The Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology

The extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings associated with the Flower Garland Sutra (華嚴經) are also uncommon. The only known work is the Vairocana Triad in the Museum of East Asian Art, Köln, Germany. The iconography of the Illustration of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is taken from the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (C: Fangguang yuanjue xiuduo luoliao yijing, 方廣圓覺修多羅了義經, abbreviated as Yuanjue jing, 圓覺經), a scripture which has a close connection to the Flower Garland Sutra. On the other hand, Fifteen Thousand Buddhas in Fudō-in (不動院) is suffused with tiny images of numerous Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Some opinions have suggested that it is the pictorial depiction of the narrative expounded on the Flower Garland Sutra: “The moment Vairocana reached enlightenment, a ray of light emanated from his body to illuminate every corner of the world of ten directions and a cloud of transformation bodies of the Buddha emerged from every pore”; “The transformation bodies emerge from the very pores of the body like a cloud and fully infuse the world of ten directions.” Conceivably this painting is one form of the representation of Vairocana in the “experiential realm among human beings.” Maitreya, who is known as the future Buddha, resides in the Tushita Heaven as a bodhisattva, and when the latter phase of dharma (teaching) arrives after the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, entered nirvana, Maitreya is believed to descend to earth and deliver teachings three times under the dragon-flower tree to rescue all sentient beings and bring them to salvation. The Maitreya paintings of Goryeo are based on the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya (C: Foshuo Mile xiasheng chengfo jing, 佛說彌勒下生成佛經), exemplified in four extant works: the Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya preserved in Myōman-ji (妙滿寺), and two others of the same title in Chion-in and Shinnō-in (親王院), and the Maitreya Triad in Hōkyō-ji (寶鏡寺). Although the number of known works is not substantial, the painting in Myōman-ji dating to 1294, in paticular, which was recently made public, carries considerable importance for it not only exhibits a variation in the visual representation of the scripture but also allows one to speculate about the trend of Goryeo Buddhist paintings in the thirteenth century, a period for which no other paintings are known. Besides, Tejaprabha, the Buddha who personifies the North Star, is represented in paintings as the principal deity presiding over an attendant group of Daoist origin, and these works have the characteristics of controlling natural disasters and warding off misfortunes. Of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings of this subject, only one in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, shares related iconographical features, with the inclusion of the attending bodhisattvas, Santailiuxing (三臺六星, the Three Terraces and Six Constellations) and Ershibaxiu (二十八宿, the Twenty-eight Constellations). This painting is important for two factors: first, it serves as the iconographical source for Descent of Tejaprabha (1569), the only known painting of the early Joseon, currently in the collection of the Koryo Art Museum, Kyoto; second, while Suryaprabha and Candraprabha accompany Tejaprabha in the paintings of the late Joseon, this painting reveals that the bodhisattvas Xiaozai and Xizai were the usual attending figures of Tejaprabha during the Goryeo period. Most celebrated among Goryeo Buddhist paintings, Avalokiteshvara representations (Figures 6, 7) comprise a large part of surviving works, second only to the paintings of Amitabha. There are about forty known paintings. Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva who signifies compassion, is believed to appear in various appearances to deliver sentient beings from calamities and assist them to retain a rebirth in paradise. In other words, the belief in Avalokiteshvara embodies double-sidedness; one is to gain benefits in the present world, and the other to gain salvation in next life. Therefore, Avalokiteshvara’s benevolent nature and merits, as well as the benefits that the devotees would receive, are explicated in many scriptures including the Visualization Sutra and the Lotus Sutra (法華經). Among them, the most representative text is the chapter of the “Universal Gate of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (C: Guanshiyin pusa pumenpin, 觀世音菩薩普門品)” in the Lotus Sutra, which is popularly referred to as the “Sutra of Avalokiteshvara.” In Goryeo Buddhist paintings, Avalokiteshvara is seated on a rocky outcrop in a half-lotus position (having one leg crossed and the other pendant), holding a rosary; in the background are bamboo stalks and in the foreground is a willow branch placed in a kundika bottle. At the bottom corner, in the direction towards which Avalokiteshvara gazes down, there appears the boy pilgrim Sudhana. This iconography is based on the “Chapter on Entry into the Realm of Reality (入法界品)” of the Flower Garland Sutra. The paintings effectively illustrate the narrative detailed in the text: the setting is Mount Potalaka near the sea, the abode of Avalokiteshvara, and Avalokiteshvara welcomes the boy pilgrim Sudhana, who has taken a journey to visit Buddhist masters in his quest for enlightenment. Representations of Avalokiteshvara in the half-lotus position, and with the boy pilgrim Sudhana and a kundika bottle are called ‘Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara.’ It has acquired its appellation as a ninth-century mural painting with similar iconography in Dunhuang, has an inscription, "shuiyue guanyin (水月觀音)," that is, Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara. Moreover, Goryeo textual sources testify to the establishment of this title: the Daegak guksa munjip (大覺國師文集, Anthology of the National Preceptor Daegak) contains the phrases "sinhwaseong suwolgwaneum (新畫成水月觀音)," and "suwolsusang (水月晬相)" in Naksan gwaneum bokjang subomun (落山觀音腹藏修補文) written by Yi Gyubo (李奎報). The most representative works of Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara are preserved in Sen-oku Hakuko Kan (泉屋博古館, 1323) and in Daitoku-ji (大德寺). There are also some variations in the posture of Avalokiteshvara and the pictorial arrangement. They include the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1310) in Kagami Jinja (鏡神社) which positions Avalokiteshvara facing the opposite direction from the conventional practice; the frontally-positioned Avalokiteshvara in the Museum Yamato Bunkakan; and the standing depiction of Avalokiteshvara in Sensō-ji (淺草寺). Together with Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, Kshitigarbha, the bodhisattva who governs the netherworld, is a popular subject among the extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings (Figure 8). Kshitigarbha is presented singly or in the form of a triad, or presiding over the Ten Kings of Hell. The representations of Kshitigarbha in Goryeo are classified into two types: a monk-like image either with a shaven head or wearing a monk’s scarf on his head. The scriptural sources for the iconography of the former are the Sutra of Ten Wheels of Kshitigarbha (C: Dicang shilun jing, 地藏十輪經) and the Ritual Honoring Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha (C: Dicang pusa yigui, 地藏菩薩儀軌),2 but no scriptural association is found for the latter. Nevertheless, the image of Kshitigarbha wearing the monk’s scarf appear in a number of the paintings from Dunhuang and the records of miraculous stories, including the Return of the Soul at the Peony Pavilion (C: Huanhun ji, 還魂記) and the Record on the Miracles of Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha (C: Dicang pusa lingyan ji, 地藏菩薩靈驗記). Based on these evidences, it can be construed that this iconographical feature was established in china at least by the ninth century. When Kshitigarbha is represented in a triad, the attending figures on either side of Kshitigarbha are Monk Daoming and King Modu, whose iconography is taken from the Record on the Miracles of Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha and the Sutra on the Past Vows of Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva (C: Dicang pusa benyuan jing, 地藏菩薩本願經), respectively. Moreover, the representation of Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell, which comprise a relatively large number of extant paintings, was established with the incorporation of the Ten Kings of Hell, whose scriptural basis is in the Sutra of the Ten Kings (十王經). Even the occupying positions of the Ten Kings are stipulated in the Record on the Miracles of Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha. The well-known paintings of Kshitigarbha are as follows: Kshitigarbha (the shaven head image) in Zendō-ji (善導寺), Kshitigarbha (with a monk's scarf) in the Nezu Museum (根津美術館, Figure 8), Kshitigarbha (a seated image) in Yōju-ji (養壽寺), Kshitigarbha Triad in a private collection, Korea, and Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell (1320) in Chion-in and the same representation in Seikadō Bunkō Art Museum (靜嘉堂文庫美術館). Besides, there are representations of Avalokiteshvara and Kshitigarbha, the bodhisattvas respectively associated with the Pure Land and the Buddhist afterlife judgment, arranged in one composition. Avalokiteshvara and Kshitigarbha in Saifuku-ji portrays the two figures in a single picture frame, while Minamihokke-ji (南法華寺) has a set of two paintings, presenting each deity separately. Moreover, Amitabha and Kshitigarbha in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose iconography is unique to Goryeo, seems to further emphasize the Pure Land belief. There are diverse opinions on the source of its iconography; however, these studies do not seem to provide clear scriptural interpretations and the process of their establishment. Thus, further research is required in future. Among others, there are paintings of Arhats: e.g. Shakyamuni and Sixteen Arhats (Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art and the Nezu Museum) and the Five Hundred Arhats (Chion-in). A set of Five Hundred Arhats (1235-1236) paintings, separately preserved in ten different locations including the National Museum of Korea, is also imbued with the Goryeo people’s wishes to overcome the country’s crisis.3 Additionally, the paintings of Indra, who is known to protect the Buddhist teaching while residing in the city of Sakra in Mt. Sumeru [Shōtaku-in (聖澤院) and the Seikadō Bunkō Art Museum] and one painting of Marici, which reflects a scene of Buddhist devotion to Marici (private collection, Japan). The textual records attest to the production of various Buddhist paintings in association with the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, such as ‘Shakyamuni Triad’ relating to the Lotus Sutra and those associated with the Flower Garland Sutra, e.g. ‘Vairocana triad,’ ‘Samantabhadra,’ and the ‘Samantabhadra on a six-tusked white elephant.’4 Goryeo Buddhist paintings display somewhat uncomplicated iconographical schema. Among about 150 surviving paintings, fifty-five are associated with Amitabha, forty-two with Avalokiteshvara, and twenty-four with Kshitigarbha, all of them adding up to almost 120 paintings. Thus, it can be said these three representations constitute most of the Buddhist paintings in Goryeo, and this can be one of the characteristics of Goryeo Buddhist painting. Such iconographical particularity of Goryeo Buddhist paintings needs to be considered when one attempts to inquire into the issues relating to the purpose of the production and the philosophical background of Goryeo Buddhist paintings. One also has to take into consideration the fact that there are no paintings with the scene of the Buddha preaching the law relating to the Lotus Sutra and the Flower Garland Sutra, scriptures which are most representative of the teachings of Shakyamuni, and that most Goryeo Buddhist paintings are relatively small in size. In terms of composition, the Goryeo Buddhist paintings show strong tendency to emphasize only the main subject, e.g. the principal deity. For instance, Goryeo's the ‘Descent of Amitabha’ paintings, contrary to those of China and Japan, do not depict clouds, and the ‘Amitabha Preaching the Law’ paintings represent the Buddha singly or in the form of a triad. As such, the iconographical characteristic of Goryeo is the interrelatedness of the compositional elements, whereas the Buddhist paintings of China exhibit expository representations. Moreover, among the extant Japanese Buddhist paintings, a large body of works shows strong esoteric Buddhist elements; thus there are a considerable number of unique iconographies that are seen neither in Goryeo nor in China. In Japanese Buddhist paintings, there also are some iconographies that were appropriated from Japan’s own belief system, not directly relating to the Buddhist scriptures. The difference in iconography and representation among Korea, China and Japan may depend on the time of production and the sensitivity unique to each country; however, the decisive difference lies in the connection with the patron’s social status, the purpose of the production, and the function of the painting. Therefore, one is required to seriously think about whether or not the extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings actually do represent the major trend of the time as much as to manifest contemporary Goryeo Buddhist doctrines and the characteristics of the Buddhist schools. III COLORING TECHNIQUES OF GORYEO BUDDHIST PAINTING As opposed to iconography, the coloring techniques offer important evidence to determine the characteristics or the identity of the Goryeo Buddhist paintings. It is because while the iconographies in Buddhist art can be shared extensively in different time and space, as well as among countries and regions, the coloring techniques are clearly differentiated. The early-fourteenth-century Amitabha Triad in the Nezu Museum (Figure 1), which has kept its vivid colors for nearly 700 years, is a fine example that demonstrates the coloring techniques of Goryeo. By examining this painting, I would like to further expand my discussion. First of all, the monk’s robe on the right forearm of the Buddha is painted in red, and other colors such as green, blue and a small amount of reddish brown are used; and visually-distinct decorative patterns are all drawn with gold pigment. The space around the flame-shaped precious jewel, which Mahasthamaprapta is holding, is rather insubstantial and yet it seems to be lavishly painted by using various colors; however, as in the Buddha’s garment, the colors applied are generally red, green and blue. This coloring method is seen in almost all Goryeo Buddhist paintings: e.g. Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya (1294) in Myōman-ji and the Illustration of the Introduction of the Visualization Sutra (the early 14th century) in Saifuku-ji. As evident in the paintings mentioned above, the basic colors used in Goryeo Buddhist paintings are red, green and blue. More importantly, however, it should be noted that, except for extremely minor instances, the primary colors were applied without mixing with other pigments; for example, one tone of color is applied on the entire surface of each garment (the outer and inner garments, and the skirt), without attempting to create color variations. The reason for the persistence in using primary colors was probably to maintain the vividness of the colors since the intensity and brightness decrease when the pigments are mixed. Neutral colors or the effect of volume are expressed by double-coating with white as the base color without mixing the pigments, as exemplified by Amitabha Triad in Hōdō-ji (法道寺) and Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas in Kōfukugokokuzen-ji (廣福護國禪寺); the Kagami Jinja Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara also acquired the equivalent effect by overlapping numerous lines. The Kagami Jinja Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1310) as well as its replica (1989) clearly exhibit how the colors, particularly white, alter when mixed. For instance, the color of the lotus flower in the original painting displays greater intensity and brightness in comparison to its replica. Such disparity has resulted because the artist of the replica, not being aware of the original painting’s coloring technique, has mixed red and white to paint the lotus flower. What could have been the fundamental reason for the preference to use only a limited variation of primary colors? I propose that the reason was to amplify the effect of gold, since most of the contours of the images in Goryeo Buddhist paintings, not to mention the decorative patterns, are delineated with gold. Having close attention to the painting itself, one can potentially discern how the gold pigment is effectively utilized. The inner and outer garments of the Buddha in the Shōbō-ji (正法寺) Amitabha and the Matsuo-dera (松尾寺) Amitabha Triad are fine examples. On the entire surface of the garments, green and red are applied and then the gold is used for the decorative patterns and the folds. The method is relatively simple but sufficient to express the intended presentation; thus both paintings do not demand additional colorings or outlines. Of course, the red and green used here are primary colors. Furthermore, the Yurinkan (藤井齊成會有鄰館) Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (Figure 3) is a most representative example that displays a sense of elegance by an effective use of gold pigment. In the case of the Kezō-in (華藏院) Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell and the Kagami Jinja Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, gold is used not only to delineate the decorative patterns and the outlines but also to execute various images such as a dragon and a phoenix with outstanding dexterity. Based on above-mentioned paintings, it can be construed that the Goryeo artists were well experienced with the use of gold, and for them gold served as the tool ultimately to give vitality into the picture. ( Figure 3 ) Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (detail), 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 105.5 x 54.3 cm, Yurinkan, Kyoto Another reason for the use of primary colors is because Goryeo Buddhist paintings have a strong tendency to suffuse the entire pictorial space with decorative motifs. For instance, the kundika bottle in Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1323) in Sen-oku Hakuko Kan appears to have no decorations when inspecting the painting itself or even the relatively fine photographs, but in fact the image is filled with exquisitely-designed gold patterns. Such highly decorative orientation is visible in the paintings of early Goryeo, the tradition that possibly has continued from the thirteenth century, as evident in Fifteen Thousand Buddhas in Fudō-in. Inside the character man (萬, ten thousand) are numerous images of Buddha’s face drawn with gold; and similar images appear on the surface of the nimbus and its outer edge. The garment is also decorated with the images of Buddha’s face and also of bodhisattvas. The Buddha in the illustration of the sutra at the bottom of the painting is about 1cm in height. Various types of decorative motifs are employed in Goryeo Buddhist paintings: e.g. chrysanthemum, phoenix and arabesque. Among them, the arabesque-medallion motif is most notable. It is the decorative pattern quintessential to Goryeo’s fourteenth-century Buddhist paintings, which is commonly represented in the shape of a ‘lotus-arabesque-medallion’ by combining with the lotus motif (Figure 4). Importantly, it offers valuable clues to date Goryeo Buddhist paintings, as the time of the painting’s production can be conjectured based on the development of this particular motif. Moreover, the arabesque-medallion motif is not found in China or Japan, in any time period nor in any subject of extant Buddhist paintings, which makes it Goryeo’s unparalleled innovation. Hence, presently it is an important detail on which to determine the painting’s country of origin since if a painting has this motif, it would certainly belong to the fourteenth-century Goryeo. ( Figure 4 ) Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (detail), dated 1320. