Contemplating Amitabha Images in The Late Koryo Dynasty

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 16

Iconographic Surrogates: Contemplating Amitābha Images in the Late Koryŏ Dynasty

(Fourteenth Century)
Author(s): Junhyoung Michael Shin
Source: Archives of Asian Art, Vol. 55 (2005), pp. 1-15
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press for the Asia Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20111324
Accessed: 19/11/2009 01:12

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uhp.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

University of Hawai'i Press and Asia Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Archives of Asian Art.

http://www.jstor.org
Iconographie Surrogates: Contemplating Amitabha Images
in the Late Kory? dynasty (Fourteenth Century)
Junhyoung Michael Shin
Seoul National University

iVory?-dynasty (918?1392) paintings of Amit?bha Buddha,


mostly made in the fourteenth century, are renowned for
exquisite detail and luxurious decoration, but their iconog
raphy is confined to a number of limited types.1 These
paintings show Amit?bha, often accompanied by two or
eight bodhisattvas, either in three-quarter view or in frontal
stance, but without motifs that would identify or suggest
their specific context. The Amit?bha Triad in the MOA
Museum of Art in Atami, Japan (Fig. 1), for example, pres
ents Amit?bha Buddha in the center, the bodhisattava
Mah?sth?mapr?pta on his left, and the bodhisattva
Avalokit?svara on his right. Avalokit?svara holds a bottle
and awillow branch, Mah?sth?mapr?pta carries a s?tra. All
three stand in three-quarter view, which Myong-dae Mun
interprets as implying movement toward a believer, who is
imaginatively located outside the picture frame.2 Since
the background and ground plane have been left blank,
there is nothing to provide narrative context for this
depicted moment. Such sparing iconography has spawned
much discussion of the thematic identity of Kory?
Amit?bha paintings.
In the Amit?bha Triad in Senjuji, Japan, the same con
figuration of divinities, holding the same attributes,
appears frontally (Fig. 6). They look directly out at the
viewer, thus exerting a strong psychological impact. The
iconic relation of these figures with the viewer suggests
some particular function of the painting in rituals and in
devotional meditation.
After reviewing some of the hypotheses about the
three-quarter compositions, this essay will turn to discuss
the functions of frontal compositions within the devo
tional practices of Pure Land Buddhism in the late Kory?
dynasty. Rather than asking what moments these pictures
represent, I shall seek to discover how the frontal images
served believers in their devotional practice.
I argue that these compositionally rather simple Amit?bha
images, precisely because they do not identify a specific
situation, could serve different devotional needs, such as
deathbed ritual or visually oriented meditation. Such visual
flexibility accords with the situation of Kory? Pure Land
Fig. i. Amit?bha Triad. 14th c. H. 100.9 cm, w. 54.2 cm. MOA Museum
Buddhism, which did not form an independent school but of Art, Atami, Japan.
was embraced by Chan, Tiantai, and Esoteric schools as
a powerful devotional methodology.

I
cultivates all the virtues, and aspires to be
single-mindedly
I. THEMATICJDENTITY OF KORY? reborn in my land, and if, when the moment of
they approached
AMIT?BHA IMAGES their death, I did not appear before them, surrounded by a great
assembly.5
This section will briefly review various scholarly opinions
Earlier Japanese representations of theWelcoming Descent
regarding the thematic identity of these generic Amit?bha
images, in an attempt to point out common iconographie portray the Buddha and his assembly descending from
and compositional elements rather than to determine their heaven on trailing clouds, with Avalokite?vara presenting a
true subject matter. I am concerned with these common lotus pedestal to receive the soul of the dying believer. In
classified by Mun as the
elements because they provide the clues to the reception contrast, the Kory? paintings
and function of these pictures. Welcoming Descent are much simpler and lack iconographie
My?ng-dae Mun was the first to attempt to distinguish a motifs that would suggest the descent of the deities into our
group of Amit?bha images as representing the subject realm (see Fig. 1). Furthermore, these Kory? paintings do
of Welcoming Descent. His 1981 catalogue of Kory? not represent the group of divinities who, according to the
Buddhist painting designated six paintings as depicting this scriptures, accompany the triad. Amit?bha is shown either
theme.3 Later, Junichi Kikutake andWoo-thak Chung pre alone or accompanied by two or by eight bodhisattvas. Mun
ferred less definitive terms such as "transformed Welcoming interpreted only paintings showing the deities in three
Descent" or "Welcoming Descent type."4 quarter view as representing the descent toward a dying
The iconography known as Amit?bhas Welcoming believer. Inscribed on one of these paintings is the patron s
Descent (K: Nae'y?ng-do; C: Laiyingtu) represents the wish for rebirth in theWestern Paradise. I shall discuss this
dramatic moment when Amit?bha and his holy assembly inscription in detail below.6
descend to receive a dying believer for rebirth in the On the contrary,Yun-sik Hong and Kyu-won Kim have
Western Paradise. According to the S?tra of the Buddha of argued that most of the Kory? paintings of Amit?bha in
(K: Muryangsuky?ng; C: Wuliangshoujing), three-quarter stance represent the moment of sugi (K)
Infinite Life
Welcoming Descent was the subject of the nineteenth vow rather than theWelcoming Descent.7 Sugi, or Hearing of
Amit?bha made before he attained Buddhahood: Revelation, is the moment when the believer, reborn in
theWestern Paradise, hears Amit?bha and other Buddhas
May I not gain possession of perfect awakening if, once I have
attained Buddhahood, any among the throng of living beings in predict the course of his future attainment of buddhahood.
the ten regions of the universe resolves to seek awakening, The motif of sugi was based on the Sutra ofMeditation on

Fig. 2. Meditation Sutra

Bianxiangtu. Detail. 14th c.


