhist Society(妙蓮社). Also, the large woodblocks are assumed to be the outputs of the first and second ascetic practices at Gamnoam Hermitage of Samgaksan mountain in November 1878. In particular, the Transformation Tableaux is analyzed to be the figure of universal teachings(普門示現像): the visualization of Avalokiteśvara’s divine response and revelation which the grhapatis pursued. Behind the expression of the fourty-two armed Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva on top of a golden lion(jinhou) in Hwagyesa's Transformation Tableaux is the Buddhist knowledge and awareness raised through various Buddhist cultures introduced from China in the nineteenth century. The painting and expression are related to the painting manual of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Fifty-three Compassionate Forms of Kuan-yin(慈容五十三現), and the illustrated Chinese novel, the Journey to the West(西遊記). Hwagyesa's Transformation Tableaux shows completely different iconography from the Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva paintings of the nineteenth century. This paper demonstrates the background of the royal production of the Embroidered Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva with such differentiation to be the royal culture that recognized the iconography of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva riding a gold lion from earlier on, through Chinese novel illustrations. Lastly, I paid attention to Yu Seongjong as a hidden helper in the production of the Transformation Tableaux and the Embroidered Sahasrabhuja Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva—he was a royal official belonging to the Queen's space, knowledgeable to Chinese Buddhist culture, and was actively engaged in Jeongwon Buddhist Society(淨願社) and Myoryeon Buddhist Society.