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 177.3 x 91.2 cm, Matsuo-dera, Nara To summarise, the characteristics of the representational techniques of Goryeo Buddhist paintings are the application of primary colors and various decorative motifs, the lavish use of gold, the use of double-coating method, the intricate details, and the tendency not to leave any unadorned space. These features function interdependently to produce a sense of compactness, and this allows the viewers to appreciate the painting’s ‘harmonious beauty.’ Furthermore, Goryeo Buddhist paintings display an outstanding craftsmanship in their richly designed patterns that permeate the entire picture surface, without attempting the color variations. As explained above, the precise understanding of the representational techniques yields significant evidence for identifying the characteristics of Goryeo Buddhist paintings, and by extension, their identity. For this reason, it holds the pivotal role in differentiating Goryeo Buddhist paintings from those of China and Japan, as well as the subsequent Joseon. For instance, when comparing Amitabha Buddha (in Shōbō-ji) of Goryeo to a painting (in a private collection, Korea) from Song China (Figure 5), although there is some time difference between the two paintings and it may also be an impressionistic judgment, the style of Goryeo certainly contrasts with that of Song, which displays discernable color variations and clear ink outlines. Moreover, the style of the Goryeo Amitabha Buddha in Gyokurin-in (玉林院) is also distinguished from the Buddhist paintings from the Heian period in the collection of the Nara National Museum, which prioritize the realistic depiction of the images by using various colors and shading techniques, even though there also are some disparities in the time of production and the iconography. Furthermore, while the Japanese use cut pieces of gold leaf for outlines and decorative patterns, this technique was not used in Goryeo Buddhist paintings. This is another conspicuous difference. ( Figure 5 ) Amitabha Buddha, Southern Song. Private collection, Korea IV ICONOGRAPHICAL SIMILARITIES AND THE PURPOSE OF PRODUCTION The similarities in the iconography and the application of colors are another characteristics of Goryeo Buddhist paintings. For instance, the iconographical features in the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara representations, though some variants exist, exhibit striking resemblance: i.e. Avalokiteshvara, slightly turning to the right, seated on a rocky outcrop in the half-lotus posture, the kundika bottle holding a willow branch, the boy pilgrim Sudhana, and two bamboo stalks (Figures 6, 7). This shows that the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara paintings of the later period were produced with reference to earlier examples.5 The following paintings also attest to such practice of the succession: the Illustration of the Sutra on the Decent of Maitreya (Chion-in and Shinnō-in), Kshitigarbha (Nezu Museum, Figure 8; Tokugawa Art Museum, Figure 9) and the Descent of Amitabha (MOAOA Museum of Art and Matsuo-dera).6 These works resemble each other even to the minutest details, so that it is not easy to distinguish one from the other. While adhering to the convention, Goryeo Buddhist paintings also attempted to create new innovations by modifying the existing practice. Most representative examples are the Descent of Amitabha in the Tokyo National Museum and the painting of the same title in Hagiwara-ji (萩原寺). The images of the Buddha in both works have similar posture and iconographical implications. However, the painting in Hagiwaraji deviates from its prototype in the depiction of the outer garment and some of the motifs.7 As explained, despite the chronological differences, Goryeo Buddhist paintings in general have strong tendency to persistently strive for homogeneity, not only in the techniques but also the iconography. Additionally, the extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings, except for a few, are about 1m in height, thus it is not plausible to speculate that they were originally enshrined in temples. This is because a number of written records and the surviving examples, including Buseoksa Temple (浮石寺), Bongjeongsa Temple (鳳停寺), Muwisa Temple (無爲寺) of Goryeo and early Joseon testify that, during Goryeo, the majority of the paintings enshrined in temples for devotion were murals.8 ( Figure 6 ) Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 109.5 x 57.8 cm, Tanzan Jinja, Nara ( Figure 7 ) Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 110.0 x 59.2 cm, Seikadō Bunkō Art Museum, Tokyo ( Figure 8 ) Kshitigarbha, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 107.6 x 45.3 cm, Nezu Museum, Tokyo ( Figure 9 ) Kshitigarbha, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 105.1 x 43.9 cm, Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya The reasons for such a tendency can be found in Buddhist doctrines or in association with the widespread conservatism of Korean art; however, as mentioned previously, I propose that, above all, it is intimately related with the following factors: the purpose of the production, the place of enshrinement, and the function, all of which reflect contemporary Buddhist beliefs. In line with this, attention should be given to the trend of Buddhism in Goryeo and its belief system. From the foundation of the kingdom, Goryeo adopted Buddhism as the state religion and this prompted the establishment of Buddhist schools based on diverse doctrines. The nature and the system of these schools are so complex and mutually interconnected that they prevents thorough comprehension or investigation of their actual condition. But in any case, from the twelfth century, Goryeo Buddhism, having close connections with the central authoritative power, saw a rise of various religious organizations such as gyeolsa (結社) countrywide in respect to the circumstances of the Buddhist community gradually losing its sociality and true character: e.g. Jeonghye gyeolsa (定慧結社) and Baengnyeon gyeolsa (白蓮結社), represented by Jinul (知訥) and Yose (了世), respectively. With the emergence of this movement, an attempt was made to reconstruct a new its philosophical structure and belief system. However, after the mid-thirteenth century, Buddhism, again in collusion with a certain governing class, became more conservative and lost its social foundation. Especially from the beginning of Yuan’s intervening period, the practical belief concerning the benefits one can obtain by accumulating merits prevailed, apart from specific schools or doctrines. This has resulted in the faith’s individualization. The members of the royal family and the influential families, therefore, competed in constructing temples (wondang, 願堂) and commissioning illustrated scriptures using gold and silver, to accumulate merits. Such religious proclivity is also reflected in Goryeo Buddhist paintings. Most of the extant works, i.e. Amitabha, Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara and Kshitigarbha are associated with the practical wishes of the devotees both in present and next life, the nature of the belief common to the Goryeo people.9 “In accordance of the king’s age, forty paintings of Avalokiteshvara were made, and on the Buddha’s birthday, lanterns were lighted in the annex hall (byeolwon) to pray for good fortune. The king paid a visit incognito visit and saw this.” “Twelve images of Avalokiteshvara were made to observe a Buddhist service….” “The king specially bestowed the paintings of Avalokiteshvara….” [Goryeosa (高麗史, History of Goryeo)]. Based on these accounts, it can be surmised that, for each noted occasion, quite a number of paintings with a specific image were produced and, most importantly, the purpose for the production was different from the original significance of the image. Moreover, a line in Dongguk isanggukjip (東國李相國集, Collected Works of Minister Yi) also testifies to the convention of having one’s personal temple (wondang): “One of the halls was arranged as the Buddhist shrine to practise meditation. The place was equipped for all purposes, even to hold a Buddhist ceremony….” On the other hand, the story detailed in Wangnang banhonjeon (王郞反魂傳, The Story of Wangnang) provides important clues to speculate the function of the relatively small size of Goryeo’s Amitabha paintings: a woman's late husband in hell appeared in a dream, and instructed his wife to hang the painting of Amitabha on the western wall and contemplate the image. As she followed his instructions, not only did she escape being taken to the underworld by the jeoseung saja or messengers from the underworld, but she also prolonged her own life. The Japanese paintings, depicting the scene of a person contemplating a painting of the ‘descent of Amitabha’ or on the ‘illustration of the Visualization Sutra’ at his or her deathbed, also allude to the function of Goryeo Buddhist paintings. The similarities in the technique and the iconography of Goryeo Buddhist paintings are rooted in the homogeneity shaped by the bias of the commissioning body, the purpose for the production, and the place of enshrinement. As mentioned previously, in the representations of a principal deity, Goryeo Buddhist paintings tend to amplify only the Buddha or the central subject. One of the reasons for this is that because the devotees who commission the paintings are the members of the royal family or the aristocrats, the paintings need not be expository. This also is the reason why the Goryeo Buddhist paintings are imbued with a strong sense of conceptual quality. In association with the religious context of Goryeo Buddhist painting, various views on the Buddhist doctrines, thoughts and beliefs have been presented. On these matters, rather than focusing on the Buddhist schools, I have been arguing that although beophwa (法華), Seon (禪) and esoteric characteristics took diverse forms in the course of history, they have steadily reflected the faith and the doctrines that are integrated with the Pure Land belief. I have to admit, however, that there had been some errors. I did not fully comprehend the essence of Goryeo Buddhism, and while being confused between the Buddhist doctrines and the actual belief system, I have only partially selected relevant references. First of all, to elucidate the context of the production, it is necessary to clarify the notion of the iconography, doctrine, belief and the school. Since most of the extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings, as noted above, were not enshrined inside a temple, hence not used for a Buddhist service, it is not plausible to consider them as an evidence to probe the doctrinal basis of a specific school. The school of thought or the doctrine and the philosophical background should be verified by scrutinizing the textual documents and the relevant temple’s main hall and the iconography of its principal Buddha statue. Furthermore, the question of whether or not the establishment of the art specific to a certain school was possible in Goryeo should be addressed. The actual form of belief can not be completely identified with the related schools or doctrines since it tends to be pliable; it is especially susceptible to social changes. Rebirth in the Pure Land was the ultimate objective for Buddhist devotees apart from schools, doctrines, periods, monks or laities, as it is exemplified in Monk Cheonchaek (天頙)’s words: “Why wouldn’t a person, who wishes to leave this world (yeto, 穢土) and enter paradise (rakto, 樂土), devote himself to assimilate the teachings of Amitabha?” While under the influence of Yuan, the people of Goryeo experienced a tragic reality and at the same time strived for lasting enjoyment; in such circumstances, Goryeo Buddhism lost its ability and proper function. Consequently, it has harbored a religious devotion that emphasized only the importance of accumulating merits, the aspect of which relates to the faith for the benefit of acquiring good fortune. It should be considered that, by most effectively satisfying the needs of the people, the Pure Land belief and the Amitabha cult flourished, beyond any schools or doctrines. There is another point one needs to take into consideration. That is to resolve some of the issues presented in the following questions: Do Goryeo Buddhist paintings display clear understanding of their prototypes? In the process of transmission, were there any fundamental changes? This task is important because the original significance and function of the Buddhist iconography frequently undergo adjustments in the course of their inception, adoption, comprehension and transmission. The similar condition also applies to idioms. The dedicatory inscription on the Illustrated Manuscript of the Lotus Sutra, commissioned by Yeom Seungik (廉承益) in 1283, begins as follows: “At the moment my life comes to an end, I eliminate all the obstacles and escape from sufferings so that I meet Amitabha and without delay I hope to be reborn in the paradise.” The exact phrase also appears in the Tokyo National Museum Amitabha Buddha (1286) and Rinshō-ji (隣松寺) Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (1323). Additionally, the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (1323) in Chion-in, which shares the similar iconography with the latter, has the following phrase: “For these merits, I hope myself and others to be reborn in paradise.” This phrase was customarily inscribed on Buddhist paintings, regardless of their subjects, as well as on Buddhist metalwork, until the end of the Joseon period.10 Therefore, one must carefully think about whether or not the synthesis of doctrines is viable only depending on a certain phrase; or if the repeated use of a specific phrase simply reflects the orientation of the contemporary religious devotion based on obtaining good fortune, which in practice might perhaps be a matter of inscribing a phrase refashioned from a scripture appropriate for Buddhist epitaphs. In other words, the apprehension of the phrase’s original significance should precede further investigation. Although Goryeo Buddhist paintings are not expository, their representations are as rhythmical as ‘silk blown in the wind’ and manifest a subtle beauty that is the result of a superb balance of forms, colors, lines, patterns and intricate details. Because ‘characteristics’ and ‘identity’ are relative concepts, it is difficult to define them only by exploring Goryeo Buddhist paintings. Particularly, ‘identity’ is not a superior concept; it is merely a physical phenomenon. Notwithstanding, if I must specify the identity of Goryeo Buddhist painting, it is as follows: the amplification of the subject, the engagement and the tangibility, the exquisiteness embedded in the representations, and the homogeneity in function. There are a number of unsolved questions concerning Goryeo Buddhist paintings that require attention. Since only a handful of textual references are available today, the only method to resolve remaining issues is to concretize the objective validity of each work. In regard to Buddhist art, one cannot ascertain the difference between countries, regions or periods based only on iconography and form. I am strongly convinced that the objective truth, which a work of art possesses, i.e. representation and the technique, is the crucial ground on which to examine a painting’s historicity and identity. Goryeo Buddhist paintings are the product of the self-assertion and control of colors, lines and decorative patterns, especially the will of expression. In other words, Goryeo Buddhist paintings are the aesthetic and spiritual creation of the Goryeo people who have strived to express the sublime realm of the Buddha beyond simple beauty, by harmonizing the constituting elements and materializing the micro world. Additionally, it is not feasible to reconstruct the circumstances that entailed the production of Buddhist paintings in the scope of the entire Goryeo period because most of the surviving paintings are concentrated only in the fourteenth century, late Goryeo. Nevertheless, analogous to any other period or country, the extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings hold their inherent identity, and they are undoubtedly the masterpieces of Korean Buddhist painting.