H. 202.8 cm, w. 129.8 cm.
Saifukuji, Tsuruga City,
Japan.

2
the Buddha of Infinite Life (K: Kwanmuryangsukyong; inclusion of Ksitigarbha in the triad of Welcoming
C: Guanwuliangshoujing), hereafter The Meditation Sutra: Descent, as found in the Ho-am Kory? painting (Fig. j),
continued into the Chos?n dynasty.
Then, in the interval of an instant, he serves one by one the bud
Hong asserts that the idea of Ksitigarbha as Inro'wang
dhas throughout the realms of the ten quarters. In the presence of
each buddha, he successively receives a of his future began in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907), and
prediction
attainment.8 was transmitted to Korea shortly thereafter. If so,

A Meditation Sutra Bianxiangtu ("transformation picture,"


i.e., a visualization of Amit?bha) from the Kory? period,
owned by Saifukuji, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, depicts sugi at
the bottom of the scene (Fig. 2).Whereas theWelcoming
Descent represents the deities' passage into our realm, sugi
takes place within theWestern Paradise. Since most Kory?
Amit?bha paintings do not explicitly illustrate the deities
descending from heaven, I take them to represent the
Revelation in theWestern Paradise.
One Kory? Amit?bha triad, however, even though it
does not suggest the deities' descent, is agreed by most
scholars to depict theWelcoming Descent. An Amit?bha
triad in the Ho-am Art Museum (Fig. 3) contains multiple
iconographie motifs drawn from the scriptural source of
the theme, including a small figure of the believer.9 A beam
of light from Amit?bha's forehead illuminates the figure of
the believer, to whom the Buddha extends his right hand
and Avalokit?svara, bending forward, offers a lotus pedestal.
These motifs all appear in The Meditation Sutra:

Bodhisattva Avalokit?svara holds an adamantine pedestal and comes


before the practitioner with Bodhisattva Mah?sth?mapr?pta.
Thereupon, Amida Buddha sends forth great rays of light and
shines over the practitioner's body; and with the other bodhisattvas,
he offers his hands in welcome.10

Of particular interest in Figure 3 is the replacement of


Mah?sth?mapr?pta, who usually accompanies Amit?bha and
Avalokit?svara in the triad iconography, by the bodhisattva
Ksitigarbha in the form of amonk.The triad with Ksitigarbha
seems to be unique to Kory? Buddhist painting.
Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha is characterized by his compas
sion for condemned souls in hell and by his zeal in
rescuing them. This conception of his qualities inspired the
belief in "Ksitigarbha, Guide of Souls," who leads deceased
believers to the Western Paradise of Amit?bha.11 Hong
observed that during the Chos?n dynasty (1392?1910)
this belief developed into worship of Ksitigarbha as the

independent deity Inro'wangbosal (K), literally, the


"Boddhisattva King Who Shows theWay" to theWestern
Paradise. As evidence, Hong cites a Kamrot'aeng'hwa
owned by Taeh?ngsa in Haenam, South Cholla Province,
Korea, a panoramic view of the levels of hell and the
rescue of condemned souls by Buddhas and bodhisattvas.12
In this
Chos?n-dynasty painting, Hong argues,
Ksitigarbha, holding a banner and resembling the figure of
Inro'wangbosal, accompanies Amit?bha and Avalokit?svara
Fig. 3. Amit?bha Triad. 14th c. H. 110 cm, w. 51 cm. Ho-Am Art
in the motif of Welcoming Descent. This suggests that the Museum, Yong'in, Korea.

3
Ksitigarbha was surely worshipped as a guide to paradise in Strikingly, in this image Amit?bha faces the viewer,
the Kory? dynasty. Hong's assertion has been seconded by evoking a direct psychological response. This painting was
Kyu-won Kim and, to the best of my knowledge, has so far once identified as Korean,14 but some scholars have con
not been refuted.13 If correct, it explains the appearance tested that attribution.15 Unlike typical Kory? Buddhist
of Ksitigarbha in this Ho-am Welcoming Descent painting paintings, the picture contains little decorative detail
(see Fig. 3): his presence would have further assured the viewer and no gold, which could be explained by a later date of
of the promise of paradise. production.16 A more serious argument against a Kory?
An Amit?bha triad painting in the Cleveland Museum attribution is that no other paintings of the Welcoming
of Art also illustrates the Welcoming Descent in some Descent represent it in such indicative detail.
detail (Fig. 4). Here Avalokit?svara holds a lotus pedestal, This type of painting was more frequently made in the
Amit?bha displays the wish-granting mudr?, and the Ningbo area of China in the fourteenth century and
dynamic swirl of clouds below and behind the deities imported into Japan (Fig. 5). Since at the time Korea as
suggests their hastening from paradise to our realm. well as Japan traded with China through the port of
Ningbo, it seems likely that such a full representation of
the Welcoming Descent was also imported into Kory?
and even reproduced there as well.17 Koreans as well as

Fig. 4. Welcoming Descent of theAmit?bha Triad. 15th c. H. 119.1 cm, w. Fig. 5. Attrib. Zhang Sikong (Yuan dynasty). Welcoming Descent of the
53.3 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art. Amit?bha Triad. 14th c. H. 102.8 cm, w. 57.4 cm. Zenrinji, Kyoto, Japan.

4
Japanese avidly collected paintings from China. Even if face the viewer (Figs. 4, 6, 10), the images clearly represent
such paintings were made in Ningbo, if they were a moment of encounter, be it here on earth or in the
itmust have been because they met or even in a I shall explore how this
imported into Kory?, paradise dream.
Kory? Buddhists' devotional needs. I shall elaborate on "encounter" iconography, with its allusion to salvific
this matter in the following sections. rebirth, could serve to reassure the Kory? Buddhists in
As we have seen, their sparing iconography makes it their devotional yearning for theWestern Paradise.
hard to pinpoint precisely the subject matter of To this end, I shall look into the development of Pure
many Kory? Amit?bha images. But motifs such as a lotus Land Buddhism and its imagery in fourteenth-century
pedestal (or its holder, Avalokit?svara), the wish-granting Kory?, and ask why Kory? Buddhists wanted to "meet
mudr? of Amit?bha, and occasionally Ksitigarbha's atten with" Amit?bha and his retinue even in a visual simulation.
dance, clearly convey the Kory? Buddhists' wish for
rebirth in theWestern Paradise. Especially when the figures II. PURE LAND BUDDHISM AND ITS IMAGERY

Unlike in Japan, Pure Land Buddhism of the Kory? dynasty


did not develop as an independent school, but its idea of
rebirth in the Western Paradise and practice of y?mbur
(C: nianfo;]: nenbutsu; the recitation of Amit?bha's name),
were eagerly accommodated by other schools such as Chan,
Tiantai, and Esoteric Buddhism. The simple practice of
y?mbur and the appealing grandeur of the Western Paradise
opened a way to access the religious teaching and share
its spiritual benefit. As a result, many writings from this
period provide descriptions of the Pure Land. They show
how the Pure Land was understood literally and visually,
not abstractly and metaphysically, by Kory? Buddhists, even
by the educated such as monks and literati.
Belief in the Pure Land was further fueled by the anxiety
and unrest in the contemporary Kory? society. The frequent
contests for throne and the invasion of Mongols corrobo
rated popular belief that the Age of the Degenerate Law had
begun. Monk Mugi (fourteenth century) said:
What else should we do but seek after the Pure Land in this Age
of the Degenerate Law? Those who doubt this teaching and laugh
at the believers of the Pure Land mislead themselves as well as
others. This is deeply deplorable.18

