1323년 知恩院 소장 관경16관변상도와 천태관상수행

Abstract

The Illustration of the Sixteen Contemplations in Chion’in (知恩院, 1323), Kyōto, along with another illustration with the same title in Saifukuji Temple (西福寺), are the most representative illustrations of transformation tableau of the contemplation sutra of the late Goryeo Dynasty. The one housed in Chion’in depicts the Pure Land with waters, land, and trees in the upper section, and features a composition of waters from the lotus pond in the fifth visualization comprising ponds in eight places surrounding the resultant person (正報觀). The illustration exhibits an extremely dramatic composition by arranging the seventh to thirteenth contemplations in the center, occupying most of its part. While the illustration in the Saifukuji Temple succeeds to the tradition of the The Illustration of the Sixteen Contemplations of the Song Dynasty, the painting in Chion’in presents a composition and iconography entirely different from that of Saifukuji, and it can therefore be assumed that the painting was adopted into Goryeo style. Such composition is rooted in the belief of Celestial Terrace Pure Land, or Cheontae Paradise (Tientai jingtu; 天台 淨土), like the painting in Saifukuji. However, the illustration in Chion’in effectively depicts the stages of the practice of contemplation through the resultant person, being faithful to the aim of contemplative practice. The sixteen contemplative practices, which is an application of the Tiāntái Zhìyǐ’s practice of three-fold contemplations in one single thought (yixin sanguan; 一 心三觀) written in The Sutra of the Meditation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (觀無量壽經), can only be achieved when the Tiantai thought explained inthe Sutra is understood in-depth. Studies on the practice of attaining three-fold contemplations in one single thought were related to the circumstances of the time when the White Lotus Association, which had expanded its congregation among the public, established itself in the capital city of Gaegyeong through royal patronage and extended its sphere of influence more than the Zen sect. It seems that the invigoration of academic study on the Sutra of the Lotus and Tiāntáishū (天台 疏) with the establishment of Myoryeonsa Temple through the patronage of King Chungyeol and Jegukdaejang Princess was the direct influence behind the emergence of The Illustration of the Sixteen Contemplations housed in Chion’in. The studies related to Tientai also offer an open perspective on women born in the Pure Land. Unlike Mahayana Buddhism, which viewed women as beings unable to attain Buddhahood, Tiāntái Zhìyǐ viewed them as those able to attain Buddhahood like bodhisattva. Such thought is presumed to have been the background behind female figures being actively depicted in the comprehensive visualization (12th visualization) or the nine-fold future life in the Pure Land in the The Illustration of the Sixteen Contemplations. The composition of the painting in Chion’in, which is based on the understanding of the studies of Tientai by the Goryeo people, is original as much as it is sensational. The work takes on greater meaning, for it made influence on the composition and iconography of The Illustration of the Sixteen Contemplations after the fifteenth century of the Joseon Dynasty. The Illustration of the Sixteen Contemplations housed in Chion’in is an example of Tiantai Buddhism and Pure Land thought – emerged from the White Lotus Association together with the establishment of the Myoryeonsa Temple and therefore taking root in the Goryeo aristocracy – having an influence on the establishment of noble Pure Land Buddhist culture in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.