As Buddhism was the ruling ideology of the Goryeo dynasty, from the beginning to the end of the era the royal family and aristocracy carried out various large, extravagant Buddhist projects including the construction of temples and shrines, and production of various Buddhist art works including paintings.1 The production of Buddhist paintings thrived in particular, the works being enshrined in temples and shrines all over the country and the prayer shrines of the aristocracy, or used at Buddhist assemblies and ceremonies, or to pray for the repose of the souls of the dead. However, only 160 Goryeo Buddhist paintings remain extant today. Thirty of them carry an inscription or record of some kind, but only twenty-three reveal any information about the patron, donor or artist. These records were first made known by Kumagai Nobuo in a paper titled “Chōsen butsugachō (Revision of Korean Buddhist Paintings)," which introduces 19 paintings with inscriptions. This number includes Chinese works such as Amitabha in the Pure Land (1183, Chion-in, Kyoto) and Japanese works such as the painting of Master Xiang Xiang (1184, Tōdai-ji, Nara); illustrations from hand-copied sutras and woodblock print sutras such as Testament of the Priest Naong (1327) at Yujeomsa Temple, the Lotus Sutra commissioned by Lady Yi from Yeonan (1350), Illustration of the Lotus Sutra Pagoda (1369, Tō-ji), Illustration of the Lotus Sutra (1388, Magoksa Temple), and the mural at Buseoksa Temple (1377); and works from the late Joseon dynasty mistaken for Goryeo paintings such as the Amitabha Triad (Ogura collection, now in the Tokyo National Museum). Thus Kumagai's article really includes only eleven inscribed Goryeo Buddhist paintings.2 Later, Yoshida Hiroshi, in a paper “Kōrai butsuga no kinen sakuhin (Dated Goryeo Buddhist Paintings)” introduced twenty-one Goryeo Buddhist paintings with inscriptions.3 In a book titled Goryeo sidae ui bulhwa (The Buddhist Paintings of Goryeo dynasty), published in 1996, added three more to the list — Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1310; Kagami Jinja, Karatsu, Saga Prefecture), Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (1323; Rinshō-ji, Toyota), and Ten Kings of Hell (1320; Chion-in, Kyoto) — to bring the total to twenty-four.4 Aside from these, if paintings carrying inscriptions but with no clear indication of the date are included, the number reaches thirty. These paintings with inscriptions not only refer to a specific date but also provide information on the patron or donor and the name of the artist, and are thus very helpful in understanding the context in which Goryeo Buddhist paintings were produced. The diversity of the patrons and donors indicated is closely related to the nature of Goryeo society and Buddhism at the time, and thus these records are important for the understanding of Goryeo Buddhist painting. This paper will first examine the nature of the patrons and donors indicated on Goryeo Buddhist painting records, and through them examine the distinguishing characteristics of Goryeo Buddhist painting and religious trends of the period.5 II PATRONS AND DONORS OF GORYEO BUDDHIST PAINTING There are twenty-three paintings for which the name or names of the patron or donor are known (Table 1). All of them date to the period of Yuan control of Goryeo, from the reign of King Gojong (r. 1213-1259) to that of King Chungjeong (r. 1349-1351). It is notable that the people who commissioned or donated paintings to temples, ranged from royalty, military officials and others at the center of power, monks, Buddhist communities (known as hyangdo), and individuals. Most Buddhist paintings were produced to pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation and the welfare of the people, the prevention of calamities, or for longevity and rebirth in Paradise, and were generally commissioned by individuals or a group of people. ( Table 1 ) List of patrons and donors of Goryeo Buddhist paintings Title Record on Painting Collection 1 Five Hundred Arhats (1235, 23rd Arhat) 國土[大][平] 聖壽[天][長] 令壽[萬][年]之願有□□ 正 羅□ 乙未十□ 棟梁[隊][正] 金[義][仁] Tokyo National Museum 2 (1235, 92nd Arhat) 國土[大][平] 聖壽[天][長] 令壽[萬][年]之願司宰□□ 敞□ 乙未□□ 棟梁[隊][正] 金[義][仁] National Museum of Korea 3 (1235, 125th Arhat) 國土[大][平] 聖壽[天][長] 太子千□ 令[壽][萬][年] 之 願 將軍□ 垈下 高光 乙未□ 棟[梁][隊][正] 金[義][仁] National Museum of Korea 4 (1235, 234th Arhat) 國土大平 聖壽天長 令壽萬年 之願 洪茂下隊 李乙未七月[日] 棟梁隊[正] 金義仁 The Museum Yamato Bunkakan, Nara 5 (1235, 329th Arhat) 伏惟 隣兵速[滅] 中外含□ 聖壽等[南]□ 令壽齊北□ 已身 延壽[命] 室內得椿齡 之願 都兵馬錄事李堯贍 乙未十月日棟[梁] 隊正金義仁 Ilamgwan, Korea 6 (1236, 145th Arhat) 國土[大][平] 聖壽[天][長] 太子[千][載] 令壽[萬][年] 之願 君卿□ 將全□ 丙申 棟梁[隊][正] 金義[仁] National Museum of Korea 7 (1236, 170th Arhat) 國土[大][平] 聖壽[天][長] 令壽[萬][年] 之願 校尉□ 丙申□ 棟梁[隊][正] 金[義][仁] National Museum of Korea 8 (1236, 427th Arhat) 國土大[平] 聖壽天[長] 太子千[載] 令壽[萬][年]之願 金□ 智□ 丙申十月 棟梁隊[正] 金義仁 National Museum of Korea 9 (1235-1236, 464th Arhat) 國土[大][平] 聖壽[天][長] 令壽[萬][年] 之願□ 鄭□□ 棟□ 金[義][仁] Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, U 10 Amitabha Buddha (1286) (Facing right) 特爲國王宮主福壽無彊 願我臨欲命終時 盡除一切諸障碍 兼及己身不逢難 面見彼佛阿彌陀 卽得往生安樂刹 奉翊大夫左常侍廉□ (Facing left) 至元二十三年丙戌五月日 禪師 自回 筆 Former Shimazu Collection 11 Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya (1294) 龍華會圖 施主比丘 慈船 同願比丘 希忍 畫文翰待詔李晟 至元三十一年 甲午 Myōman-ji, Kyoto 12 Amitabha Buddha (1306) (Facing right) 伏爲 皇帝萬年 三殿行李速還本國之願新畫成彌陀一幀/(Facing left) 施主權 福壽 法界生生兼及已身超生安養 同願道人戒文同願 朴孝眞 大德十年 Nezu Museum, Tokyo 13 Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (1307) 大曆十一年丁未八月日 謹畫魯英 同願□得□ (Left side on the back) 同願 □惠朴益松 全亘申良成幹 / (Three spots on the back) 太祖 魯英 National Museum of Korea 14 Amitabha Triad (1309) (Amitabha) 壽壺堂徐子冬子[冬]維申季良 以家財命工綵繪 西方四聖寶像 永鎭家庭供養所[冀] 現存獲福 過往超生 法界有情 同霑利樂者 時至大己酉 冬佛誕日 焚香謹書/ (Avalokiteshvara, Mahasthamaprapta) 壽壺堂徐氏供養 Uesugi Jinja, Yamagata 15 Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1310) 畫成至大三年五月日 願主王叔妃畫師內班從事金祐文翰畫直待詔李桂同林 順同宋連色員外中郞崔昇等四人 Kagami Jinja, Saga 16 Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (1320) 延祐七年五月日安養寺主持大師□ 山人雲友 Matsuo-dera, Nara 17 Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell (1320) 延祐七年正月日畫 □□□保□兼 繕工寺丞金□ 完山郡夫人李□ Chion-in, Kyoto 18 Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (1323) 龍朔□治三年癸亥四月 日 同願內侍徐 智滿畫 幹善道人 心幻 同願道人 智鐸 同願林 性圓 同願李氏 洛山下人 僧英訓 尼僧某伊 古火三伊男 祿 豆女 善財女 福莊女 山柱女 故明伊女 古火伊女 秀英伊女 楊州接 延達 伊男 仇之伊女 今昔寶女 無將伊男 中道接 戶長朴永堅 鄭奇 僧石 前 縛 猊伊女 加左只伊女 五味伊女 防守男 燕芝女 十方施主楊州女香徒等 Rinshō-ji, Toyota 19 Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (1323) 至治三年十月日誌 幹善道人 日精 同願道人眞□ 同願道人志堅 同願道人 戒澄 同願別將朴英□ 同願夫人金氏 同願隊正金仁 同願大禪師□□ 同願 淨業院住持僧統租□ 畫工薛冲 畫工李□ Chion-in, Kyoto 20 Amitabha Triad (1330) 香徒等 金恩達 松連 草兼 古火□ 金三 松百 閑守 助達 金呂 所閑 金三 金甫 仁界 水口 尹白 戒明 万眞 戒山 正延 大□ 于斤伊 孝□ 英宣 三 月 幹善禪□ 天曆三年庚午五月 Hōon-ji, Saitama 21 Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya (1350) 至正十年庚寅四月 日貧道玄哲謹發霞 誠同願法界檀那同 龍華三會恒聞說 法廣度群生耳 同願施主冬排 萬加裵丁一玄杲 賢熙戒如 黃甫 叔白金守尹 子金子 全旦李松李守孫□ 裵仲裵同叔守洪文 尹仲任桂叔桂戒洪 畫手悔前 Shinnō-in, Kōya-san 22 Avalokiteshvara and Kshitigarbha □□眞郡夫人 李□ 鄭□ Minami Hokke-ji, Nara 23 Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas 淸訓願成 Dainembutsu-ji, Osaka * Reference: Goryeo sidae ui bulhwa (고려시대의 불화, The Buddhist Paintings of Goryeo Dynasty) (Seoul: Sigongsa, 1996), 114-117; Goryeo bulhwa daejeon (고려불화대전, Masterpieces of Goryeo Buddhist Painting) (Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2010), 272-283. The production of Buddhist sculptures or paintings was carried out under the auspices of the patron who wanted to pray for some purpose, donors making offerings of such works to temples, and the monk organizing the project. Sometimes the patron and the donor were the same, and sometimes different. Some paintings carry the name of all three parties, patron, donor and monk; some carry just the names of the patron and donor; some carry the name of the monk only, and some make no distinction between patron and donor. This paper will examine the patrons and donors under the categories of royalty, officials, monks, and Buddhist communities. 01 ROYALITY An example of a painting commissioned by royalty is Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara at Kagami Jinja, Saga (Figure 1). Although no inscription or record remains today, there is a copy left when the painting was donated to the shrine (Table 1-15), written by the cartographer and surveyor named Inō Tadataka (1745-1818),6 when he visited the shrine on September 7, 1812. This inscription records that the painting was produced by the artists Kim U, Yi Gye-dong, Im Sun-dong and Choe Seung under the commission of a royal concubine in the fifth month of 1310.7 The concubine was Lady Kim, daughter of a retired high official and younger sister of the official Kim Mun-yeon. She was the concubine of King Chungnyeol. When both Chungnyeol’s Mongol wife, Princess Jeguk (1259-1297), and his favorite concubine, Lady Mubi, passed away, his son (the future King Chungseon) brought in Lady Kim, who had been widowed at a young age. She was given the title Sukchangwonbi and was a great favorite of the king.8 Chungseon, who had been living in Yuan China, returned to Goryeo in the fifth month of 1307 following the killing of his close associates Seoheunghu Jeon and Wang Yu,9 but Chungnyeol was so fond of Lady Kim that he visited her on the day of his return.10 After the death of King Chungnyeol in 1308 Lady Kim also became the concubine of King Chungseon, who met her at her brother’s house, and she was soon promoted to royal concubine of the first rank (sukbi ).11 Lady Kim was said to have “infatuated the king and thrown politics into confusion. Her behavior was not refined and she was so fond of luxury that even upon the death of her mother she held banquets and dressed as finely as a princess.” But she was a devout Buddhist and when the Chinese monk Shaoqiong came to Goryeo in 1305, she and Chungnyeol received the Bodhisattva vows (a set of moral codes), visited Eunjawon (the institute for copying sutras) where she made offerings with the prime ministers, and hosted a big Buddhist ceremony at Heungcheonsa Temple. Her power is made evident by several stories handed down. For example, at the request of King Chungseon, in 1311 the Dowager Queen of Yuan sent an envoy with a gift of the traditional Mongolian headpiece called gugu. Wearing the headpiece, Lady Kim held a banquet for the Yuan envoy and the officials gave her gifts and congratulated her on the occasion.12 Also, when Chungseon passed away in 1325, his mourning hall was set up in Lady Kim’s palace.13 ( Figure 1 ) Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, dated 1310. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 419.5 x 254.2 cm, Kagami Jinja, Saga Lady Kim commissioned Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara in the fifth month of 1310. The inscription does not give details as to the specific prayers associated with the painting. Considering that King Chungnyeol passed away in 1308, it was most likely produced to pray for the repose of the king’s soul. When King Chungnyeol had fallen ill in the fifth month that year he was moved to the home of Lady Kim’s brother, Kim Mun-yeon, and died at Sinhyosa Temple two months later. It is said the mourning hall was set up in Lady Kim’s residence.14 Moreover, when the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara was completed, the crown prince passed away in the fifth month and many other big incidents occurred. Although Chungseon had risen to the throne upon the death of his father, having spent so much of his life in Yuan, he soon grew tired of politics and after just two months he returned to Yuan where he governed through letters, with jeandaegun Suk acting in his charge. In the first month of 1310, he tried to hand the throne to his son Gam by a Yuan woman but was stopped by his retainers. Gam and his attendants were killed in the fifth month that year.15 In the same month Lady Kim commissioned the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara painting. It is conjectured therefore that Lady Kim commissioned the painting and had it hung in a temple to pray for the former King Chungnyeol, console King Chungseon, who was in the Yuan capital at the time, and pray for the repose of the dead crown prince.16 Therefore, the painting was not commissioned by Lady Kim as an individual but to pray for the well-being of the royal court and the dead prince, and the work was carried out by Kim U, naebanjongsa, a ninth rank official at Aekjeongguk, the court office in charge of the king’s supply of paper, ink and brushes, and four other artists. Judging by the size of the work, which is over 5m high,17 it is surmised that the painting was enshrined in a royal temple or shrine in a ceremony with the Buddhist rites. 02 OFFICIALS The patrons and donors of Buddhist paintings include a large number of state officials including civil officials, court attendants, and military officials. Among the most important patrons are some of King Chungnyeol’s close aides and military officials such as Yeom Seung-ik, Seo Ji-man, and Yi Yo-seom, as well as a man named Gwon Bok-su who is thought to be either Gwon Dan (1275-1308) or Gwon Bu (1262-1346). The official most worthy of attention as a patron is Yeom Seung-ik, who commissioned the painting of Amitabha Buddha (Figure 2) from 1286.18 This painting was commissioned by Yeom to pray for the happiness and longevity of the king and his queen and concubines with wishes that they meet Amitabha and enter paradise upon death. Yeom was a descendant of Yeom Hyeon, who served as prime minister, and Yeom Sin-yak (1118-1192), who served as a high official of the second rank at Yebu, the ministry of rites, and the son of Yeom Sun-eon, who served as sobuseung, an official of the sixth rank.19 From an early age Yeom was seriously ill and put himself through severe physical mortification, such as making a hole in his hand and pulling a string through it, to cure his disease and prayed constantly for the relief of human illness. He became renowned as a healer, curing people through prayer and divination, and on the recommendation of the court official Yi Ji-jeo, he entered official service. Yeom earned the favor of the king and when Chungnyeol fell ill in 1277 he moved to Cheonhyosa Temple with Yeom accompanying him as jeongnang, an official of the fifth rank, to nurse him in his illness. Winning the king’s confidence, Yeom was promoted to the third rank, and in 1278 he was appointed bichikchi, one of a number of officials selected by the king to deliberate on policies.20 In the second month of 1280 he took charge of the construction of a temple hall at Hyeonhwasa Temple and in 1283 supervised repairs to the temple. He was put in control of big construction projects such as the pagoda at Wangnyunsa Temple and repair of Namgyewon Temple. Thereafter he served in a series of high ranking posts, and when the king and queen traveled to Yuan in 1289 and 1293 he attended them along with Jo In-gyu and Inhu (忽刺歹, Huratai; Mongolian). He retired in 1295 from illness and in 1302, after refusing further high appointments, he lived as before as a healer and practicing divination. It is recorded that “when the queen fell ill he went to the palace where he established a place for Buddhist sermons (beopseok) and bore holes in his hands and prayed.” Before his death he became a monk and died the same year. ( Figure 2 ) Amitabha Buddha, dated 1286. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 205.5 x 105.1 cm, Former Shimazu Collection According to Goryeosa (高麗史, History of Goryeo) and other records, Yeom’s power was so strong that he could “…alone change the course of the nation.”21 It is said he employed 50 people to build his house, but fearing the reprimand of the queen he turned part of the house into an office for the copying of sutras. He also recommended people to government posts and committed acts of tyranny such as privately managing people who had run away, luring commoners to work as sharecroppers for him, or extracting taxes on commoner’s landholdings. Whenever he was caught, however, the king took Yeom’s side and protected him. Yeom was always in favor with the king and queen and stayed inside the palace, though he did not take part in the state council. One record states, “Hong Ja-beon is prime minister, Jo In-gyu is head of Eosade [office of inspection, i.e. as good as prime minister], and Yeom Seung-ik is next.”22 “With Heo and Jo, he [Yeom] takes his turn at holding power. No one can stand equal to them.”23 As these records indicate, Yeom was one of the most powerful men of his time. The next patron to be examined is Gwon Bok-su, who donated the painting of Amitabha Buddha (Figure 3).24 In 1306, to pray for the longevity and good fortune of the Yuan Emperor Chengzong (r. 1265-1307, Temur Khan), for the speedy return to Goryeo of King Chungnyeol, for and King Chungseon (r. 1298, 1308-1313) and his Queen, and for himself and all sentient beings of the dharma realm to be reborn in paradise, Gwon, together with the priest Gyemun and a man named Park Hyo-jin commissioned a painting of Amitabha Buddha. The year 1306 was a time when conflict between Chungnyeol and Chungseon had escalated. Both were in Yuan, where Chungnyeol sought to dethrone Chungseon. The record on the painting says, “I wish for the speedy return of your three majesties,” i.e. King Chungyeol, as well as King Chungseon and his Queen. ( Figure 3 ) Amitabha Buddha, dated 1306. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 162.5 x 91.7 cm, Nezu Museum, Tokyo The first line of the record on the facing left states “Donor Gwon Bok-su,” and the next line expresses the wish that “I myself and all sentient beings in the dharma realm should be reborn in paradise.” It then mentions that the painting was commissioned by Gwon together with the priest Gyemun and Park Hyo-jin, and this is followed by the date, the tenth year of Daedeok, which is 1306. What should be noted here is the name of the donor, Gwon Bok-su: although this name does not appear in Goryeosa or any other documents, it can be surmised from the quality of the painting and the content of the record that Gwon was a high-ranking official who was well versed in the affairs of state. Ide Seinosuke has proposed that Gwon Bok-su should refer to an official of that family name active in the Goryeo court, and has pointed to Gwon Dan (1228-1311),25 a twelfth-generation descendant of Gwon Haeng, the founder of the Andong Gwon clan, Gwon Dan was the son of Gwon Ui, a scholar at Hallimwon, the office in charge of the king’s writings26 and grandson of Gwon Su-pyeong, head of Chumilwon, an office in charge of the king’s expenditures, security and military affairs. Starting his government career as an official of the seventh rank, he passed the civil official licentiate exam and served in several posts including as a seventh-rank official at Hapmun, the office in charge of ceremonies and rites for the king. Under King Chungnyeol, he rose to even higher positions, and retired as a second-rank official. Known to be modest and upstanding, he was a devout Buddhist who called himself Mongam Geosa, “geosa” being the title for an ordinary male Buddhist layman. In 1304 when the Yuan monk Shaoqiong came to Goryeo, he entered Seonheungsa Temple and became a monk. Gwon Dan was a man who served as a high official for 40 years. He ate no meat and lived like a monk, eventually becoming one in the end. It is highly possible that such a man commissioned the painting of Amitabha to wish for the speedy return of King Chungnyeol and King Chungseon and his Queen. But neither in Goryeosa or Goryeosa jeolyo (高麗史節要, Essential History of Goryeo) is there any mention of him apart from a post-1287 record stating that in the 12th month of 1311 Gwon Dan “passed away after retiring as Cheomui chanseongsa [high level official of the second rank].” This means that he retired from official life sometime between 1287 (age 60) and 1311 (age 84). In 1304 when the Chinese monk Shaoqiong came to Goryeo he became a monk at Seongheungsa Temple, and wandered around Mt. Geumgangsan and other places with Shaoqiong until his death in 1311. If the donor is not Gwon Dan, attention should be shifted to his son Gwon Bu, who was a high official during the reign of King Chungnyeol and would have been familiar with the situation at court. Gwon Bu is the son Gwon Dan gained after praying to the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara at Bongnyeongsa Temple.27 He passed the classics licentiate exam (jinsasi) in 1276 at the age of 15, and over the next 50 years until his retirement at the age of 64, he remained active in government service. For a period of 13 years he was in charge of Jeongbang, which looked after personnel affairs, and for 22 years served as prime minister. He was thus active in government through the reigns of Chungnyeol, Chungseon, and Chungsuk. As a close aide to King Chungseon and scholar at Hallimwon, he was a leading force in the king’s reform efforts. When the king was sent to exile in Tibet (present-day Qinghai), he sent Gwon a letter asking him to make an effort to clear his name,28 indicating the closeness of their relationship. Chungseon’s faith in Gwon Bu is attested by the fact that he bought the house of the scholar An Hyang for Gwon’s eldest son, Jun,29 and bestowed the name Wang Hu on Gwon's fourth son, Jae, whom he later adopted him as his own son.30 In 1314 the king summoned Gwon Bu’s son-in-law, Yi Je-hyeon, to Yuan and gave him the opportunity to study Chinese classics and neo-Confucianism through association with famous Yuan scholars such as Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), Yan Fu (1236-1312), Yu Ji (1272-1358), and Yao Sui (1238-1313).31 In this way, nine members of the Andong Gwon clan including Gwon Bu, his son, and his son-in-law became known as the “nine lords from