The Age of the Degenerate Buddhist Law was believed to


be the third era after the death of Buddha S?kyamuni. In
this age of corruption men were bereft of any ability to
accumulate merits and attain rebirth in a better state of
being. The only way to attain salvation was to invoke
Amit?bha's name and to be reborn in theWestern Paradise
through the Buddha's compassion and power. As a result,
the invocation of Amit?bha's name, especially at one's
deathbed, became very significant in the late Kory? dynasty.
In awriting addressed to a certain Yi Sang, the Son (Zen)
monk Hyek?n (1320-1376) suggested that he practice
y?mbur while facing west, the direction where Amit?bha
was believed to reside. Although Son monks were usually
critical of such a literal understanding of the Western
Paradise, Hyek?n thought it effective for the layman:
If you face toward the west and persevere in reciting Amit?bha's
cm> w- 92-4 cm- Sinjuji,Tsu the lotus pedestal for the highest level of rebirth will open
Fig. 6. Amit?bha Triad. 14th c. H. 168.5 name,

City, Japan. up of itself.19

5
The to the lotus pedestal here indicates that con
reference representations of the encounter with Amit?bha were

temporary understanding of the rebirth in the paradise quite perceived and how they functioned.
specifically invoked the visual imagery narrated in the s?tras.
True believers will be reborn on a lotus on the pond of the III. THE DEATHBED RITUAL
Paradise.

Another Fourteenth-century monk, Mu'oe, stated in his The function and use of Amit?bha paintings in Kory?
plea to the Ten Kings of Hell: have been hardly discussed, partly due to the paucity of
evidence.23 contrast, their use in con
Iwish, with the aid of the Holy Ten Kings of Hell, to be able to documentary By
temporary Japan is well known.
from Honen A scene
get rid of sins accumulated through my countless lives, rescue
in the burning lives, and sit on the lotus Sh?nin Eden, the pictorial biography of Monk Honen
people suffering earthly
pedestal to be received by the Holy Company [of Amit?bha].20 (1133-1212) at K?sh?ji, shows him on his deathbed hold
ing a string connected to an image of Amit?bha (Fig. 7).
Mu'oe explicitly mentions the motifs of lotus pedestal and At the same time Honen beholds in a vision an Amit?bha
the holy assembly of Amit?bha at the moment of salvific triad hovering above his head. The clouds near the triad
transition. Contemporary understanding of rebirth in the suggest that this is a vision of their arrival to receive and
Western Paradise was articulated in the vivid imagery of transport Honen into theWestern Paradise.
theWelcoming Descent and subsequent transition. Yamagoshi Amida, a late thirteenth-century Japanese
The late Kory? literatusYi Saek (1328?1396) also alluded screen at
the Konkaik?my?ji, Kyoto, offers additional
to theWelcoming Descent in the inscription for a pagoda evidence such images were
that used to comfort dying
dedicated to Ayusmat Poje of the Kwangmy?ngsa: believers (Fig. 8). The painting still retains the shreds of
five-colored strings attached to Amit?bha's two fingers.
The priest (Poje) calmly passed away in the morning, and the peo
clouds covered the The screen was brought to the dying person so that he
ple of the village observed that five-colored

nearby mountain.21
could hold the strings and pray for rebirth in Amit?bha's
Western Paradise.24 The inscription on the left side of the
he did not mention Amit?bha, the five-colored screen confirms its function as psychological support of a
Although
clouds over the mountain suggest
an
auspicious
occurrence.
dying believer in the hour of his passing:
Since this was a respected priest died,
the moment
when
I have yearned for the Western Paradise all my life. That is the
I believe that the auspicious event referred to here meant
moment when Amit?bha will lead me into the paradise.
to contemporaries nothing other than the Welcoming
In delectation, there comes a light from Amit?bha's forehead, and
Descent: Amit?bha with his cloud-borne company music and new teaching surprise my hearing.
arrived to receive the priest.Yi's description also recalls an
iconography well known from Japanese painting, Yamagoshi As I bid an eternal farewell to my village mountain, the autumn
moon sees me off; as I behold the Western in the distance,
Amida (Fig. 8), in which Amit?bha, surrounded by me.
paradise
night clouds welcome
clouds, traverses a mountain toward the dying believer.
The clouds over the mountain inYi's inscription might Now I should go first with the aid of Amit?bha. May Amit?bha
refer to the trace of the deities' visit, which would not have lead all the people in the world into theWestern Paradise!25

been visible to the unworthy.


The literatus Py?n Kyeryang (1369?1430), who lived A similar use is also documented in Korea, but slightly
through the transitional period of the late Kory? and early later. Monk Kihwa (1376?1433), who lived through the
Chos?n dynasties, referred more specifically to the vision transitional period of the late Kory? and early Chos?n
of Welcoming Descent in an inscription for a pagoda dynasty, described the last moments of a monk named
dedicated to Ayusmat Myoom: Sang'am. This description is significant evidence for the
existence of the deathbed rite in the Kory? period.
After saying this, the priest [Myoom] passed calmly away. In the
same Hwaom monk Ch'anki, who was staying in the
night At time, relying on the s?tra and the law of the Pure Land,
that
in Kaes?ng, beheld in his dream that the priest was
P?p'wangsa he set an image in front of him, holding
[Sang'am] [of Buddha]
on a lotus pedestal over the head of Buddha [Amit?bha]
standing the bottom of the banner in his hand and reciting Amit?bha's
in the sky.22
name in his mouth, and prepared to follow Buddha and be reborn
in Paradise. He was listening to an assistant's y?mbur but told him
were con to stop.Without the need o? y?mbur, he at that time.
Both clergy and laymen of the late Kory? dynasty . . . .2<5
contemplated
It was with utmost devotion
sumed by the idea of transition to theWestern Paradise, and
they eagerly accepted the panoramic description from the
s?tras. In the context of such visually conceived under Monk Kihwa observed that this monk placed an image of
standings and beliefs concerning rebirth in the Western Amit?bha in front of him as he was dying, exactly as the
Paradise, we can return to the
questions
of how visual Honen Sh?nin Eden illustrates (see Fig. 7).

