중국 남북조시대 ‘관세음불(觀世音佛)’ 연구

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the background of the emergence of the “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues in the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China. In China, the “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues appeared at the end of the 5th century, and during the 6th century it was produced in small quantity but steadily. The image of “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” can be divided into Buddha costume and Bodhisattva costume, the latter have “Buddha” inscription. In addition, characters have replaced shapes, cliff carvings engraved with “觀世音佛” also appeared. There are only two “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues in the Southern Dynasties. However, in the Southern Dynasties, there were many Chinese translations of Buddhist sutras and publications of pseudo-sutras related to “Avalokitêśvara Buddha”, so we should presume that the “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues in the Southern Dynasties were more popular. In the sixth century Northern Dynasties, “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues were constantly made. It is widely distributed in Shandong(山東), Henan(河南) Luoyang(洛陽), Hebei(河北) and Shanxi (山西) provinces. Among them, “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues were most produced in Shandong and Luoyang Area. The popularity of “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” belief is closely related to the emergence of the compilation of Buddhist sutras illustrating the formation of the “Avalokitêśvara Buddha”. In the works of monks active in the sixth century, it is often mentioned that Avalokitêśvara becomes Buddha. The most mentioned sutras in these books are: the Gunyin souji jing(觀音授記經), the Guanshiyin sanmei jing(觀世音三昧經), and the Hongmenghuihai jing(弘猛慧海經). The Guanshiyin sanmei jing and the Hongmenghuihai jing are pseudo-sutras written in China, belong to the so-called the “Chinese Buddhist apocrypha”. The Gunyin souji jing and the Guanshiyin sanmei jing were translated or written separately from those of the Southern Dynasties, so it can be inferred that these two sutras have a great influence on the spread of the “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” statues. On the other hand, the belief in “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” of Northern Dynasties is more complicated. The belief in the Buddha Names, the influence of the Lotus Sutra and the Hongmenghuihai jing all play an important role. Materials related to the “Avalokitêśvara Buddha” are relatively rare, with only more than 20 pieces, but the background of its belief was more complex, which reflected the high attention paid to Avalokitêśvara belief at that time.