one family,”32 providing the base for the clan’s rise to power and influence in the late Goryeo period. Around the time the Amitabha Buddha was being painted in 1306, Gwon Bu was in his early 40s, and being appointed to key posts he was evidently familiar with the complex political surrounding Chungnyeol and Chungseon. Also, considering that there is no record of his activities between the seventh month of 1305, when he was appointed to cheomni (second rank) at the office of Docheomui, and the fourth month of 1308, when he was appointed pyeongni (also second rank), it is supposed that he was in Yuan with King Chungnyeol. As noted above, his father Gwon Dan intended to enter a temple and become a monk when Shaoqiong came to Goryeo in the seventh month of 1304, but his son's absence forced him to delay the event until after his son’s return.33 This is another indication that Gwon Bu was not in the country at the time. The year 1306 was a time of confusion in the nation as conflict between King Chungnyeol and King Chungseon reached a peak. As Gwon Bu had gone to Yuan and witnessed these events and it is thought that he may have commissioned the painting of Amitabha Buddha to pray for the safe and speedy return of the three royals. Gwon Bu was the son Gwon Dan had gained after praying to Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara at Bongnyeongsa Temple, and his son Jongjeong became a monk and served an official post (yangga dochongseop) at Seungnoksa, the government office in charge of Buddhist-related affairs. It is evident that the whole family were devout Buddhists.34 In his youth, however, Gwon Bu with Baek I-jeong and others had studied Neo-Confucianism under the tutelage of An Hyang,35 and when Baek returned from the Mongol capital Dadu (formerly Yanjing, present-day Beijing) to Goryeo, Gwon recommended that he publish Zhu Xi's Sishu jizhu (四書集註, Commentary of the Four Classics). As a Neo-Confucianism, it may have been difficult for Gwon Bu to commission a Buddhist painting under his own name. It can then be conjectured that he revealed only the family name “Gwon” and used the name “Bok-su” instead of his real name. Next to be examined is the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra from 1323 (Figure 4; Rinshō-ji, Toyota), which was commissioned by the priest Simhwan, the court attendant Seo Ji-man, Buddhist monks and ordinary laymen, and a community of women believers. An important person here is Seo Ji-man, an in-court attendant (naesi) who lived at in the palace, who appears to have not only taken part in commissioning the sutra illustration but also in painting it.36 In the Goryeo dynasty the naesi constituted a class of court attendants who looked after palace affairs and waited on the king.37 In the early Goryeo period they came from the class of civil and military officials and took on additional important duties such as being envoys for the king, reporting to the king on the affairs of government offices, and conducting rites.38 From the reign of King Mokjong (997-1009), many civil and military officials were appointed as naesi to act as mediators between the king and government offices, thus facilitating communication and the smooth and speedy execution of court affairs. During the reign of King Euijong (r. 1146-1170) many members of the nobility entered the court as naesi.39 Fundamentally, the naesi could go no higher than the third rank, but they were a force holding real power through their direct contact with the king and function of relaying the king’s messages and commands to government offices and officials. ( Figure 4 ) Illustration of the Visualization Sutra, dated 1323. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 214.0 x 112.5 cm, Rinshō-ji, Toyota As far as rank goes, a person of the naesi class had power enough to commission a Buddhist painting. But the question is, how could Seo take part in producing the painting when he was not an artist? It is believed the court attendants called naesi originally belonged to the office called Aekjeongguk, but during the reign of King Munjong (r. 1046-1083) they were placed under an independent office called Naesibu.40 This theory comes from the fact that they were also called naealja, meaning “one who reports internal affairs,” and that there was a position inside Aekjeongguk of the sixth rank called naealjagam. While some scholars dispute this, the overlapping of names and titles is worth noting.41 Indeed, Kim U, who painted the 1310 Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, and Seo Gu-bang, who painted the 1323 Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, were both officials of the ninth rank belonging to Naealsa, the new name for Aekjeongguk, and were responsible for producing Buddhist paintings. Therefore, it is likely that Seo Ji-man, as an official in the same office, was also an artist with the same duties. The fact that he commissioned the painting with groups of Buddhist laymen and a community of women believers attests to his deep faith. The 1320 painting of the Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell (Figure 5; Chion-in, Kyoto) was commissioned by a man of the name Kim with the title seongongsi seung and Lady Yi, as with the title Wansangunbuin. Seongongsi is the court office in charge of construction works in the palace and government offices,42 while seung is a title of the sixth rank, indicating that Kim was a mid-level official. The title "-gunbuin (郡夫人)" comes from the Chinese system where it was applied to the wives and mothers of officials of the third rank or higher. Under the Joseon dynasty, during the reign of King Sejong (r. 1418-1450), it was applied to wives of the royal family and legal wives of officials of the first rank, attached to the end of the husband’s pen name or the name of his hometown. The title had already existed in the Goryeo dynasty, however. Titles were first given to the wives of officials in 988, seventh year of the reign of King Seongjong, and in 1391, third year of the reign of King Gongyang, the title daegunbuin was given to wives of officials of the second rank. Thus it is believed that the suffix "-gunbuin" generally refers to the wife of a high official.43 ( Figure 5 ) Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell, dated 1320. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 156.1 x 85.1 cm, Chion-in, Kyoto Lady Yi with the title Wansangunbuin can be identified with the wife of the high official Jo Hyeok and mother of Wonmyeong Daesa (Great Master Wonmyeong). Wonmyeong was a monk hailing from Hamyeol, Jeollabuk-do, and was active in Yuan toward the late Goryeo period. He left home to become a monk at the age of 12 and after passing the high examination for monks based on the five doctrines of the Hwaeom (C: Huayan) school in 1294 he stayed at Buljusa Temple. In 1305 he was invited to Yuan by the king who had heard of his great learning, and in 1311 he became the first abbot of Chongen-fuyuansi Temple.44 He died at this temple on the 28th day of the 2nd month of 1330. Wonmyeong's father, Jo Hyeok, was a military official of the third rank in the early Goryeo period. Considering that he was born in Hamyeol, it is possible that his wife came from the neighboring Wansan (Jeonju) area, and that she therefore had the title Wansangunbuin. In 1320, when the Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell painting was produced, Wonmyeong was abbot of Chongen-fuyuansi Temple. It can be conjectured that Kim and Lady Yi commissioned the painting to pray for the welfare of her son in Yuan. Aside from this painting, others commissioned by high officials include the painting of Avalokiteshvara and Kshitigarbha preserved at Minami Hokke-ji in Nara. The record of the painting mentions the wife of a high official by the family name of Yi and Jeong, but it is not known who she was. The next patrons of Buddhist paintings to be considered are the military officials. The patrons of the Five Hundred Arhats (Figure 6, 1235-1236), which are among some of the earliest Goryeo Buddhist paintings, and the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (Figure 7, 1323) in Chion-in were all low-ranking military officials. The Five Hundred Arhats were painted between 1235 and 1236,45 commissioned by several different military officials led by Kim Eui-in, a ninth-rank official with the title of daejeong. The painting of 234th Arhat (Figure 6) from the seventh month of 1235 carries the name Yi Saeng and the title hongmuhadae. It is not known exactly what the title means but the dae at the end of the name indicates the lowest military unit made up of 25 members, led by a person titled daejeong, indicating Kim Eui-in. In the tenth month of the same year a painting of the 379th Arhat was commissioned by Yi Yo-seom, whose title was dobyeongmanoksa.46 This means he was an official at Dobyeongmasa, the office for deliberation of military affairs. It was a position temporarily served by those who had obtained high marks in the state military service exams, and though it carried the pay and prestige of a seventh-grade official it was not a formal position.47 In contrast, the painting of the 125th Arhat was commissioned by a general of the fourth rank, leading a 1000-member military unit called yeong. In the following year paintings of the five hundred arhats continued to be painted under the lead of Kim Eui-in, and the 170th Arhat was commissioned by a ninth-rank official titled gyowi leading a military unit called oh. Among the patrons recorded on the 1323 Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (Figure 7) are one Park with the title byeoljang, an official of the seventh-rank and leader of a unit lower than yeong, and one Kim In with the title daejeong. ( Figure 6 ) Five Hundred Arhats (234th Arhat), dated 1236. Hanging scroll; ink on silk, 54.0 x 37.2 cm, National Museum of Korea ( Figure 7 ) Illustration of the Visualization Sutra, dated 1323. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 224.2 x 139.1 cm, Chion-in, Kyoto As indicated by the above, paintings of the Five Hundred Arhats and the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra were commissioned by low-ranking military officials, with the exception of the General. This being the case, it is natural to wonder how such officials had the economic means to be patrons of Buddhist art. The leaders of lower military units usually came from the class of rank and file soldiers.48 A few came from ordinary soldier class but generally they came from the ruling class of officials or the landed gentry.49 As members of the royal army, they comprised a hereditary class of soldiers and were provided with government land. The daejeong and gyowi were the sons of officials, but sometimes ordinary soldiers or those who had shown merit in battle. As leaders of small units their positions carried many difficulties. As such, their pay did not compare unfavorably to civil officials of the same rank, and in fact could be said their pay was even one or two levels higher.50 Hence, although they ranked low and enjoyed no special rights or privileges, those who were appointed as sons of officials of the fifth rank or above were given preferential treatment in pay and government land,51 and it is thought this would have given them the financial means to commission Buddhist paintings. 03 BUDDHIST MONKS In the Goryeo dynasty monks were also major patrons of Buddhist paintings. As in the case of Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya from 1294, they commissioned works on an individual basis, or as in the case of the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra from 1323 and the Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya from 1350, as part of a group with other monks and believers. Ordinary monks used their Buddhist name, or the title doin in front of the name,52 or the title bindo (humble form) in front of the name (as in the 1350 Maitreya). Those who served as chief monks or other particular positions wrote their names in the order of position, title, and Buddhist name. The highest monks known as patrons of Buddhist paintings are those who commissioned the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra of 1323 in Chion-in (Figure 7). The record mentions two monks with the titles of daeseonsa and seungtong, which are the highest positions in the Seon (C: Chan, J: Zen) schools and the Gyo (non-Zen) schools of Buddhism respectively. The first higher state examination for Buddhist monks, seunggwa, was held in 958 (9th year of the reign of King Gwangjong), and from the reign of King Seonjong (r. 1083-94) the examination was held every three years to fill these top positions. The examination were held in two divisions, the Seon examination being held at Gwangmyeongsa Temple in Gaegyeong, the Seon headquarters, and the Gyo examination at Samnyunsa Temple in Gaegyeong, the Gyo headquarters. Those who passed were given the title daeseon and gradually progressed through the ranks to daedeok, daesa, jungdaesa, and samjungdaesa. Higher titles in the Seon school were seonsa and daeseonsa, and in the Gyo school sujwa and seungtong. Those with the very highest titles, daeseonsa and seungtong, were appointed as guksa (National Preceptor) or wangsa (Royal Preceptor) and served as advisors to the king.53 The patron named "Jeongeopwon-juji-seungtong Jo" indicates a Buddhist priest of the highest rank, seungtong, of the name Jo who served as head monk at Jeongeopwon Temple. In the 14th century there was a Buddhist priest of the name Johyeong whose title was seungtong and served as Royal Preceptor. The only remaining record states that in 1325 (the ninth year of the reign of King Chungsuk) “Johyeong was appointed royal preceptor,” but no other details are known.54 Considering that a Buddhist priest with the title of seungtong could be appointed National Preceptor or Royal Preceptor, however, it is highly possible that Johyeong was the patron behind the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra of 1323. It is thought that Jo served as head monk of Jeongeopwon around 1323. The name Jeongeopwon or Jeongeop Convent first appears in a record from 1164 during the reign of King Euijong,55 which says, “The king went to stay at Jeongeopwon.” A later record from 1251 (38th year of King Gojong) states that the scholar Park Hwon’s home was converted into Jeongeopwon where female monks lived, and that walls were built around the convent to prevent outsiders from entering.56 It is also known that in 1316 Lady Ban, the wife of Yi Jip, provincial governor of Hwangju, became a Buddhist nun and was sent to Jeongeopwon after killing her husband.57 From these clues it seems that Jeongeopwon was a nunnery. Chief priests of Jeongeopwon included the protégés of Royal Preceptor Naong such as Myobong and Myojang,58 and were always women until the early Joseon dynasty, which makes it clear Jeongeopwon was a nunnery.59 Does this mean Johyeong was also a nun? As there are no records of a woman passing the state Buddhist examination (seunggwa) or being appointed to any official position, it is certain that Johyeong was male. In this regard, Kim Yeong-mi conjectured that at the time temples for Buddhist nuns would have been headed by a male monk and that up until 1323 at least, when the painting was commissioned, Jeongeopwon was headed by a male monk also.60 The 1320 painting of Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas was commissioned by Anyangsa-juji-daesa and Sanin Un-u (Figure 8). Although it cannot be known who was the head abbot (juji) of Anyangsa Temple, the name indicates that the monk in question reached the position of daesa, a title used by both the Seon and Gyo schools. Commissioned by the head of Anyangsa Temple, it is certain this painting was produced somewhere nearby Gaegyeong. In the Goryeo dynasty there were many temples of the name Anyangsa around the country, in Geumju (present-day Siheung),61 Haeju,62 Mt. Jirisan,63 Mt. Oeumsan in Icheon,64 Gyeonggi-do Province; Mt. Bogaesan in Cheolwon;65 Gyodong-hyeon in Gyeonggi-do Province; Okcheon in Chungcheongbuk-do Province; Deogwon in Hamgyeong-do Province; Junghwa in Pyeongan-do Province; and Hongje-dong in Hanyang.66 It is not known which Anyangsa in particular the record on the painting refers to, but the style of this painting is typical of the court Buddhist painting style, indicating that it was connected to the court in some way or was produced in a temple named Anyangsa close to the capital. In this light, the most likely temple is Anyangsa in Geumju, which was built by Wang Geon, founder of the Goryeo dynasty, and had a seven-storey brick pagoda.67 Hence it is surmised that the chief priest of Anyangsa in Geumju commissioned the painting with a man named Un-u and had it enshrined in the temple. ( Figure 8 ) Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas, dated 1320. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 177.3 x 91.2 cm, Matsuo-dera, Nara The Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya from 1350 at Shinnō-in was commissioned by the monk bindo Hyeoncheol with a group of 20 believers (Figure 9). Bindo is a humble term for an ordinary monk, the equivalent of the Sanskrit term shramana. From the record on the painting alone it is hard to tell what Hyeoncheol’s position was and what temple he belonged to, but from the content, which expresses the wish to listen to the sermons at the three dharma assemblies to be held under the dragon-flower tree when Maitreya, the Buddha of the future, enters the world,68 it is likely the painting was commissioned with laymen devoted to the cult of Maitreya. The name Hyeoncheol also appears in an earlier record with the title dongnyang doin regarding publication of the Lotus Sutra (Vol. 8, Shiga Museum) in 1332. This sutra copy was commissioned by the Oh Gye-yu, who was very powerful at the time, to pray for the longevity of the emperor and the welfare of the people and prosperity of the nation, so it can be guessed that Hyeoncheol was a monk at a temple close to the capital who was very active in Buddhist works such as the production of Buddhist paintings and sutras and annotations of the sutras. ( Figure 9 ) Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya, dated 1350. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 178.0 x 90.3 cm, Shinnō-in, Kōya-san 04 BUDDHIST COMMUNITIES AND INDIVIDUALS Goryeo Buddhist paintings are characterized by their brilliant colors, gold leaf decoration, and fine, detailed style, and hence it is generally understood that the majority were commissioned by royalty and the aristocracy. In some cases, however, they were commissioned by individuals, groups of laymen, or hyangdo. Examples of paintings commissioned by groups include the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra from 1323 (Figure 4; Rinshō-ji), the Amitabha Triad from 1330 (Hōon-ji) and Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya from 1350 (Figure 9). Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (Figure 4), as discussed above, was painted by a court attendant (naesi) named Seo Ji-man and commissioned by Seo in conjunction with monks, laymen and ordinary individuals, including a community of female believers. Apart from one man named Hojang Park Yeong-gyeon, all of the people involved are commoners. The group includes male and female monks and many unnamed ordinary people from different parts of the country, as indicated by references to “Naksan-hain,” “Yangju-jeop” and “Jungdo-jeop,” who joined together to pray for the same purpose. “Naksan-hain” is interpreted as “people living under Mt. Naksan” or “people living under Naksansa Temple.” Considering the core of the group of patrons consists of monks, both male and female, the latter alternative seems more likely. There were several temples named Naksansa including one in Yangyang; in Jangdan, Gyeonggi-do Province; and Mt. Buksan in Gaegyeong. According to Ide Seinosuke, the temple in Jangdan is the most likely.69 Naksansa Temple in Jangdan was a temple on the slope of Mt. Yongamsan. Indeed, as the temple was close to the capital, Gaegyeong, King Chungnyeol often went there with Princess Jeguk.70 It was also the prayer temple of the monk Sindon, and the Temple where King Gongmin worshipped the Buddha.71 Enshrined at Naksansa Temple was a clay statue of Avalokiteshvara commissioned by Uisang Daesa, which gave the temple a reputation as a place with miraculous power for prayer and attracted a stream of male and female believers who burned incense endlessly.72 As this painting was produced by the court attendant Seo Ji-man it seems most logical to regard the male and female monks and believers of Naksansa Temple, the one close to the capital, as the patrons of the painting. The record of the painting indicates that many believers from Yangju-jeop and Jungdo-jeop were also involved.73 Yangju functioned as the center of Yanggwang-do, which covered the southern part of Gyeonggi-do, part of Gangwon-do, and most of Chungcheong-do in the Goryeo dynasty,74 and was under the position of the regional office called Gyesugwan. Jungdo is also considered by some to mean Yanggwang-do,75 but generally the name refers to the Daejeon area in particular. In this respect, it can be surmised that the court attendant Seo commissioned this painting in conjunction with Buddhist communities in the Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheong-do areas. The major example of a Buddhist painting with individuals as the major patron is the Amitabha Triad from 1309 (Figure 10; Uesugi Jinja, Yamagata) commissioned by the Suhodang Seo family. At the bottom of the painting of Amitabha is an inscription stating that “Family funds were used to hire an artist to paint the Four Deities of the Western Pure Land to pray for good fortune in this life and to be reborn in Paradise after death.”76 Underneath the figures of Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, who flank Amitabha, are inscriptions reading, “Offering of the Suhodang Seo family.” There are many theories about this painting: that it was commissioned by a man named Suhodang Seo for his mother using family funds;77 that it was painted to pray for the welfare of the whole Seo family;78 that it was painted to pray for the Seo family’s good fortune and virtue in this life and the next;79 or that it was painted to pray for the welfare of Seo and his four sons in this life and their entry to Paradise in the next life.80 However, considering that the name Suhodang Seo is written in large characters and the names of his sons, Dong and Man, and others named Yusin and Gyeryang, in smaller characters seems to indicate that the painting was commissioned by four people, including two sons of the Seo family. ( Figure 10 ) Amitabha Triad, dated 1309. Three hanging scrolls; color on silk, 147.0 x 61.5 cm (each), Uesugi Jinja, Yamagata It is believed that the Seo family referred to in this case means the descendants of Seo Hui (942-998), a military official and diplomat of early Goryeo, a major family of aristocratic lineage. The Seo clan hailing from Icheon continued to thrive and was a powerful force in late Goryeo also.81 Judging from the name Suhodang, which would be the name of the family home, and the act of hiring an artist to produce a Buddhist painting, the Seo family in question here was no doubt one with considerable power and financial resources. In this respect, Ahn Jae-hong pinpoints the family of Seo In (1277-?), who served as an official of the third rank at Saheonbu, the office of the inspector-general, and was an eighth-generation descendant of the Yanggyeonggong branch of the Icheon Seo clan. At the same time, arguing that it was rare for men to write just the family name on a painting record in the Goryeo dynasty, Ahn suggested the likelihood of the name referring to a woman of the Seo clan or the wife of an influential family by the name of Seo who commissioned the painting along with her children. To support his argument, Ahn cites the record on the Yuan dynasty painting of Amitabha in the Kyoto National Museum which mentions “the Buddhist woman believer Seo,” that is, a woman by the family name of Seo with no given names. If this is indeed the same woman as “Suhodang Seo,” or at least a woman from the same family, then questions must be raised as to the country of origin of the supposed Yuan painting of Amitabha in the Kyoto National Museum.82 However, there is no known incidence in Goryeo of the name of a family home such as Suhodang being attached to a woman’s name,83 and it is believed that if Seo were really a woman of a powerful family her title would be "–gunbuin" rather than the name of the home. III GORYEO DYNASTY BUDDHISM AND SOCIETY SEEN THROUGH THE PATRONS OF BUDDHIST PAINTINGS Discussed above are the patrons of Goryeo Buddhist art, who they were, and why and for what purposes they commissioned the paintings in question. In this section, the characteristics of Goryeo Buddhism and society as reflected patronage of Buddhist paintings will be examined from three aspects: the spread of Buddhism focused on praying for good fortune and the prevalence of Buddhist works and activities; the rise of influential political families in the late Goryeo period; and the growth of hyangdo. 01 SPREAD OF BUDDHISM SEEKING GOOD FORTUNE AND THE PREVALENCE OF BUDDHIST WORKS Most of the extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings were produced after the late 13th century. Few works from early Goryeo remain mainly because they were lost through frequent invasions and a long war with the Mongols. Another reason for the dominance of late Goryeo works, however, is the spread of Buddhism focused on praying for good fortune and the boom in production of paintings for prayer purposes, for Buddhist assemblies, and various rites and ceremonies. Wang Geon, founder of Goryeo, upheld Buddhism, which flourished from the beginning of the nation under state protection and promotion. Wang Geon’s policy of worshipping Buddha and protecting Buddhism was passed down to successive kings, and in 958 King Gwangjong instituted the state exam for Buddhist monks, seunggwa, institutionalizing the Seon and Gyo schools. Most kings accepted the Bodhisattva precepts, and if they had four sons, they would make one of them a Buddhist monk. In the early Goryeo period, the monk Uicheon (1055-1101) studied the Cheontae (C: Tiantai) and Hwaeom schools of Buddhism in the Song Dynasty and when he returned to Goryeo in 1086 he founded the Goryeo Cheontae school. Doctrinal development was achieved, but various incidents involving monks upset public sentiment, such as Gwanggi from Gwangmyeongsa Temple being caught and punished for forgery of yin-yang texts, and large social gatherings of monks and nuns and young Buddhists. Many big Buddhist assemblies at court and other events aimed at seeking good fortune were held. In the 12th century, monks such as Hakil and Tanyeong led the development of Goryeo Buddhism in an unsullied direction, but in the reign of King Uijong (r. 1146-1176) the court attendant Yeongeui convinced the king that the fate of the nation and the longevity of the king depended solely on prayer; to ensure a long life, he told the king he must worship Avalokiteshvara and Indra and had him commission paintings of the two bodhisattvas to be enshrined in temples in the capital and the provinces in large ceremonies.84 In addition, the court attendant Baek Seon-yeon, to celebrate Buddha’s birthday in the fourth month of 1166, commissioned 40 paintings of Avalokiteshvara,85 which were enshrined at lotus lantern festivals (yeondeunghoe). The festival at Bongeunsa Temple was a big event drawing the participation of more than 1,500 people, indicating the growth in the scale of Buddhist activities.86 The king favored events with an invocatory nature; he filled the palace with monks and often held sermons at temples with his highest ministers, while the ministers and even ordinary people rushed to build temples and pagodas. In an attempt to reform Buddhism, in the mid-Goryeo period the monk Jinul (1158-1210) established a society focused on the concepts of mental concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (prajna) at Suseonsa, Mt. Jogyesan, creating a new movement within the Seon school. Buddhist works focused on praying for protection of the nation and good fortune continued to flourish, however, with the invasions of the Khitans and the Mongols during the reign of King Gojong (r. 1213-1259). New trends in Buddhism began to emerge in the 13th century. The Gyo school, which had thrived during the 12th century, began to weaken while the Jogye and Cheontae orders grew into the leading forces. In the first half of the 13th century communities of Buddhists began to form and after a period of resistance against the Mongols, the military government fell, putting Goryeo under Yuan control and instigating sweeping changes. Under the influence of Yuan, Buddhism took on a mystical and doomsday nature, and forms of faith gradually moved toward miraculous powers and the practice of good deeds. From the early days of Goryeo, rather than the doctrinal and logical side of Buddhism using the monk Doseon's pungsu theories (C: fengshui, the theory of divination based on topography), or the rulers’ attempts to use Buddhism as a means to consolidate the people, the ritual and invocatory aspects of Buddhism came to the fore. In the late Goryeo period, as the driving force of Buddhism shifted from the aristocracy to the common people native, mystical Buddhism was revived in a big way in the first half of the 13th century. That is, in the transition from the aristocracy to the common people, religious tastes tended toward mystical and miraculous deeds rather than doctrine. And as these strange and wonderful aspects were incorporated into Buddhism, the Buddhist circle attracted a stronger following among the people.87 This popular taste for the mystical side of Buddhism spread to the intellectuals the major work reflecting the situation at the time is the Haedong beophwa yeongheom jeon (海東法華靈驗傳, Wonders of the Lotus Sutra) by the Cheontae monk Cheon Chaek (1206-1283) of the Cheontae order.88 Another book from the same period is the monk Iryeon’s Samgungnyusa (三國遺史, Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) which also has a strong tendency toward the wonderful and miraculous in its stories. From this it can be surmised to what extent Buddhist faith at the time was focused on miraculous deeds and seeking good fortune. The 13th century was also a time when various new sects of Buddhism appeared including the Sinin, Jinyeomeop, Yul, Bunhwang, and Soseung sects. Of these the most notable are the Sinin (munduru) and Jinyeomeop sects of tantric Buddhism. The Sinin sect is based on “Secret of Munduru” by Myeongnang of Silla and advocates belief that Buddhist worship can help the nation overcome disaster. It hence had a strong nation-protecting element. Jinyeomeop is a sect started by the Tantric monk Hyetong as a form of individual faith to pray for the cure of disease.89 It had a strong incantatory element as it advocated the belief that diseases can be cured with dharani. Goryeosa frequently mentions that the king and aristocrats went to the temple when they fell ill, or that they died at a temple. This shows that temples at the time were considered to be a place to recover from illness, and they did indeed have resident medical monks who cured illness using the magical power of the sutras or divine powers.90 This trend toward the mystical, miraculous and good deeds became even stronger in the 14th century. The nature of Buddhism at the time can be glimpsed in the publication of Samsippalbun gongdeokso gyeong (三十八分功德疏經) in 1331, a short sutra that promotes prayer to 38 Buddhas, bodhisattvas and venerable to accumulate virtue, which was promoted by the Hwaeom monk Chewon, who wrote the postscript to it himself; the Beophwa yeongheom jeon (法華靈驗傳, Wonders of the Lotus Sutra) by the Cheontae monk Yowon; the many sutras and paintings commissioned by royalty and the aristocracy; and in the popularity of the burial of incense in coastal and urban areas based on the cult of Maitreya. It was believed that wood buried in sea water was the best material for incense, while burning incense made with such materials was considered a highly virtuous deed. In regard to the development of Buddhism in this direction, the influence of Yuan’s Lama Buddhism cannot be ruled out, but this clearly shows the decrease in the social function of Buddhism. This social climate of late Goryeo, when Buddhism had a strong invocatory nature and faith was focused on good deeds and miracles, promoted the commission of Buddhist paintings by individuals and groups. 02 RISE OF POWERFUL FAMILIES Among the patrons of Buddhist paintings were a number of influential political families (known as gwonmunsejok) which emerged in the late Goryeo period. They included families of aristocratic lineage, families who had risen to the fore during the period of military government, and families which had prospered through their connection with Yuan. While the aristocracy dominated politics in the first half of the dynasty, these influential political families led in the second half.91 They began to form during the period of military rule and became the leading force during the reign of King Chungnyeol, their influence gained by collaborating in the Mongol invasions, accompanying the kings during their stay in Yuan, or inter-marrying with the families of civil and military officials who already had a solid power base. Two of the most famous families at the time, although they did not count among the 15 families of prime ministers and meritorious officials that could marry royalty,92 were the Seowon Yeom clan and the Andong Gwon clan.93 The family of prime minster Yeom Seung-ik, who commissioned the Amitabha Buddha painting from 1286 (Figure 2), grew into a powerful force through his grandson Yeom Je-sin’s marriage with pro-Yuan forces and influential families. Yeom Sung-ik married one of his daughters to Moji (末吉; Mongolian) a high official in the Yuan court, and another daughter to Heo Pyeong, son of Heo Gong, the third of the three great prime ministers of Goryeo along with Yeom Seung-ik and Jo In-gyu (1227-1308).94 His son Se-chung married Jo's daughter but died at a young age. Se-chung’s son Je-sin went to Yuan when he was young. He stayed in the home of his aunt and uncle Moji, and with the help of Emperor Taiding (r. 1324-1328) and Emperor Shun (r. 1333-1367) served in official posts in the Yuan court. Yeom Je-sin’s daughter became a concubine of King Gongmin, while his three sons all passed the civil service exams and served in high official positions. Gwon Bok-su, the patron of the 1306 painting of Amitabha Buddha (Figure 3) as mentioned above, may have been from the Andong Gwon clan. There are two Gwon clans, one from Andong and one from Yecheon. The Andong clan is the major of the two, but both clans had their names bestowed on them by the king. The founder of the Andong Gwon clan was originally named Kim Haeng, hailing from the royal Kim clan of the Silla Kingdom. In 930 when Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje battled Wang Geon, founder of Goryeo, in the Andong region, Kim Haeng along with Kim Seon-pyeong and Jang Jeong-pil dedicated themselves to Wang Geon, who named them meritorious officials and granted them high titles. He bestowed on Kim Haeng the name of Gwon (meaning “power”),95 indicating that he was well versed in political affairs and the current situation. Although the Gwon clan established a firm base in Andong from the time of Gwon Haeng, its members did not enter central government but served as village chiefs from generation to generation. Gwon’s ninth-generation descendant Gwon Jung-si was the first to take a central government post, and his sons Gwon Su-pyeong (?-1250) and Gwon Su-hong began to have real influence. Gwon Su-pyeong was a military official with the title of daejeong and rose to an official of the third rank at Chumilwon, the privy council, thus paving the way for the family’s success. His son Gwon Wi served as a scholar at Hallimwon, and his son Gwon Dan (1228-1311) retired as an official of the second rank. The Andong Gwon clan’s rise into one of the major powerful forces of late Goryeo came with the rise of Gwon Bu (1262-1346), son of Gwon Dan. Gwon Bu, his five sons, and his three sons-in-law together received the title of bonggun (a second-rank office), and were known collectively as the “nine lords from one family.”96 The family thrived and become one of the most important forces of their day.97 The concubine Sukbi who commissioned the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (Figure 1) from 1310 hailed from the Eonyang Kim clan, one of the most influential political families during the time of military rule of Goryeo. The Eonyang Kim clan produced 12 prime-ministers or minister-level officials over five generations, starting with Kim Chwi-ryeo (?-1234), the Lord of Wiryeol, who served as minister of Jungseo-munhaseong, the Goryeo secretariat. Sukbi was the great-granddaughter of Kim Chwi-ryeo and younger sister of Kim Mun-yeon, who was in great favor with King Chungnyeol and King Chungseon. Kim Mun-yeon became an official of the eighth rank at the age of 30 and later rose to second-rank official at Cheomuisi, the highest administrative organ of Goryeo. Under the command of King Chungseon, in 1307 he returned to Goryeo from Yuan and delivered a declaration on reformation of affairs of state. He appointed 80 new officials and played a big part in returning Chungseon to power. It was largely due to his power and the influence of the Kim clan that Sukbi became the royal concubine when Princess Jeguk, Chungseon’s queen, passed away in 1297. During King Chungseon’s reign, the Eonyang Kim clan became one of the 15 most influential political families that could marry with the royal family of Goryeo. 03 RISE OF HYANGDO, BUDDHIST COMMUNITIES IN THE PROVINCES The 1323 Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (Figure 4; Rinshō-ji) and the 1330 Amitabha Triad painting (Hōon-ji) was commissioned by a Buddhist community called hyangdo and other Buddhist laymen. Hyangdo existed in Korea from the Three Kingdoms period and their major purpose was to produce Buddhist images and bells and construct pagodas, and temples. They also provided the manpower and financial means for large-scale works such as assemblies, offerings to temples, and maehyang (埋香), burial of incense. Hyangdo generally included monks and laymen, and ranged in size from around 20 members, as in the case of the of that organized in Hyeonpung-hyeon in 928, to very large ones as in the case of that organized to produce the Hoejinsa Temple bell (c. 1011) in Gyeongju with over 3,000 members.98 In the early Goryeo period, they were sometimes organized by lower government officials with the village chief as head, and encompassing the two kinds of communities, the mireuk-hyangdo and the chu-hyangdo. This was the case for the construction of the stone pagoda at Gyesimsa Temple in 1011.99 But from the 12th century the nature and composition of hyangdo became diversified. Originally, hyangdo were communities of Buddhists based in the capital, Gaegyeong, and the provinces, who gathered voluntarily to carry out Buddhist activities and works. However, the custom and spirit of voluntary work was sometimes distorted, as in the case of large organizations called manbulhoe, composed of large numbers of Buddhist monks and nuns and believers who started donating their homes to temples, a practice that was banned by the state as it became widespread.100 Varied types of hyangdo then emerged, for example that composed of high government officials for prayer and the performance of Buddhist rites and music organized by General Shin Bo-sun (?-1187);101 another of candle and lantern bearers forming King Chunghye’s procession to Sinhyosa Temple in 1342;102 and others composed entirely of women or of common people in the provinces. Such changes led to the development of agricultural technology, encompassing water works, improvement of seed varieties, and fertilization, which in turn led to changes within the farmer class.103 Some farmers totally collapsed, but others gained increased independence, and to protect their autonomy they began to reorganize rural communities. Hyangdo based on these farming communities began to appear in the provinces. The 20 some patrons of the Amitabha Triad from 1330 have ordinary native names with almost no family names attached, indicating that the hyangdo concerned was not composed of ruling class members in the capital but farmers in the provinces.104 In addition, while the major patron of the Rinshō-ji Illustration of the Visualization Sutra from 1323 (Figure 4) was the court attendant Seo Ji-man, the record of the painting mentions ten people from Naksansa Temple, four people from Yangju, eight people from Jungdo including the village chief by the name of Park Yeong-gyeon, and a women’s hyangdo from Yangju, which means it was supported by Buddhist communities in the provinces. Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya (Figure 9) from 1350 was commissioned by the monk Hyeoncheol and a group of 20 believers. While the term hyangdo is not found on the record, judging by the expressed wish to “listen to the sermons at the three dharma assemblies to be held under the dragon-flower tree…” it is highly likely that the patrons belonged to a hyangdo of the Maitreya cult. IV CONCLUSION The Korean term indicating the patronage of Buddhist art is balwon (發願), which means “to realize one’s prayers” or “to make a prayer to the Buddha or Bodhisattvas.” The term indicating the donor is siju (施主) meaning the donor of something to a temple or monk, related to the term dana in Sanskrit, which means “selfless giving.” Therefore patrons and donors of a Buddhist painting are those who make a prayer and carry out Buddhist works such as donating goods to a temple. Selfless giving is one of the six paramita or “transcendent actions” in Mahayana Buddhism. According to the records on paintings, it can be seen that a wide variety of people were patrons and donors of Buddhist paintings including royalty and officials (civil and military officials, court attendants), monks, Buddhist communities, and individuals. This reflects the prevalence of Buddhists seeking good fortune in the late Goryeo period, when it was widely believed that carrying out Buddhist works such as the construction of temples and pagodas, the copying of sutras and the enshrining of Buddhist images were ways to accumulate virtue. Such activities therefore flourished and it was this nature of Buddhism that led to the active commission of Buddhist paintings. Among the classes of people who were patrons of Buddhist art, it is notable that a shift occurred from the aristocracy in the early Goryeo period to the politically influential political families and local Buddhist communities called hyangdo. As only twenty-three paintings with records of their production remain, discussion of the patrons and donors of Goryeo Buddhist paintings is inevitably limited. But the fact that such art works were commissioned by a wide range of people, from royalty to ordinary individuals, attests to the extent to which Buddhism had taken root in the lives of the people from the upper classes down to the lower classes.