6
Fig. 7. Death ofH?nen.
From H?nen Sh?nin Eden.

Koshoji, Hiroshima
Prefecture, Japan.

The Japanese Pure Land monk Genshin (942-1017) in


his Essentials of Salvation in the Pure Land (J: Op Y&shti)
wrote that in China, in the deathbed ritual, a dying person
held the tip of a banner that was draped around the left
hand of the Buddha statue.

In the room, a statue of Buddha . . . and face the west. The


place
statue raises the right hand, and his left hand is draped with a five
to the floor.
colored silk banner. The tip of the banner hangs down
The dying should be eased . . . and his left hand holds the tip of
the banner .... The statue faces the east, and the dying person

stays in front of it.27

In Genshin's description, exacdy as in Monk Kihwa's, the


statue's hand is draped with a banner, and the dying person
holds its tip. Furthermore, the deathbed rite focused on
Amit?bha image continued to exist into the sixteenth
century in the Chos?n dynasty, when it was called
Tosang'yombur (C: Tuxiang nianfo; J: Zus?nenbutsu; y?mbur
with icon). An image of Amit?bha was brought to a dying
believer so that he could recite the last y?mbur and prayer for
rebirth while contemplating the image of the Buddha.28
A deathbed ritual using an image had existed in China
even before the tenth century, and in Japan by the fourteenth
century. And a documentary source attests the existence of
the ritual in Korea at the beginning of the fifteenth century.
Then is it not reasonable to suppose that the rite had
existed at least as early as the fourteenth century (the late
cm, w. Kory? dynasty) in Korea, which is closer to the continent
Fig. 8. Yamagoshi Amida. Late 13th c. H. 100.8 83 cm.
Konkaik?my?ji, Kyoto, Japan. than Japan?

7
The Cleveland triad (see Fig. 4), made inMonk Kihwa s
lifetime or even earlier, would have been a perfect image for
use in such a rite. Amit?bha, in frontal stance, faces the dying
believer, Avalokit?svara presents the vehicle of salvation, and
trailing clouds suggest the deities'journey from theWestern
X 53.3 cm) and hanging
Paradise.The painting's size (119.1
scroll format would have made it easily portable. If a paint
to Kory?, it could
ing of this type was made in or imported
have been mainly for the use in the rite.
I believe that iconographically less specific Amit?bha
paintings had a similar use in the Kory? dynasty. The
previously mentioned Amit?bha painting from the former
Shimazu collection (Fig. 9) bears an inscription of 1286 that
states the nobleman Y?m S?ng-ik's wish for the afterlife:

Iwish that, at the time of dying, Iwill be able to remove all hin
drances and my body will not encounter any difficulties. I further
wish to meet with the Buddha Amit?bha and be reborn in the

temple of comfort and joy.29

This painting was made as a votive image to assure rebirth


in paradise after death. Clearly, Amit?bha images of this kind
had a strong association with wishes for afterlife.
This painting has also been related to the chapter of
"Samantabhadra's Conduct and Vow" in the Avatamsaka
Sutra.30 Seinosuke Ide interestingly argues that Amit?bha
as shown here, even though not exactly frontal, still faces
the viewer, inviting the viewer into his presence. This
seems valid, especially when we compare this painting
with the more typical three-quarter?view Amit?bha
images such as the one in the MOA Museum (see Fig. 1).
The viewer, facing Amit?bha, becomes him- or herself the
agent of Samantabhadra's Vow in the Avatamsaka S?tra. The
viewer sees the lotus pedestal below the right hand of
Amit?bha and imagines being transported on it and meet
ing with Amit?bha to receive Enlightenment, exactly as
the bodhisattva Samantabhadra wished. Ide's observation
appears to further corroborate my thesis that frontal
Amit?bha images (Figs. 6, 10) were made to serve devo
tional needs at that time.
An Amit?bha image, especially one completely frontal,
would have had powerful emotional effect in the
deathbed rituals recounted in Monk Kihwa's description cm. Former
Fig. 9. Amit?bha. Dated
to 1286. H. 203.5 cm> w- 105.1
or in Honens story (see Fig. 7).The monumental figures Shimazu collection, Japan.
of Amit?bha and the bodhisattvas in the Amit?bha triad at
(see Fig. 6) and the Amit?bha at Tokai-an (see
Senjuji
more detail, Another image that I associate with the deathbed rite is
Fig. 10), lacking any specific iconographie
could be perceived either as the vision of theWelcoming the Amit?bha and Ksitigarbha in theMetropolitan Museum of
Descent or as a pre-enactment of the sugi after rebirth in Art (Fig 11). In this portable hanging scroll (94.5 X 55.6 cm)
theWestern Paradise. Moreover, the simple composition both divinities face the viewer, though their stances differ
the whole space could help the slighdy. As mentioned in connection with the Ho-am
occupying pictorial
viewer to concentrate on the of the deities and the Museum's Welcoming Descent (see Fig. 3), in the Kory?
figures
was identified with the
hope for salvation they represented. Their hanging-scroll period Ksitigarbha Inro'wang,
format and their size, respectively (168.5 x 92-4 cm) and bodhisattva who leads dead souls to paradise.31 Thus, two
(116.4 X 54.5 cm), further suggest their functionality. monumental figures?Amit?bha, Lord of the Western

8
ii. Amit?bha and Ksitigarbha. H. 94.5 cm, w. 55.6 cm.
Fig.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

IV ENVISIONING THE HOLY

Frontal Amit?bha images were not only useful for the last
rite, but could also be a most effective focus for contem
plation of the deity, since they simulate the moment of
Fig. io. Amit?bha. 14th c. H. 116.4 cm, w. 54.5 cm.Tokai-an, Kyoto, S?tra
meeting with Amit?bha face-to-face. The Meditation
Japan.
lays out a systematic method of visualization that could
accommodate even an individual without deep theological
Paradise, and Ksitigarbha, who guides the soul to that understanding. The text leads the reader through sixteen
paradise, both looking benignly down at the viewer, could stages of envisioning the panoramic features of theWestern
most effectively appease the anxiety of the dying. In par Paradise and contemplating them in sequence.32 The
ticular, Ksitigarbha's slighdy turned stance, as if about to walk ninth, tenth, and eleventh contemplations focus on the
into the empyrean, coupled with his gesture, appears to urge numinous physical features of Amit?bha, Avalokit?svara,
the viewer along on the impending journey to paradise. and Mah?sth?mapr?pta. The Meditation S?tra asserts the

