‘아미타구품인(阿彌陀九品印)’의 제 문제: 일본 에도시대 아미타구품인 도상의 형성, 확산 그리고 일반화

Abstract

This paper examines that the ‘Mudra-s of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ is newly created by the Japanese in the Edo period (1615-1868). Moreover, I try to trace the previous stages of how they were formulated and spread. The ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amita-bha Buddha’ are commonly used to describe the hand gestures of Amitābha Buddha, although the term, concept, shapes and figures are never mentioned in any texts including the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra. The ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha,’ as is well known, first appeared in the Butsuzō zui (Illustrated Compendium of Buddhist Images), compiled in 1690, which explicitly contains nine different Amitābha images with the respective mudrās. Those are Dhyana Mudrā, Dharmachakra Mudrā, and Welcoming Mudrā, the three most popular hand gestures of Amitābha Buddha since the Heian period (794-1185). The book respectively redefines them as Upper, Middle, and Lower Birth, and classifies them again Upper, Middle, and Lower Level according to the finger (index, middle, ring finger) that touches the thumb tip. It is not clear by whom and why this iconography was created. However, due to the publishing background and encyclopedic character of the Butsuzō zui, it seems that it is not the author’s own creation. In addition, there are nine Amitābha statues, almost identical to those in the Butsuzō zui, in Joushinji which was built 10 years earlier. A large number of temples enshrining nine corresponding forms of Amitābha based on the theory of the nine grades of rebirth were built during the 11-12th centuries in Japan. Interestingly, contrary to the scale of the popularity, there was no distinct standard including hand gestures. The same is true of the Edo period because not only the typical type of the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ which we are familiar with, but also others existed. What we take for granted would be just one of the many types, thus it is difficult to say that the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ is very special or unusual. Then, from when the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ began to be called and came to be considered special? The countless printing and distribution of the Butsuzō zui played a vital role in the creation of the term. But Japanese modern scholars who established the Buddhist iconography based on the Butsuzō zui should not be ignored. Moreover, the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ began to appear in late 1970s Korea. The term and concept of the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ spread in academia rapidly afterwards. As a result, it became the common notion that the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ is the most general iconography of Amitābha Buddha. Some Japanese scholars have raised questions about this iconography since the late 1960s. They argued that this was a newly created iconography without any scriptural evidence so that it should be reconsidered and reexamined. However, the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha’ is still in use in the Korean academia. It is time to revisit and reexamine the term and concept of the ‘Mudrās of the Nine Grades of Amitābha Buddha.’