The general perception of Goryeo Buddhist paintings is their beautiful coloring, fine gold decoration, the popularity and continuation of fixed iconographies, radical composition, and their high-class aristocratic ambience. Indeed, the style, iconography, and patronage by royalty and the ruling class are key elements of Goryeo Buddhist painting. These issues were addressed by Chung Woothak and Kim Junghee at the international symposium on "Goryeo Buddhist Paintings in the Context Of East Asia" held at the National Museum of Korea on October 28, 2010. However, the objective of this paper is to discuss some of the questions I have always had about the subject of Goryeo Buddhist painting. That is, of the 160 some Goryeo Buddhist paintings known to be extant, it has been confirmed that all of them are painted on silk. How was the silk woven? And what effect did that have on the style of the paintings? Most Goryeo Buddhist paintings are produced on one single width of silk. This being the case, what did the width of the silk imply and what impact did it have on the composition of the painting? Moreover, it was hard not to be interested in the system of enshrining the paintings. While votive offerings were enshrined with the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, would not the same system have applied to paintings? It is believed that Buddhist paintings were generally commissioned by the royal family or members of the ruling class to hang in private shrines, but do we have any concrete knowledge of where the paintings were really enshrined? These are the issues that will be brought up in this paper, issues which deviate somewhat deviate from the mainstream discussion but are very closely related to it. In order to answer the above questions, a preliminary approach will be taken to the subject. If we look at the issues surrounding Goryeo Buddhist painting, that is, the issues in the margins, at some point the resonance will be felt at the center and it is hoped that this will stimulate greater interest in Goryeo Buddhist painting and inspire young researchers to achieve various outcomes. II THE SILK FOR GORYEO BUDDHIST PAINTINGS—STRUCTURE OF THE WEAVE It has been confirmed that the 160 some extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings were all painted on silk. When the structure of the silk is photographed under a microscope, zoomed to 50 times the size, the following facts can be observed from studying the structure of the silk warp and weft threads.2 Most of the Goryeo paintings are done on fabric made with a variation on the plain weave (or tabby weave), in which the warp and weft threads are evenly balanced. In the variation, there is a space after every two warp threads while the weft threads are evenly spaced and heavier.3 The plain weave can be called Type A and the variation Type B. Type A is the most common type of weave used in simple woven fabrics and includes cotton and linen fabrics.4 This type of weave was rarely used for Goryeo Buddhist paintings, but is not uncommon for the Buddhist paintings of the Joseon dynasty or the Ming dynasty of China. As mentioned, Type B is a variation on Type A. The surface texture of the fabric has furrows in the warp direction.5 Such striped fabric is called dudukjik or mujik in Korean,6 and is commonly known as the rib weave or Oxford weave in English. It is understood that most Goryeo Buddhist paintings are produced on such rib weave fabric, which in turn can be divided into two sub-types. In the first sub-type, Type B-a, the weft threads are almost twice as thick as the warp threads. Some paintings with this kind of silk are Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (14th century) at Banna-ji in Tochigi; Amitabha Triad (I) and Amitabha Triad (III) (14th century) in the Nezu Museum in Tokyo; Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (14th century) at Nara National Museum; Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (14th century) at Tanzan Jinja in Nara; Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (14th century) at Shōjuraigō-ji in Ōtsu; Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (14th century) at Jōraku-ji; Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell (14th century) at Okayama; Kshitigarbha (14th century) at Zendō-ji, Fukuoka; and Arhats (1235) at Tokyo National Museum. Among them, the painting at Banna-ji is tightly and finely woven; on the other hand the works at Nezu Museum (I) and Nara National Museum are painted on fabric with thin warp and weft threads and wide intervals between the weft threads. The canvases for the other Nezu Museum piece (III) and the Hōdō-ji pieces are neatly and finely woven, but the intervals between the warp threads are wider than those of the weft threads. This structure in particular is almost identical in terms of thickness of threads and weave as that of the painting Shakyamuni Entering Nirvana in the collection of Nara National Museum, painted by Lu Xinzhong, a professional artist working in the Ningbo area of China during the Southern Song and Yuan period.7 In the second sub-type, Type B-b, the weft threads are more than twice as thick as the warp threads. Examples of paintings in this category include Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1310) at Kagami Jinja; Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (14th century) at Jōkyō-ji, Kyoto; Fifteen Thousand Buddhas (13th century) at Fudō-in, Hiroshima; Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (14th century) at Tokugawa Art Museum; Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (13th century) at Kōfukugokokuzen-ji, Saga. As shown above, most Goryeo Buddhist paintings are done on silk in a variation of plain weave that is stronger and more durable than satin weave and gauze weave fabrics. Of course, it is less glossy than satin weave but smoother and shinier than ordinary plain weave. In addition, in the case of painting over or painting from the back, rib weave allows for stronger expression of texture and depth than ordinary plain weave. In terms of thickness of the threads, some fabrics showed warp and weft threads of equal thickness (1:1), others showed warp threads thinner than weft threads (1: 1.5-2.0), and in terms of tightness of weave, relatively tightly-woven fabrics had narrow furrows between every two threads, and loosely woven fabrics had relatively wide furrows. In the case where the warp and weft threads are of even thickness and neatly woven, the silk has a smooth, even texture, enabling more stable color adhesion and finer brushwork. ( Table 1 ) Structure of fabric used for Goryeo Buddhist paintings ( Table 2 ) Number of warp and weft threads per cm on the silk of Goryeo Buddhist paintings9 Present location Title Canvas size (cm) Number of threads per cm Height Width Warp Weft 1 Kōfukugokokugzen-ji Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas 153.5 86.5 2-ply 26/cm 1-ply 27/cm 2 Kagami Jinja Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara 419.5 254.2 2-ply 26/cm 1-ply 36/cm III IMPLICATIONS OF THE WIDTH OF THE SILK OF GORYEO BUDDHIST PAINTINGS Of the 160 some extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings, most comprise one single piece of silk rather than a number of pieces joined together. Of course, there are several cases where the painting is made of several pieces such as the Amitabha Triad (1330) at Hōon-ji; Fifteen Thousand Buddhas at Fudō-in; and Amitabha Triad (14th century) at Ōkura Shūkokan, but this is very rare. Generally the silks used for the paintings vary greatly in width, from around 40cm wide, for small works up to 250cm for very large ones. The silk width distribution map (Table 3) for Goryeo Buddhist paintings reveals some interesting points. ( Table 3 ) Silk width size distribution map First, the paintings can be divided into five groups according to the width of the silk. Group A consists of 30 some small works of around 40cm in width. This group notably includes the Five Hundred Arhats, a collection of 500 works produced between 1235 and 1236) and paintings of Kshitigarbha (Figures 1, 2). ( Figure 1 ) Five Hundred Arhats, dated 1236. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 53.9x37.7 cm, National Museum of Korea ( Figure 2 ) Kshitigarbha, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 107.6 x 45.3 cm, Nezu Museum, Tokyo Group B consists of 60 some medium-size paintings ranging in width from 50-60cm, accounting for one third of all the extant paintings. This group includes many paintings of Amitabha Buddha or Amitabha Triad (Figure 3) and Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell, and a notable proportion of Water-Moon-Avalokiteshvara paintings (Figure 4), about half of the 50 known examples. ( Figure 3 ) Amitabha Triad, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk , 123.0 x 55.8 cm, Tokyo National Museum ( Figure 4 ) Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 109.5 x 57.8 cm, Tanzan Jinja, Nara Group C consists of more than 40 medium-large paintings 80-100cm wide. Most of them depict Amitabha either descending to the mundane world or preaching, as in the Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas (Figure 5). This group also includes some Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara paintings which show the Bodhisattva sitting in lotus position. Also included are some works carrying a definite date such as Amitabha Buddha (1286) (Figure 6) in the former Shimazu Collection; and the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1323) at Sen-oku Haku Kokan in Kyoto. ( Figure 5 ) Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas, 14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 143.0 x 87.0 cm, Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya ( Figure 6 ) Amitabha Buddha, dated 1286. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 203.5 x 105.1 cm, Former Shimazu Collection Group D consists of some 15 works 120-200cm wide. Masterpieces of various iconographies such as Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas, Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (Figure 7), Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya, and the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara belong to this category. ( Figure 7 ) Illustration of the Visualization Sutra, dated 1323. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 224.2 x 139.1 cm, Chion-in, Kyoto The last group consists of extra large paintings around 250cm wide. The major example is Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1310) at Kagami Jinja, which was commissioned by royalty, the actual name of the patron being Sukchangwonbi Lady Kim, a concubine of King Chungseon of the Goryeo dynasty.10 This is a special category that actually only includes one painting.11 Several facts can be deduced from the above comparison of silk widths. The silk widths were related to the unit of measure for clothing and textiles, pobaek-cheok. Many studies have been carried out on changes in the actual size of this unit over time.12 According to records, the measurement system was revised in the 13th year of the reign of King Sejong, and the pobaek-cheok was equivalent to 44.75cm in 1430 (Oryeui, Five Rites), 46.73cm in 1431 (Jeonjesangjeongso, a study of the national land and taxation system of Joseon), and 46.80cm in 1485 (Gyeongguk daejeon, Grand Code for State Administration).13 This unit of measure was an important means of taxation, hence the need for standardization. There are few records, however, mentioning standardization or strict application of a different measure called pobaek-pok compared to pobaek-cheok. It is understood that the pok measure was applied to the looms that wove the cloth collected from all over the country for taxation purposes. Of course, while the width may have varied according to region, the differences were negligible.14 Succeeding the tradition of Unified Silla, Goryeo introduced new weaving techniques through exchange with foreign countries and produced a great quantity of high-quality textiles, which were used to make clothing for the nobility and as a trade item with other countries.15 Various types of fabrics have been identified through having been enshrined with Buddhist relics, namely various types of silk,16 which give an idea of Goryeo’s excellent weaving technology at the time. In the Goryeo dynasty textiles were produced at government workshops, private workshops and at temples. In the case of government workshops, specialist weaving organizations were established in the capital and in the provinces with specialist craftsmen producing the fabric under a factory-type system. The craftsmen were divided into those affiliated with the central government workshop in the capital, Gaegyeong, and those who worked for provincial workshops.17 As far as the central government organization in charge of textiles is concerned there were many changes in the name and the titles of officials attached to it.18 But in most cases a high-level official with high pay was appointed to be in charge at Sanguiguk, the office in charge of the king’s clothing, and Aekjeongguk, which was in charge of making special textiles such as brocade, gauze, and damask. During the reign of King Munjong, the craftsmen affiliated with Sanguiguk included those in charge of embroidery, hat makers, shoemakers, sash makers, and belt makers, who manufactured clothing and textiles for the royal court. Craftsmen at Aekjeongguk included makers of brocade, gauze and damask, all special textiles of high quality. In addition, there was a separate office in charge of carpets and embroidery called Japjikseo, and another for dyeing called Yeomjikseo.19 There were also craftsmen affiliated to provincial offices such as Geumgibang, Japjikbang, and Gapbang, which made silk and twill, embroidered silk, and armor respectively. As such, many craftsmen worked in the field of textiles at the time.20 In addition to government craftsmen, nuns and slaves who produced textiles at Buddhist temples played an important role in the history of textile manufacture in the Goryeo dynasty.21 In varied ways, the government offices produced all sorts of high-quality textiles to send overseas as gifts and for the use of the royal court and nobility. Temples too had the capacity to produce high-quality goods, and in addition to monks' robes they also made goods to be presented to the court or took part in production of tribute goods, thus boosting the temple economy.22 Considering the data on the widths of Goryeo Buddhist painting canvases above, the following can be deduced from the standard unit for measuring fabrics, the system of textile production, and the variety of textile widths.23 First, The 30-40cm width of small paintings belonging to Group A is seen to be equivalent to the average width of silk fabric on the market at the time. Almost the same width is found in the clothing and fabric samples from enshrined votive offerings. If the Joseon artist Kim Hong-do’s Album of Genre Paintings is taken into account, it is highly likely that the average width of a bolt of silk was determined by the width of the shoulders of the women who worked the weaving looms. Fabric of this size was easily produced in private workshops or the home and easily distributed on the market. Second, The 50-60cm width of small- to mid-sized paintings belonging to Group B is equivalent to the width of silk fabric that may have been distributed in the capital and provinces under the government workshop system. Therefore, the widths in Group A and Group B indicate fabric that was commonly sold on the market. Third, Group C includes paintings with a width of 80-100cm, about twice the width of the silks used in Groups A and B, and covers the medium and large Goryeo Buddhist paintings. Although it is possible fabric of this size was made specifically for paintings this has not yet been ascertained. Of course, another possibility is that silk for paintings was imported from China. Through the painting Shakyamuni Entering Nirvana (157.1 x 82.9cm) by Lu Xinzhong, a professional artist working in the Ningbo area during the Southern Song and Yuan period, the size of silk for medium to large paintings that was on the market at the time can be guessed. But it is known that looms for fabric of Group C size existed because of the silk used to make ceremonial robes for the royal court. Therefore, it is possible that Aekjeongguk, the office in charge and paper and ink and high-quality silk and textiles for the court, was involved in its production.24 This is evidenced by the fact that Seo Gu-bang, an artist and official at Aekjeongguk, was in charge of producing the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (1323, 165.5 x 101.5cm) that is preserved at Sen-oku Haku Kokan, Kyoto. In fact, it is recorded that during the reign of King Chunghye (r. 1330-32) there was a silk storehouse at the palace and female craftsmen to weave silken fabric, which indicates that the court played a large role in the production of Buddhist paintings on canvases in the Group C bracket. As seen in the painting Amitabha Buddha (1306, 162.5 x 91.7cm), commissioned by a man named Gwon Bok-su and now in the collection of Nezu Museum, the Group C size was favored in commissions by powerful aristocratic families and civil and military officials. In the same line, many paintings of the Joseon dynasty were produced on a single large width of silk around 90cm wide, including the Birth of Shakyamuni (145.0 x 109.5cm) at Honkaku-ji in Kyoto, which was painted in the court style in the 15th century (early Joseon), and Shakyamuni Leaving Home (148.0 x 105.0cm) at the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne, Germany, and the late Joseon Portrait of a Meritorious Official.25 Fourth, Group D refers to large paintings on silk 120-180cm wide, about the size of B and C together. Here too it is possible that Aekjeongguk was involved in production. As with Group C, Group D includes some exquisite paintings including two specifically dated works: Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (1323, 224.2 x 139.1cm) at Chion-in in Kyoto, and Illustration of the Sutra of Maitreya’s Attainment of Buddhahood (1294, 230.0 x 130.0cm) at Dōjō-ji in Wakayama. In particular, the Chion-in painting was commissioned by nine people including six high-ranking monks and three government officials. It is possible that high-ranking monks with greater power than civil and military officials at the time were the main force behind the production of the bigger Buddhist paintings. Fifth, For the last group of very large paintings of around 250cm wide, it is not known whether the fabric was a product of Goryeo or China.26 For the production of Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara at Kagami Jinja, it is possible that Aekjeongguk established a special department to weave the silk for the painting, similar to the department established to produce sutra boxes and another named Sagyeongwon to promote the hand-copying of sutras.27 With the development of textile production, Goryeo had active trade with China, which accelerated as weaving technology became highly advanced.28 In the 14th century, between 1308 and 1351 in particular, institutional changes were made and official post of naebanjongsa was created inside Aekjeongguk, and the production and supervision of high-quality textile production was reinforced.29 Kim U, who took part in painting the Kagami Jinja Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara,30 had the post of naebanjongsa at Aekjeongguk where he worked as a painter, able to reproduce the court Buddhist painting on a supersized textile made of the finest quality silk. The weaving would have been done on an outsize loom by a number of craftsmen (men or women) working together to produce the fabric. Hence, in regard to this painting which constitutes a special commission, could it be a coincidence that Kim Yang-gam, father of Lady Kim who was the patron of the painting, was a third-grade official in charge of ritual implements?31 The size and trends for the canvases of Goryeo Buddhist paintings was continued in the following Joseon dynasty as seen in the silk canvas Buddhist paintings of the 15th century from early Joseon. While there are no very large canvases, the 40cm, 60cm, and 90cm widths all exist. Going into the 16th century, there is an even distribution of widths of Buddhist paintings on silk from 20cm up to 350cm. There is also a painting on one large piece of silk as wide as 230cm, Illustration of the Sutra of the Great Vows of Kshitigarbha (1575-77, 209.5 x 227.3cm) (Figure 8), which was also commissioned by the royal court. Apart from this painting, however, most of the works were painted on canvases made up of several 40-60cm pieces joined together, which is a major point of difference with Goryeo paintings. As for the paintings on hemp commissioned by ordinary people that began to appear from the mid-16th century, their painted surfaces are usually composed of several pieces of hemp 35-38cm wide joined together. More than 40 examples of such paintings exist, indicating a trend. ( Figure 8 ) Illustration of the Sutra of the Great Vows of Kshitigarbha, dated 1575-7. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 209.5 x 227.3 cm, Chion-in, Kyoto The last thing to be discussed in this section is how the width of the silk appears to have placed limitations on the iconography and interfered with the composition of Goryeo Buddhist paintings. Rather than arising from the strict social hierarchy of Goryeo society, the strict two-level composition seen in paintings of the Amitabha Triad, Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas, and Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell can be seen as the result of limitations placed by the width of the silk, which was invariably one piece of silk rather than many pieces joined together.32 The two-level structure is avoided in the case of illustrations for the Visualization Sutra or the Lotus Sutra, by placing the main icon in the center surrounded by the crowd. The same thing can be seen in sutra illustrations, which are wider than they are high. Several examples exist such as the Illustration of the Lotus Sutra (I) (1315) at Daijō-ji, Nagasaki; Illustration of the Avatamsaka Sutra (1337) at Horim Museum; Illustration of the Lotus Sutra (1340) at Nabeshima Hōkōkai, Saga (Figure 9); and Illustration of the Lotus Sutra (1377) at Horim Museum (Figure 10). This means the Buddha is surrounded by or flanked by Bodhisattvas. While the canvas may be wide, some works arrange the iconography by dividing the canvas into left and right sections, as seen in Geumgang bomun balwon hapbu byeonsangdo, a gold sutra illustration on white paper commissioned by two nuns, preserved at Seongbo Museum, Jikjisa Temple (1377) (Figure 11), or preserve the two-level structure. Thus, the two-level structure found on paintings on silk was strongly influenced by the width of the fabric. For illustrations of the Visualization, Maitreya and Avatamsaka Sutras this was avoided by placing the principal icon in the center and surrounding it with Bodhisattvas.33 ( Figure 9 ) Illustration of the Lotus Sutra (Vol. 3), dated 1340. Folding book; gold on indigo paper, 20.2 x 43.6 cm, Nabeshima Hōkōkai, Saga ( Figure 10 ) Illustration of the Lotus Sutra (Vol. 3), dated 1377. Folding book; gold on paper, 22.7 x 43.1 cm, Horim Museum, Seoul ( Figure 11 ) Geumgang bomun balwon hapbu byeonsangdo, dated 1371. Folding book; gold on paper, 17.4 x 18.1 cm, Seongbo Museum, Jijiksa Temple, Gimcheon IV ENSHRINING GORYEO BUDDHIST PAINTINGS 1: POSSIBILITY AND METHOD OF MAKING VOTIVE OFFERINGS The enshrining of votive offerings along with Buddhist sculptures and paintings is easily confirmed in Joseon dynasty works. Many relic deposits were also found with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from the preceding Goryeo dynasty also, but it is highly unusual to think of Goryeo Buddhist paintings in association with relic deposits, or votive offerings. In addition to most of the 160 extant paintings having been preserved outside of Korea, almost no such votive offerings have been discovered. But would the paintings really have been enshrined without any votive offerings? If we presume they did indeed exist, how would they have been enshrined? The definitive case suggesting the existence of votive offerings with Goryeo Buddhist paintings is the painting of Amitabha Buddha at Shōbō-ji in Kyoto (14th century, 184.0 x 86.5cm) (Figure 12). This is one of the bigger paintings, showing a solo image of Amitabha descending to take the soul of the dead to Paradise. According to a report on the restoration of the painting from 1999 when the mounting paper was removed from the back, a small piece of paper was found near the swastika on the left side of the icon’s chest (Figure 13).34 Seen as a votive offering, this piece of paper features a round dharani (a kind of talisman) 10.6cm in diameter, consisting of a Sanskrit character in the center and the Casket Seal dharani written in Sanskrit in a circle around it. This dharani has been found as part of the relic deposits in Goryeo Buddhist statues such as the Gilt-bronze Amitabha (1302) at Onyang Folk Museum; the Gilt-bronze Amitabha Buddha (1346) at Munsusa Temple, and the Iron Buddha (late Goryeo) at Illaksa Temple.35 The Munsusa Amitabha Buddha yielded a Sanskrit dharani written in a circle (37.6 x 33.3cm) and the Dharani of the Immaculate Buddha-Corona's Emitted Light (52.4 x 29.8cm), which are considered to be votive offerings. The votive offerings in the Illaksa Iron Buddha include two mandalas, the Diamond Mandala (44 x 32.5cm) and the Garbhadhatu Mandala (30 x 32.5cm), which appear to have been published and enshrined in the late Goryeo dynasty.36 The Casket Seal dharani in the Shōbō-ji painting is similar to the Illaksa Diamond Mandala, and almost identical to the Casket Seal dharani at the top of the Dharani of the Immaculate Buddha-Corona’s Emitted Light at Munsusa Temple (Figure 14). ( Figure 12 ) Amitabha Buddha, 13th -14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 184.0 x 86.5 cm, Shōbō-ji, Kyoto ( Figure 13 ) Back of the Amitabha Buddha at Shōbō-ji and the dharani as votive offering ( Figure 14 ) Left: Votive offering dharani in Sanskrit (1345) from the Gilt-bronze Amitabha statue at Munsusa TempleRight: Votive offering dharani in Sanskrit almost identical to that at Munsusa Temple As the dharani found on the Shōbō-ji painting is the only example of a votive offering enshrined at the time the painting was produced, it is undoubtedly a very important item for study. The painting gives us an idea of the way votive offerings were made with Goryeo Buddhist paintings. Aside from this, the idea that votive offerings were hung from the paintings or embedded in the painting cannot be excluded. The possibility that the votive offerings were hung is be surmised from 16th century Joseon Buddhist paintings. Although no votive offerings from a 16th century painting remain extant, there is a depiction of a pouch for votive offerings hanging on the surface of a Buddhist painting in the Ten Kings of Hell (1586) at Kokubun-ji, and Shakyamuni’s Ascension to Nirvana (1589) (Figure 15) at Yakushi-ji in Nara. In both examples the pouch is in the “three mountain” form, and the Yakushi-ji example has a noticeably stronger craft-like decorative feel. ( Figure 15 ) Left: Nectar Ritual Painting, dated 1589. Hanging scroll; color on hemp, 150.2 x 169.3 cm, Yakusen-ji, HyōgoRight: Nectar Ritual Painting (detail) Moreover, records on Joseon Buddhist paintings of the 16th century such as Shakyamuni’s Ascension to Nirvana (1589) at Senkō-ji, and Kshitigarbha with the Ten Kings of Hell (1582) at Tanjō-ji in Chiba specifically mention a mirror and silk pouch as votive offerings,37 supporting the idea that a pouch may have been hung on the paintings. A pouch motif is depicted on these two paintings and relics very similar in appearance to the motif have been found: a bronze pouch at Jijangsa Temple in Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province dating to 1722 (late Joseon),38 and a pouch and mirror at Namjangsa Temple in Sangju (Figure 16).39 From these relics it is evident that the basic appearance of the pouch had not changed greatly in the 200-year period from the 16th century to the 18th century. In reverse, it can be argued that the votive pouch would not have suddenly appeared in the 16th century, but was depicted in 16th century Buddhist paintings because real examples of such had existed in the preceding period.40 This leaves room for the idea that votive offering pouches were hung with paintings in the Goryeo dynasty. ( Figure 16 ) Votive offering pouch, dated 1788. 80.5 x 63.2 cm, Namjangsa Temple, Sangju Lending even greater weight to this idea are the Goryeo dynasty mirrors, round and square. More than 40 relics have been excavated from various places including tombs, pagodas, mountain fortresses, and among the buried deposits off the coast of Sinan.41 Of the mirrors whose place of discovery is not known, some have a knob and some do not (Figure 17). Of those that do, the knob has a hole in it either at the top or in the middle. It is possible that the mirrors measuring 10-20cm in diameter with knobs and a hole were hung with a string on Buddhist paintings as a votive offering. Notably, the votive offering pouch at Namsangsa Temple dating to 1788 was found with a round mirror tied to it with a string of beads. Another item to be noted is the mirror without a knob featuring a design of the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (diameter 11.4cm) (Figure 18), which was enshrined in the statue of Shakyamuni at Cheongnyangsa Temple (985, Song dynasty). This suggests that mirrors enshrined with Buddhist images had no knob, unlike those that were hung with paintings. ( Figure 17 ) Goryeo bronze mirrors, H: 9.7 - 12.2cm, National Museum of Korea, et al. ( Figure 18 ) Votive offering mirror enshrined in the statue of Shakyamuni at Seiryō-ji (Northern Song, dated 985), D: 11.4 cm Further investigation should be carried out to ascertain whether the bronze mirrors featuring Buddhist designs, both round and square, were really intended for ritual purposes, as is generally believed.42 The possibility that they were hung on paintings as votive offerings should at least be considered. Another way the votive offerings might have been enshrined with paintings is to be embedded inside the roller at the bottom of the mount. While the likelihood is actually very low, special cases should be taken into account. The Lord of Hell (98.0 x 85.0cm) from 1798 in the collection of the National Museum of Korea has four square notches in the roller (sangchuk), which yielded votive offerings such as a dharani, colored thread and colored paper, grains and metal.43 While this method of enshrining offerings is very rare, it is also gaining credence as a newly discovered method.44 Confirmation is difficult, however, since the Lord of Hell is a painting from late Joseon, and there are no extant Goryeo paintings with their (original) roller, let alone votive offerings enshrined in the roller. V ENSHRINING BUDDHIST PAINTINGS 2: ORIGINAL PLACE OF ENSHRINEMENT Thirty Goryeo Buddhist paintings come intact with a record of their production. These records indicate that the patrons of Buddhist painting can be divided into royalty, aristocracy and officials, monks, and communities of Buddhist believers called hyangdo, which existed in the late Goryeo dynasty. If we consider that the final category consists of commoners, then it is possible that a wider range of people commissioned those paintings which carry no records. Among these Goryeo Buddhist paintings produced with the involvement of all classes, some mention places of enshrinement like the Kagami Jinja painting which names a specific temple,45 while some papers mention temples in Gaegyeong as places of enshrinement for paintings and wall paintings based on historical records.46 Moreover, it is surmised that the paintings would have been hung in the personal shrines or temples of the aristocratic officials.47 The following is a closer examination of the places of enshrinement of Goryeo Buddhist paintings based on records from the 13th and 14th centuries. a) Buddhist paintings were enshrined in the Buddha hall and shrines within the royal palace to pray for the prosperity of the nation and the happiness of the people, as well as the longevity of the royal family and their peaceful repose after death. During Yuan control over Goryeo, in the reigns of King Chungnyeol (r. 1275-1308) and King Chungseon (r.1298, 1308-1313), Goryeo temples in and around the capital, Gaegyeong, became prayer shrines for the Mongol Yuan dynasty and Buddhist activities were frequent.48 High-class Buddhist paintings of the Groups C and D would have been produced and enshrined on those occasions. • 12 paintings of Avalokiteshvara enshrined in Buddhist worship halls within the palace (1275, the 1st year of the reign of King Chungnyeol):49 “In the eulhae year, 12 paintings of Avalokiteshvara were enshrined in the palace and Buddhist sermons were held to pray for blessings for the emperor.” • Transformation Buddha enshrined in the palace (1304, the 30th year of the reign of King Chungnyeol):50 “The king called the monk Sogyeong to the place and held a ceremony to enshrine the Transformation Buddha and to recite the Avatamsaka Sutra, and the king and Sukchangwonbi [Lady Kim, concubine] accepted the Bodhisattva precepts….” • Likelihood of Buddhist paintings enshrined at Yuan shrines at Goryeo temples such as Hyeonseongsa, Bojesa, Myoryeonsa, Sinhyosa, Mincheonsa, and Heungcheonsa.51 • Epitaph of Wang Hu (1349, the first year of reign of King Chungjeong):52 “In 1325, the eulchuk year, when King Chungwon died in Yuan, he [Wang Hu] put on his mourning clothes and carried the bier back to Goryeo. Even after the funeral he held memorial rites to the king at the foot of the tomb…and repaired Haeansa Temple nearby to pray for the repose of the king’s soul.53 The king had ground silver and gold into powder to copy the Heart Sutra but had not managed to finish even half of it, and left behind many other sutras as well. With his private funds, Wang Hu had the project finished.…” b) Powerful families including the families of military and civil officials built temples big and small near the graves of their ancestors to pray for the repose of their souls or to pray for the nation and the royal court. It is likely that paintings of the Groups A, B, and C were enshrined at these temples, featuring iconography related to Pure Land Buddhism, (rebirth in the Pure Land) or paintings praying for good fortune in this world. The construction of private shrines was limited by law but in the late Goryeo period the king, officials and monks continued to build private shrines, so King Chungseon, upon his coronation vowed to put a stop to evil practices in this field.54 • Cheonggyesa, Temple of Jo In-gyu (1275-1308, the reign of King Chungnyeol):55 “When the temple was built for the king there were so many sutras written in gold and Buddhist images painted it was difficult to count them all.…” • Epitaph of Lady Heo, wife of Kim Byeon (1324, the 11th year of King Chungsuk):56 “The grave is on the southern slope of Mt. Daedeoksan. After the funeral a house was built in the southwest to face the grave, and not one ri away a temple named Gameungsa was built to pray for the repose of the soul. The family gave the monks all their money and treasures to have the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment copied, written with a mixture of gold and silver. In addition, not a few other Buddhist works were carried out.…” • Epitaph of Lady Yu, wife of Yi Deok-son (1326, the 13th year of King Chungsuk):57 “A temple named Seonjeoksa was built on the eastern slope of Mt. Daedeoksan near the graves of the ancestors, and rites to pray for the repose of the soul and for good fortune have been held for several years now. Lady Yu fell ill in the ninth month of 1326…a monk was called and her head was shaved and she was given the [Buddhist] name Mokjin.…” c) Buddhist paintings were enshrined in temple halls. In Goryeo temples, the halls mainly featured murals, but paintings of the Groups B, C, and D would have been hung in the smaller temple halls and hermitages.58 A painting of Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas was enshrined at Sujeongam, a painting of the White-Robed Avalokiteshvara was enshrined at Gukcheongsa Temple, and it is likely that a painting of Amitabha Buddha would have been hung at Boamsa Temple. • Painting of Avalokiteshvara at Gukcheongsa Temple (1313):59 “A temple was built on the southwestern slope and was named Gukcheongsa…In the summer of the gyechuk year, the second year of the Huangqing reign of Yuan…a large gold statue seemed to soar out of the ground and all who saw it could not help exclaiming… and in front of a picture of the White-Robed Avalokiteshvara always hanging on the wall he spread out a piece of black silk one ja wide and burned incense as he bowed three times and held up his head….” • Painting of Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas at Seodae Sumjeongam, Mt. Odaesan (1339-1344):60 “A painting of Amitabha with Eight Great Bodhisattvas was newly produced by Ra-am and Ryugong and hung on the northern wall of the Buddha hall. The hermitage is now complete with the old censer, kundika and other utensils.