9
spiritual benefit of contemplating the physical manifesta deity, as taught in the above-mentioned two sutras, but is
tion of these deities: composed as a plain incantation suitable for lay use:

a Buddha In every thought, let there be Amit?bha


Therefore, when you perceive in your mind, it is your
In every time, let there be Amit?bha
mind that possesses the thirty-two prominent features and the
In every place, let there be Amit?bha
attributes. Your mind becomes a Buddha, your
eighty secondary
In everything to do, let there be Amit?bha
mind is a Buddha, and the wisdom of the buddhas?true, univer
If one does this one's whole life long,
sal, and ocean-like?arises from this mind.33
Can it be difficult to go to Paradise?41

It starts with very specific details of their physical attributes Instrumental to the attainment
of paradise is the practice
and unleashes readers' imaginative capacities with hyper of mental fixation.42 that this hymn was written
Given for
bolic language:34 the laity rather than for ecclesiastics, such fixation was most

There is a twist
of white hair between his [Amit?bha's] likely to occur in the visual imagination. Exposure to
eyebrows,
Amit?bha images could only facilitate such a process, since
curling gently to the right like five Sumeru mountains. The
Buddha s eyes are pure like the waters of the four great oceans, the believers could visualize more easily something they had
blue and the white are clear and distinct, and like Mount Sumeru, seen.
already
the pores of his body emit rays of light.35 The Tiantai
Chinese school also had a long tradition of
On his [Avalokit?svara s] head is a heavenly crown made of jew appropriating the Meditation Sutra. The idea of Zhiyi
els, and within this heavenly crown stands a
miraculously created
(538-597), founder of the Tiantai school, was adopted by
Buddha .... This bodhisattvas arms, the color of the
red lotus, the monkYose (1163?1245) of Kory?, who regarded him
are adorned with ornaments made of eighty kotis of exquisite rays self as Zhiyi's spiritual successor and often lectured on his
of light. Within these ornaments, the majestic works [of the
are reflected in their entirety.36 writings.43 Zhiyi had written in The Great Calming and
Buddha]

crown has five


Contemplation:
This Bodhisattvas [Mah?sth?mapr?pta's] heavenly
hundred jeweled lotus flowers; each jeweled flower has five hun For ninety do not cease to behave
days properly with your body,
dred jeweled pedestals, and within each pedestal the breadth and for ninety do not to cease
call Amit?bha's name with
days upon
extent of the pure and exquisite lands of the buddhas in the ten
your mouth, for ninety days contemplate Amit?bha Buddha in
quarters are reflected in their entirety.37 .... Take Amit?bha as
your mind alone the focus of your perse
verance. In your walking, let there be nothing
listening, thinking,
but Amit?bha Buddha.44
This kind of visually oriented
contemplation appears to
have been widely practiced among the Pure Land Buddhists
in Kory?, as its illustrations (Meditation Sutra Bianxiangtu) Here "contemplate Amit?bha in your mind" refers directly
made at the time testify.38 to the method of envisioning the deity that is laid out in the
Another s?tra of Pure Land Buddhism teaches the vision Meditation Sutra. Zhiyi used the character guan for "contem
of Buddha as a blissful reward. The Sutra on the Sam?dhi of plate," which is also the first character of theMeditation Sutras
the Manifestation of Buddha (K: Panjusammaekyong) is Chinese title and means "see," "behold," and "meditate."45
believed to have originated, like the Meditation Sutra, in Since Yose is known to have been deeply concerned with
Central Asia, and was introduced into Korea during the the spiritual well-being of the laity, he must have eagerly
Three Kingdom period (before 668).39 It refers to dream as taught this appealing and accessible meditative method.
one kind of visionary experience. Monk Mugi also proposed a similar devotional practice
in the Hymns on the Life of S?kyamuni:
Do not breach the commandment, and focus your mind on call
Buddha the whole and night. After seven and If one concentrates on reciting the name of Buddha or one bod
ing upon day days
not awake, but in a dream ....
nights, you will behold Him, hisattva, Enlightenment is easily achieved. That person would behold
the true body [of Amit?bha], and hear the Law, and realize the true
If a bodhisattva yearns to hear Buddha's name, yearns to behold
see an infinite number
he will see Him as if he holds a on path. That person would of Buddhas gather
Buddha, certainly jewel from the ten quarters of the universe, and also many bodhisattvas.46
....
glass

Buddha and comes .... One sees what


The Sutra of theDh?ranX of Supreme Bliss,47 a Pure Land trea
goes
anywhere anywhere
one conceives; if the mind conceives Buddha, it shall see Buddha. tise heavily influenced by Esoteric Buddhism, also refers to
The Mind is Buddha . . . .4? the vision of Amit?bha as a blissful reward for devotion:

If one recite this dh?ranT a hundred thousand times with firm res
By fixating on the figure of Amit?bha, one will be able to in meet two
olution, this lifetime he will with
Maitreya; with
see him in this very life, first in a dream and eventually hundred thousand times, he will meet with Avalokit?svara; with
awake. three hundred thousand times, he will meet with Amit?bha.48

Contemporary also reflects such an


literature in Kory?
idea. The hymn Sung'won'ga, attributed to the Son monk The idea that one could meet with Amit?bha "in this life"
Hyek?n, contains the concept of fixating the mind on the reflects the Esoteric Buddhist teaching that achieving

10
buddhahood in this life is possible. And it resonates very In language terse and delphic, typical of Son teaching,
closely with the aforementioned Sutra on the Sam?dhi of the Kihwa's suggestion to "turn your body into" the light of

Manifestation of the Buddha. Amit?bha appears to mean "contemplate Amit?bha's body."


