국립중앙박물관소장 금동반가사유상 대좌 人像柱 도상의 원류와 상징

Abstract

On the lower side of the pedestal part of the Gilt-bronze Pensive Bodhisattva at the National Museum of Korea are four sculpted figures of children. The figures are standing in a rather comfortable position with their both arms down while supporting the upper parts of the sculpture with their heads. These figures are unique in a sense that it is the only found case of a human figure supporting the upper parts of a sculpture from the Three Kingdoms Period. Such type of figures has not been found in Chinese Buddhist sculptures as well. Moreover, it is quite different from human figures supporting the upper parts in funeral artworks such as the Goguryeo tomb murals or gilt-bronze shoes from Baekje Kingdom. In general, human figures supporting the upper parts are depicted as a person with superhuman strength. Otherwise, he cannot perform his duty of supporting an artwork. However, these figures in the Gilt-bronze Pensive Bodhisattva are standing in a comfortable position with their both arms down while wearing clothes that implies their humble status. The purpose of this article is to find the origin of the human figure supporting the upper part of a religious sculpture even though it does not possess superhuman strength. First, the short and stout human figures that support the upper parts of Buddhism artworks from India were examined. These are depictions of Yaksa, which is a traditional subject in indigenous religion of India, and they support buildings or deities from below. Human figures with Western appearances and sturdy build supporting the upper parts of sculptures or structures can be found in Buddhist art of Gandhara. These figures are Atlas in Greek mythology. Both types of the figures found in India and Gandhara are depicted in a sense that these figures are deities in their own rights and possess great strength. The fact that Atlas is found in stupa or other Buddhist sculptures suggests that the origin of these figures go all the way back to Greek civilization, which actually is interlinked with the background of Gandhara art. In Erechtheion, a temple located in the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, there are six female figures playing a role of supporting columns. These female figures are supporting the roof of the temple with their heads while standing in a comfortable position with their arms down. Moreover, they are not goddesses. In fact, they are war prisoners- slaves. These women of Caryae are serving as temple pillars to be purged from sin of betraying Athens, and it has become the origin of Caryatid. It seems that the theme of 'god's servant' was generalized from the fact that these figures supporting the roof are slaves and the fact that this building is a temple, and the human figures supporting the upper parts of religious sculptures were derived from the general theme of god's servant. It is also quite possible that the fact these columns are figures of females have provided fodder for an idea that faith and obedience are equally important factors as superhuman strength in supporting of god's world. In conclusion, the human figures in the pedestal of the bodhisattva sculpture are similar to the female figures in Erechtheion in a sense that they are not deities and support the structure with their heads in a comfortable position without any implications to superhuman strength. The human figures in the bodhisattva sculpture are depicted as weak children to paradoxically suggest the importance of innocent and naive adoration towards Buddha. Thus, these figures signify that it does not take superhuman efforts to reach the world of Buddha, and that anyone can enter the world of Buddha.