일본 像內納入品으로 활용된 五輪塔 - 鎌倉時代(가마쿠라시대) 運慶(운케이)와 快慶(가이케이)의 활용을 중심으로

Abstract

The gorintō (five-element stupa, 五輪塔) is a pagoda, representing the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, respectively, as a cube, sphere, pyramid, hemisphere, and jewel shape. Its concepts seemingly originate from India, but related ideas can be found in several Esoteric Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese around the 8th century. Thus, the gorintō concept may have circulated in China, but actual things have not been found. However, many such pagodas have been located in Japan and used in various forms, such as pagodas, urns, relic containers, and roof tile decorations. Among these, the study focused on gorintō used as zōnai-nōnyūhin (像內納入品), examining their scriptural basis and actual specimens, along with the background and symbolism behind depositing such as objects. The five elements’ concept is found in scriptures translated or compiled by Śubhakarasiṃha (637–735) or others around him. In general, these scriptures explain that the five elements should be associated with corresponding body parts in meditative contemplation by comparing the elements with the five colors, five directions, five viscera, etc. In Japan, it seems that gorintōs were made based on such scriptures by the 11th century at the latest. Japanese scholars judge that gorintōs were used as zōnai-nōnyūhins in the late-12th century. Although it has not yet existed, scholars believe based on historical records that the earliest example is the one deposited in the Great Buddha statue at the Tōdaiji Temple (東大寺) by Chōgen (重源, 1121–1206). The first zōnai-nōnyūhins known to be deposited in Buddhist statues in Japan date from the Nara period (710–794), typically relics or Buddhist images. During the Heian period (794–1185), however, Kūkai (空海, 774–835) brought Esoteric Buddhism back to Japan, and dhāraṇī and mantras began to be used as zōnai-nōnyūhins. This trend was extended to the gatsurin (moon disk, 月輪) during the late Heian period, and esoteric objects became an important part of it. Including the gorintō as a zōnai-nōnyūhin during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) seemed to be based on this Esoteric Buddhist tradition. The artists of the Kei school (慶派) continued to enshrine such gorintōs, gradually establishing their status as representative zōnai-nōnyūhins. Based on this historical trend, the study introduced early examples of gorintōs used as zōnai-nōnyūhins and proposed the following three reasons for depositing gorintōs in Buddhist images: (1) the possibility that the gorintōs used as relic containers were miniaturized even further and deposited as zōnai-nōnyūhins, (2) the symbolism of the gorintō, originally intended to represent the world, embodying a Buddhist image’s interior as a perfect space, and (3) the role of the gorintō in shōjinka (transfiguring the image into a living body of the Buddha, 生身化) given the association of the five elements with the five viscera.