In this religious atmosphere, filled with yearnings to The Meditation Sutra asserts that "the pores of his body
"encounter" Amit?bha, paintings would have aided the emit rays of light." For those who had lost the way to
practice of meditative envisioning. images Enlightenment, whether due to accumulated sin or to
Contemplating
prepares
one to conceive a vision, be it a dream or a more
ignorance, Kihwa was recommending a direct and intu
substantive experience. Indeed, many writings of the period itive way to access the holy. Most of all, by pointing at
allude to the use of images for devotional purposes. Amit?bha's image in this address, Kihwa seemed directly
The Tiantai monk Mugi is known to have painted to recommend the use of an image in this devotional
Amit?bha as a devotional practice: contemplation.
Indeed, Kory? frontal images of Amit?bha, whether
Finally he settled down at T'ak'il chapel in Sih?ng mountain,
recited the Lotus S?tra, and called Amit?bha's name, his alone or with attending bodhisattvas, appear strongly asso
painted
images, and transcribed surras daily for almost twenty years.49
ciated with the Meditation Sutra and its visualization
methodology. MariYu has suggested that the iconographie
Though he regarded y?mbur as the most important practice, types of frontal Amit?bha images in Kory? might have been
he also cited the making of images as equivalent to alms derived from depictions of the eighth to thirteenth stages
giving, meditation, singing of hymns, and incense burning.50 of meditation as illustrated in the Meditation Sutra Bian
A similar idea was expressed by the literatusYi Saek. He xiangtu.55 Yu further observed that in China the eighth to
quoted a certain Buddhist called Hyusang'in, who had said: thirteenth contemplations were separately depicted in small
format, probably for portability and convenient use in
The of Buddha as well as His words are essential to
figure
. . . therefore meditation.56
beginninig the
practice [of devotion] with the
donation for my sermon, I had Amit?bha and eight bodhisattvas In the Meditation Sutra Bianxiangtu owned by Saifukuji
painted
. . . .5I
(see Fig. 2), a little medallion (Fig. 12) illustrates the thirteenth
of the meditative stages, called Composite Contemplation
Making images as a devotional act suggests that, whether in (K: Chabsangkwan).57This is a comprehensive visualization
painting or in imagination, visual imagery played a significant of the Amit?bha triad, with Amit?bha's miraculously mani
part in the religious practice of Kory? Pure Land Buddhism. fested bodies in the background. Significantly, the standing
Monk Mu'oe discussed this issue more theologically in a figures in this triad closely resemble frontal Amit?bha images
writing celebrating the ritualistic painting in of the pupils such as the Senjuji painting (see Fig d).The inscription on
of the eyes in an Amit?bha image, a process roughly com the painting of the thirteenth stage reads:
parable to consecration of images in Catholicism.
If one truly yearns to be reborn in paradise,
on He should behold the gigantic deities on the
Ordinary minds rely figures and images; thus, ifwe do not shape standing pond.
an image out of truth, how can the mind reach truth through an When simply thinking of Amit?bha procures infinite luck,
image? For this reason, the Buddhas of Three Ages and Bodhisattvas What would beholding His figure bring?58
of Ten Quarters, although bodiless, reveal bodies and show all
colors and forms.... Thus, through worshipping [the images of With this inscription inmind, how is the monumental triad
five pains and burning anxieties can be eliminated.52 to a
Buddha],
(see Fig. 6) be perceived? It could be vision conjured
up from the small medallion in the s?tra illustration (see
About the same ritual performed on an Amit?bha Triad Fig. 12). Significantly, the figures stand on lotus flowers,
image, he said: which could refer to the lotus pond of theWestern Paradise
(Fig. 6) or to the flowers that spring up under the feet of
When even the miraculously created bodies are not the true
of Buddha, would a true . . .But the divinities wherever they walk. Likewise, a single
body painting be His body?
without borrowing the simulacrum, how could one perceive
Amit?bha image (see Fig. 10) could be used to practice the
the true body?53 ninth stage of meditation, that of concentrating on the
Buddha's features.
These writings are significant, since they justify the use of The extreme detail typical of Kory? Buddhist paintings
images as preparation to behold or understand the true exis was probably intended to aid in imprinting the image on
tence, or body, of Buddha. the viewer's visual memory. For example, the exquisite
Monk Kihwa further suggested the use of images in an design on Amit?bha's red robe in Figure 13 consists of a
address to a certain Ch ong Sang'guk: myriad of lines and repeated pattern units. Gazing at these
"If you fail in taking the way [to Enlightenment]," with his patterns as they repeat, transform, and expand creates, like
to [an "face the the repetition of y?mbur, a trance-like state, which often
[Kihwa's] finger pointing image of] Amit?bha,
infinite light of Amit?bha and turn your body into it."54
accompanied the contemplation of images. The Meditation

II
Fig. 12. Detail of Fig. 2.

Sutra also recommends starting with one small detail of


Buddha's body; once that detail has been absorbed into
consciousness, the whole image will naturally follow:59 Fig. 13. Amit?bha. Detail. 14th c. H. 177.9 cm, w. 106.9 cm. Zenrinji,

Kyoto, Japan. From Judith G. Smith, ed., Arts of Korea (New York:
In order to perceive the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, begin with Museum of Art,
Metropolitan 1998, pl. 76.)
one should
of the physical features; that is, you perceive just the
twist of white hair between his eyebrows until it becomes very
clear and distinct. Once you have seen the twist of white hair
between his eyebrows, the eighty-four thousand features appear of
their own accord.60 as religious objects have not received much attention. In
this essay I have attempted to demonstrate how these paint
By right concentration, then, the devotee's mind can trans ings could have served the devotional needs of Kory? Pure
form this small pattern unit on Amit?bha's robe (see Fig. 13) Land Buddhists.To this end, I have looked into contempo
into the whole robe draping the body of Buddha and rary s?tras and other writings that suggest the employment
eventually into the very image of Amit?bha. of visual imagery and images in devotional practices, and
drawn comparisons with the functional dimensions of
V CONCLUSION painting in Kamakura Japan, which have been fully studied.
Many religions, seeking to convey pure, abstract truth or
Even though Amit?bha paintings of the Kory? dynasty have divinity, have used forms as pathways to or metaphors of
been much praised for their exquisite detail, and represent those transcendants. Pure Land Buddhist art in Kory?
one of the best-known genres of Korean art, their functions dynasty is a vivid case in point.

12
i9. xf?m<m?mw???.sh?mm from mmmnwm, m
Notes
Han'gukpulgyoch?ns? ^Mi%>%k?=?M, vol. 6, p. 742.
20. Koj?ng So, Tongmuns?n the Eastern Kingdom),
(Selected Writings from
i.Jun'ichi Kikutake, "Special Features of Buddhist Paintings of the 1478, vol. 111, modern Korean translation by Minchokmunhwach'ujinhoe

Kory? Dynasty," in Kory? Sidae ?i Purhwa, ed. Han'g?k MisulY?n'guso (Seoul: Minchokmunhwach'ujinhoe, 1998), vol. 8, p. 449.
as 21.
(Seoul: Sigongsa, 1997), pp. 10-14. Kikutake interprets this tendency Tongmuns?n, vol. 119 (1998), vol. 9, p. 179.
a conscious effort to adhere to a set of chosen 22. 121 (1998),
iconographie types. Tongmuns?n, vol. vol. 9, p. 246.
2. Mun, text in Korp Purhwa (Buddhist Painting 23. Pure Land rituals in general have been studied by
My?ng-dae catalogue thoroughly
in theKory? Dynasty), ed.Yi Dongju Ilbosa, I98i),p. 244. Yun-sik Hong. See "Pure Land Devotion in Korean Buddhist Rites,"
(Seoul:Joongang
3.My?ng-dae Mun, Kory? Purhwa pp. 243-45. Pulgyo Hakbo, vol. 13 (1976), pp. 191-205; also his book published in
4. See Kikutake Jun'ichi, "On aWork of Raig?-zu of the Kory? Japan, Kankoku Bukky? Girei no KenkyU (Tokyo: Ry?bunkan, 1976).
Dynasty?Painting of
standing Amit?bha of Hagiwaradera in Kagawa 24. The Pure-Land M?ndala, Nara National Museum (Nara: Nara
Prefecture," Yamato Bunka, vol. 72 (December 1983): pp. 15-24; Woo National Museum, 1983), p. 233.
thak Chung, "Transformation of Paintings of Amit?bha and Eight Great 25. Ibid. p. 233.
Bodhisattvas of the Kory? Dynasty," Yamato Bunka, vol. 80 (September

1988), pp. 1-16.


5. Luis O. Gomez, Land of Bliss: the Paradise of the Buddha ofMeasureless

Light (Honolulu and Kyoto: Univ. of Hawaii Pr., 1996), p. 168.


6. My?ng-dae Mun, Kory? Purhwa, cat. no. 7; Kory? Sidae ?i Purhwa,
26. tern -ft??? ?sis? ??jw nmim ftmm&*kzm
ed. Han'g?k MisulY?n'guso (Seoul: Sigongsa, 1997), cat. no. 26.
?m???H^A^#?KAjr:ib_j^?# mutm fflt??, m&m
7.Yun-sik Hong, Korf? Purhwa UiYorigu (Studies on the Buddhist Painting 21
ISO^AtF, 1940) pp. H-22 BU. (No publication information other
of Korf? Dynasty) (Seoul: Tonghwach'ulp'an'gongsa, 1984), pp. 157-58;
than this)
Kyu-won Kim, "Kory? Buddhist Painting and Amit?bha
Worship"
27. Genshin (Mf?), ???^ft, THOife^ PH (Tokyo: n. p., 1937)
Festschrift for Professor Yun-sik Hong (Seoul: publication committee for
*?, P. 299 ff.?S^If-??... Sf^ffiS K?H^m ??+31-2
Festschrift for Professor Yun-sik Hong, 2000), pp. 312-13.
8. Meiji ed., The S?tra on the Buddha
Yamada, of Meditation of 28. Chikwan Yi, "Early Chos?n Pure Land Ideas Revealed in
Immeasurable Life as Expounded by S?kyamuni Buddha, trans. Ry?k?ku
Translation Center Documents," in Hanguk Ch?ngto Sasang Y?n'gu (Studies on Korean Pure
University (Kyoto: Ry?k?ku University Press, 1984),
Land Buddhist Ideas), hereafter HCSY, ed. Pulkyo MunhwaY?n'guw?n,
p. 83.
Dongguk University (Seoul: Dongguk Univ. Pr., 1985), p. 234.
this painting, see a recent Park, "The
9. Concerning study by Tohwa
29. mnm&?mm mm-mmmm ?et r-m^w m^&mn
Iconographie Relation
between Kory? and Xixia (Tangut) Buddhist
mt?m&^mm Mun (i98i),pp. 243-44.
Painting," Komunhwa, vol. 52 (1998), pp. 65-83.
30. Seinosuke "A Kory?
Ide, Painting of Amida and the Fugen
10.Meiji Yamada, Meditation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, p. 81.
Gyogan-bon," Bijutsu KenkyU, vol. 362 (1995.3), esp. pp. 2, 18-19.
11. Purhwa p. 1630e.
HongYunsik, Kory? UiYon'gu,
12. as 31. Yun-sik, Hong, Kory? Purhwa ?i Y?n'gu, p. 164.
Hong this painting
provides fig. 45 in his book (1984). On the
32. The use of images in Buddhist meditation has been widely stud
Ksitigarbha images of Kory?, and his role as a savior from hell, seeTeruo
ied.Wu "Reborn a Case
in Paradise:
Nakano,"OnTwo of Ksitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell," Hung, Study of Dunhuang S?tra
Paintings
Painting and its Religious, and Artistic
Ritual, Context," Orientations,
Bijutsu Kenkyu, vol. 356 (1993.3), pp. 38-41.
vol. 23, no. 5 (May 1992), pp. 52?60, discusses in detail how the mural
13. Kyu-won Kim, "Kory? Buddhist Painting," pp. 312-13.
in Dunhuang Cave 172, illustrating the Meditation S?rtra, conveys the
14. It was first identified as a Korean work by Marjorie Williams in
methodology of meditation expounded in that s?tra. Stanley Abe, "Art
Korean Culture, vol. 3, no. 4 (December 1982),pp. 4-17.Earlier,Wai-kam
and Practice in a Fifth-century Chinese Buddhist Cave Temple," Ars
Ho indicated that this painting (1961.135) was not Chinese, and hence
Orientalis, vol. 20 (1991), pp. 1?31, has fully discussed methods of visu
excluded it from the exhibition catalogue Eight Dynasties of Chinese
ally oriented meditation, including that of the Meditation S?tra, and the
Painting (Cleveland Museum of Art, 1980); see its no. 48. I owe these
murals in Dunhuang Cave 254 as instruments to that end.
observations to Ms. Nancy Grossman, curatorial assistant of Asian art at
the Cleveland Museum of Art. More itwas as Korean, 33. Meiji Yamada, (Meditation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life,) p. 51.
recently regarded
34. Wu Hung observes that such a hyperbolic rhetoric found in
in Latter Days of the Law, ed. Marsha Weidner
(Lawrence: Spencer
s?tras cannot possibly be illustrated and represented in painting. Rather,
Museum of Art, University of Kansas, 1994), no. 3.
the images were supposed to be stimuli that trigger the envisioning
15. For example,Takeda Kazuaki did not include this painting in the
process of the viewers. See Wu Hung (1992), p. 57.
list of early Chos?n Buddhist painting in his article "Early Chos?n
35. Meiji Yamada (Kyoto, 1984), p. 57.
Amit?bha and Eight Bodhisattvas, owned by Zenby?ji," Misulsa Nontan,
vol. 36. Ibid., pp. 65, 67.
3 (1996), p. 346.
16. Author's 37. Ibid., p. 71.
article,"The Face-to-face Advent of the Amit?bha Triad:
a Cleveland in theHistory
Studies 38. For the sixteen stages of meditation in the Meditation S?tra, as
Fifteenth-century Welcoming Descent,"
illustrated in Kory?, see an excellent of Un-sok "A
study Song, Study
ofArt, vol. 6 (Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001), esp. pp. 34-35.
on The
17. By?ngmo on Buddhist of Paintings of Sixteen Visions of Amit?yur-dhy?na-s?tra in the Late
Chong,"A Comparative Study Painting
and Kory?," Kangjwa Misulsa, vol. 9 (1977), pp. 105-26; Hwijoon Kory? Dynasty" (M.A. thesis, Seoul National University, 1995).
Ningbo
39. Y?ngt'ae Kim, "The Introduction and Development of Maitreya
Ahn, "Importation of Chinese Painting into Korea during the Kory? and
Worship in the Three Kingdom Period," in HCSY, p. 14.
the EarlyYi Dynasties," Yamato Bunka, vol. 62 (July 1977), esp. p. 2ff.
40. ^?^$fcH S? ?T?Sp^? T. 418, pp. 904-905.
18.??:*&a:B# ^#?f i??BHtkacAifrifcfcSH
#???g| ?M^^
% ^Wlti. g mm A m%mm *g*f?* From his Hymns of S?kya
muni Buddha's Life WMtUM^l^M %~?, in Han'gukpulgyock?ns?
^m?ujk ?BfiRi?H?* #?0?i?o:?su?.# SB-si.? tm?m
^t?{?&?fcie:ll (Seoul: Dongguk Univ. Pr., 1984), vol. 6, p. 531; also see
Yun'gil So, "Tiantai Y?mbur of Monk Unmuk (Mugi)", in Han'guk
Ch'?nt'ae Univ. 41 mmmnwm, itmmik&m, voi 6 P 752
SasangYon'gu (Seoul: Dongguk Pr., 1983), pp. 275-365.

13
42. A similar type of meditative method is found in the S?tra on the 50. Yun'gil So, "Pure Land Ideas," p. 163; Sangsik Ch'ae, Kory?
Sea of Sam?dhi of Buddha Visualization. See Abe, "Art and Practice," p. 5. Huki Pulkyosa Y?n'gu, p. 224.
43. Sangsik Ch'ae, Kory? Huki Pulkyosa Y?n'gu (Studies on theHistory 51. Tongmuns?n, vol. 87 (1998), vol. 7, p. 189.
in late Kory? Dynasty) see vol. 121 (1998), vol. 8, p. 454.
of Buddhism (Seoul: Il'hogak, 1991), pp. 74-75; 52. Tongmuns?n,
also Ikchin Ko, "The White Lotus Confraternity of W?nmyo Yose and 53. Ibid., p. 456.
its Idea," Pulkyo Hakbo, vol. 15 (1977), pp. 109-20. 54.m&mmtt& a^mmmm^ Rfommmmmitw* ?#*&,
44. W?5?JL?#^?_bT. i9ii,p. 12 ws?wa%k p. 13 lu.
a+ 0?nMmtkE* A+ 0 pnmwmmmzmfr?, 55. Mari Yu, "Comparative Study of Chinese Dunhuang Guanqing
Bianxiangtu (Guimet Museum) and Korean Kwanky?ng Byonsangdo
(Saifukuji)," Kangjwa Misulsa, vol. 4 (1992), p. 64; "Painting of the
45. For etymological and methodological interpretation of this char Sixteen Visions of the Meditation S?tra, Made in April 1323,"
acter guan (K: kwan), seeWu Hung,"Reborn in Paradise," p. 56, and Abe, vol. 28 (1995), p. 47.
Munhwajae,
56. Mari Yu, "A on Chinese
Study Dunhuang Guanqing
46. mmummm. #t, mmmik^m voi. 6: P. 524. Bianxiangtu," Munhwajae, vol. 30 (1997), p. 154.
57. For each meditative stage and its inscription in this Saifukuji

painting, seeUn-s?k Song, "Paintings of Sixteen Visions of Amit?yur


47. This s?tra was also circulated in Kory?. See Yun'gil So, "Pure dhy?na-s?tra,"
n. 38.
Land Ideas in Kory? Tiantai and Esoteric Schools," in HCSY, P- 164. 58. Ibid., appendix.
48 ??'M?s-?x? *a#*?? i. m&&m ^??-?xft **
59. The Sea S?tra also urges this kind of process, a small
starting from
mmMA^m^tmf^m t 934, P. 80. detail and extending to the whole being of Buddha. See Abe, "Art and
49.%mt?m\h$-mmm mummm ?mt mmmm n%m% Practice," p. 56?.
s-+^?, wMtm'? ?m m*, mm?m^m voi. 6: P. 539. 60. Meiji Yamada, Meditation on the Buddha
of Immeasurable Life, p. 63.

14
Chinese Characters (with Korean transcription)

Chabsangkwan HSffi

Inro'wangbosal ^If??l?S?

Kamrot'aeng'hwa "rt?H???E

Kwanmuryangsukybng ?&3Ril?$S

Muryangsukyong IRA it IS

Nae'y?ngdo ^fflB

Panjusammaekyong ^if}H^M

Puls?lmuryang'gongd?kdaraniky?ng ?#teAIA^??PEil/E??
Sugi Sp5

Tosang'y?mbur H??^f^

y?mbur

15

You might also like