…” • Wonders of the Lotus Sutra, written by the Monk Yowon during the reign of King Chungye (r.1339-1344):61 “There was a temple by the name of Boamsa in the northwestern corner of Mt. Deoksan in Songgyeong…Some 40 people including elderly retired officials and men of leisure gathered together to form Beophwasa Temple…On the 15th day of every month they carefully prepared food and made offerings and held rites in the hall of Amitabha, staying up all night to pray to be reborn in the Pure Land, and an endless number of people came voluntarily with the same purpose until death.…” • Forty Avalokiteshvara paintings commissioned by Baek Seon-yeon (1116, the 20th year of the reign of King Uijong):62 “Baek Seon-yeon commissioned the production of 40 Buddhist images and 40 paintings of Avalokiteshvara to match the king’s age, and on the Buddha’s birthday he lit lanterns in the temple hall and prayed, and the king came to watch in secret in the cover of the night.” d) Government officials enshrined Buddhist paintings in home shrines, which served as a private place to worship and hold rites. Influential people in the provinces also hung up paintings of Amitabha Buddha in the Pure Land in their homes and prayed before them.63 The paintings would have belonged to the Groups A and B, depicting Amitabha or some other Buddhist deity. • The Amitabha Sutra (1304) from Wangnangjeon (The Story of Wangnang):64 “There was a man named Wangnang from Gilju. At the age of 57 the ghost of his wife, who had died eleven years earlier, suddenly appeared one night and told Wang ‘Five ghosts are coming to get you tomorrow morning, so hang a painting of Amitabha high on the western hall in the middle of the house and sit in the east, facing west, and pray to Amitabha…The old man An who lives to the north of our house faces west and bows down fifty times at dawn each morning, and makes it his duty to hold rites to Amitabha on the day of the full moon of each month…’” • Bakchubu yugadanggi (Record of Park Chu-bu’s House Yugadang), by Yi Gyu-bo (1168-1241):65 “Many members of the ruling class came and built houses…In general, the houses had three main rooms. Two of them were wood-floored halls…and the other was reserved for Buddha, as a place to hold rites to the Buddha complete with all the necessary implements. So when one entered the room the mind became clear. Therefore, the room was called Jeongnyeodang [shrine of calm thought]….” e) Finally, there were individual cases where the paintings were enshrined in special places. The first case is the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara painting commissioned by the royalty of Goryeo and now preserved at Kagami Jinja in Japan. The painting today measures 419.5 x 254.2cm, smaller than was to being with, but it is still the largest of all extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings.66 Considering the size of Joseon Buddhist paintings hung behind the principal icon in the main temple hall, however, it can be said that the Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara at Kagami Jinja is the only known Goryeo Buddhist painting that would have been big enough to be enshrined in the main hall of a large temple.67 In regard to where the painting would have been originally enshrined, Mincheonsa Temple and Heungcheonsa Temple in the capital area, Gaeseong, have been mentioned.68 Another special case refers to the Group C painting that may have been enshrined at Mangwondang, the house built by King Chungseon in the winter capital of Yuan at Dadu (present-day Beijing). Built in 1314 during the first year of the reign of King Chungsuk, this house was where the future king Chungseon studied and spent time with the Chinese scholars.69 The house had been well known as a gathering place of Confucian scholars, but it has been revealed that the house was more of a Buddhist gathering place. Regarding the name, researchers such as Kim Gwang-cheol and Kim Sang-gi have suggested that Mangwondang is an alternative name for Jemigideok, the formal name of the house.70 The posthumous poetry anthology of Yi Je-hyeon titled Ikje nango, famous for its mention of several place names, does not mention Mangwondang but does mention a place called Jemigideoktongsogae (濟美基德痛掃漑).71 Moreover, the scholar Lee Gae-seok sees "Jemigideok" as the Chinese-character version of the original Mongol name, which in Romanized modern Mongolian would be jimyi-g-tei (濟美基德: : silence), tun (痛: : to meditate), and suu-gai (掃漑: : to be seated). Therefore, Mangwondang means “to sit meditating in silence.” In addition, he has pointed out that the Jemigideoktongsogae mentioned in Yi Jae-hyeon’s Ikjenango can be understood in the same context such as "Pyehobunhyang Gyeongilhweja (閉戶焚香 竟日跪坐)," the names of which suggest the burning of incense and Buddhist meditation respectively. Therefore, he argues, the name Mangwondang means “a room to keep silent and practice Seon meditation” but has been wrongly understood. According to a letter written by Jeong Mun-hae (1249-1318), who was invited to the Yuan capital, even by 1312 the garden of Mangwondang was already filled with the sound of Buddhist music.72 While it is not certain whether Mangwondang was the same place as Jemigideoktongsogae or was a large place that encompassed the latter, it is highly possible that it was a place for Buddhist sermons and Seon meditation complete with a Buddhist painting and all the necessary implements, and was hence also a place where the Goryeo attendants to the king could go to find solace. As is well known through various records, King Chungseon was a devout Buddhist who was especially fond of reading the sutras and carried out various acts showing his faith such as turning a palace into Mincheonsa Temple to pray for the soul of his mother and making offerings to 3,000 priests.73 Therefore it is considered very natural that Mangwondang was a very Buddhist place in nature. VI CONCLUSION In this paper, 160 extant Goryeo Buddhist paintings have been studied from three aspects: the weave of the silk used for painting, the width of the silk, and the place of enshrinement. First, most of the paintings are on silk woven with a space after every two warp threads. This rib weave allows for greater expression of depth and texture than ordinary plain weave. Second, in terms of width, Goryeo Buddhist paintings range from small works about 40cm wide to very large works as much as 250cm wide. The paintings were studied by dividing them into five groups according to width: A, B, C, and D, and E for special cases. Analysis showed that the width of the silk influenced the iconography and composition of paintings, and it is thought likely that the larger works (Groups C, D, E) were managed by the court office called Aekjeongguk. Lastly, in terms of enshrinement, the votive offerings that might have been enshrined with the paintings were studied along with the places where the paintings would have been hung originally. Taking the example of the Amitabha preserved at Shōbō-ji in Kyoto, which first suggested the idea that votive offerings were made with paintings, the issue of the enshrining of votive offerings and the way they would have been enshrined was examined. In addition, examination of documents from the 13th and 14th centuries revealed that Goryeo Buddhist paintings were enshrined in various places such as Buddhist halls on palace grounds, royal shrines, shrines big and small near the homes or ancestral graveyards of powerful families and officials of the ruling class, built to pray for the repose of the dead or pray for blessings, temple halls, and private shrines in the homes of officials. Special cases include Mangwondang, a Goryeo royal residence in Yuan. The places of enshrinement were studied in connection with the size of paintings. This paper hence represents a departure from the usual subjects of iconography and style of Goryeo Buddhist paintings to take a preliminary approach to peripheral issues, which will be supplemented through further research.

A special exhibition entitled Sacred Ningbo, Gateway to 1300 Years of Japanese Buddhism (hereafter referred to as Sacred Ningbo), held in Nara National Museum, in the summer of 2009 (July 18 - August 30) was a successful and fruitful one as it attracted attention both inside and outside Japan and contributed to various disciplines by illuminating how Ningbo, a central harbor city in the East Asian maritime trade zone and a sacred place for Buddhists, played an important historical, cultural role centering around Buddhist art during the Yuan and Ming periods.1 The exhibition was particularly meaningful in that it collected in one venue all the major Buddhist paintings from the Southern Song, only a few of which had been available at one time in any previous exhibition. As the exhibition organizers did not attempt to array masterpieces or to suggest Buddhist paintings as its main theme, they excluded the paintings not directly associated with Ningbo, even famous examples such as Mahamayuri (Ninna-ji, Kyoto) from the Northern Song, the Sixteen Lohans (Seiryō-ji, Kyoto) whose transmission is traditionally attributed to Chōnen (奝然), or Avalokiteshvara with a Thousand Hands (Eihō-ji, Gifu) from the Southern Song. Nevertheless, an opportunity for achieving a broad perspective on the Southern Song Buddhist Paintings was offered through an all-encompassing range of relevant Buddhist paintings displayed in the exhibition, which also included a number of new materials, the most representative of which, on display as a set for the first time in centuries, is the series of Five Hundred Lohans in Daitoku-ji, Kyoto. The exhibition Sacred Ningbo was highly impressive also in that it did not merely display the paintings but also paid heed to social and local history. The method of interpreting each work in relation to the networks and contexts constructed by materials, place and people has been practically pursued by Japanese researchers since 1990: this approach is in line with the “social art history” and “inter-regional studies” of the west. An exhibition reflecting the new research method does not confine each Buddhist painting within the scope of art history but extends its significance by treating it as the object of research of history itself and of other related disciplines. By associating them with the social strata of the region, with religious rituals, and with social activities, the familiar Buddhist paintings from Ningbo can be seen to embrace diverse implications, which cannot be simply defined. The present paper purports to examine some general issues of Buddhist paintings from the Song and the Yuan rather than applying the methods allowed by social history and local history, but is nevertheless deeply rooted in the significance of the exhibition, Sacred Ningbo. It will contribute to the field of art history by providing new perspectives for illuminating an individual phenomenon with details; however, no comprehension in depth is possible without a general view. In this respect, a discussion on Buddhist paintings is no exception, and thus a discussion from a general view is indispensable in order for a proper interpretation of an individual work. I intend to explore the characteristics of the visual representation employed in the images of the devotional deities from the Song and Yuan periods. II MATERIAL ISSUES Recently, Nagaoka Ryūsaku, referring to Gombrich’s Meditation on a Hobby Horse, has argued that Buddha images function as the representation of Buddha, and has embarked on an examination of the representational functions of ancient Japanese Buddhist sculptures.2 In this respect, Buddhist paintings, embracing Buddha images, are no different and need to be treated the same as sculptures. If so, can we really consider that Buddhist paintings function as the representation of Buddha as much as a sculpture does? For a clue to the answer to this question, I would like to examine Nagaoka’s presupposition that sculptures are situated in the present world. If Buddhist sculptures are situated in the present world, where is Buddha in Buddhist paintings? A Buddhist painting needs to be greatly differentiated from a sculpture, as it comprises two parts; Buddha and the surrounding spaces. Should we not discriminate how, as well as what, these parts are represented? This is because a painting both represents and provides the environment for the Buddha, while a sculpture of Buddha requires a space in the normal world around it. There are many paintings depicting Buddha moving to different realms such as the Descent of Amitabha paintings, which clearly suggest that a Buddhist painting entails representations of a different nature from that of a sculpture. A Buddhist painting is not merely a substitute for Buddha but it also represents the interrelation between the present world, “this shore (此岸),” and the transcendental world, “the other shore (彼岸),” by visualizing both Buddha and the space surrounding him. The visual representations of Buddhist paintings from the Southern Song display somewhat intricate diversities even when stylistic and iconographical differences are exempted from the discussion. The differences and diversities are due clearly to certain relatedness between “this shore” and “the other shore” which are made apparent in the picture. One advocating the authority of scriptures will argue to refer to the scriptures for the question on the relatedness between this shore and the other shore; however, I shall in this paper regard Buddhist paintings as visual representations and analyze their narratives. This is because it is not entirely acceptable that various interpretations of the scriptures have been fully reflected in the paintings. The world of letters and the world of visualizations operate in disparate boundaries. Texts are primarily influential in the formation of images which are made visible through paintings. And therefore, a comparative examination of the visual representations in Buddhist paintings needs to be preceded by an analysis of their narratives. If it is accepted that a religious painting represents the interrelation between “the other shore”, the world of the religious transcendence, and “this shore,” the present world, most of the Buddhist paintings from the Southern Song I have examined are to be categorized into three types: the visualized image, the apparition image and the summoned image. Although a categorization like this would be more interesting if the universal ground of religious paintings were explored through comparison with the religious paintings of the west, I shall confine my discussion here to establishing the three types and analyzing their characteristics. And noteworthy changes in the Buddhist paintings of the Yuan will also be discussed.3 A generalist may argue that the viewpoints of the visualized image and the summoned image lie in “this shore” and that of the apparition image in “the other shore”; however, as the three categories may not seem clear only viewed from the viewpoint of “this shore,” the title of each category needs to be understood as signifying its characteristics of presentation that visualize the interrelation between “this shore” and “the other shore.” III VISUALIZED IMAGE The visualized image (心中感得像) depicts the state that is reached by contemplating the Buddha, i.e. the visualization of the Buddha image that is formed in the mind (Figure 1). In the religious perspective, a considerable distance between the present world (this shore) and the Buddhist paradise (the other shore) is presupposed. Owing to this distance, the visualized image should indicate the visual perception of the Buddha when one meets with the Buddha after one has purified the mind and body, enhanced inward sanctity, and consequently approached the world of paradise. In this case, it does not mean that ordinary lay believers in the present world may experience this. The visualized image originates from the world experienced or inwardly perceived by a monk of the highest calibre who has renounced the world, and therefore this experience, and the formation of the image, must chronologically precede the production of a painting. ( Figure 1 ) Visualized image The Amitabha Triad (Figure 2; Shōjōke-in, Kyoto) painted by Puyue (普悅) serves as the most representative example. Along with the strong trend of the Mind-Only (唯心) studies during the Song, the paintings started to reflect inward contemplation. Further examples can be found, outside Buddhist paintings, in the motifs of the Confucian literati paintings such as “Ranges and Valleys within one’s breast (胸中丘壑)” and “Generate Bamboos within one's breast (胸中成竹)” which show the intent to visualize images prior to the act of painting. On this basis, Mind-Only studies widely influenced art and Buddhist paintings also followed the philosophical fashion of this period. No one would disagree that Early Spring (Figure 3; National Palace Museum, Taipei) by Guo Xi (郭熙) dated in the fifth year of Xining (1072), is a fine example of this case outside Buddhist paintings. The Tiantai school had long argued the importance of contemplating the Buddha in the mind and had established a tradition somewhat similar to the Mind-Only studies, which enabled Puyue to produce an Amitabha image, which is the most representative work of the visualized image. ( Figure 2 ) Amitabha Triad, Puyue, Southern Song, late 12th century. Three hanging scrolls; color on silk, 127.0 x 48.8 cm, Shōjōke-in, Kyoto ( Figure 3 ) Early Spring, Guo Xi, Northern Song, 1072. Hanging scroll; ink on silk, 158.3 x 108.1 cm, National Palace Museum, Taipei In the early Northern Song, when present-day Ningbo was called Mingzhou (明州), Zhili (知礼, 960-1028), based at Yanqingsi (延慶寺), retrieved the former prosperity of the Tiantai school and elaborated his theories of Mind-Only Amitabha (Intrinsic Amitabha) and Mind-Only Pure Land. He wrote the Summary of the Mysterious Supremacy of the Commentary on the Sutra on Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (観無量寿佛経疏妙宗鈔) and, on the basis of the Sutra of the Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life (観無量寿経, hereafter, the Visualization Sutra), he regarded the Samadhi in the Mindfulness of the Buddha as a strict method of meditation equal to the Samadhi in Contemplating the Buddha advocated by the Tiantai school. The Buddha image achieved in the mind would be regarded as the testimony of one’s enlightenment. Puyue's Amitabha Triad has been influenced by Zhili’s theory.4 In Puyue’s Amitabha Triad, the deities, depicted in the elegant attire, light color and thin lines seem to glow as if they are emitting light which fills the leaf-shaped nimbus behind each of the images; this radiation of light is implied by the various ink tones. The fine technique of representing light seems to be associated with the ink-on-paper landscapes of the Jiangnan school in the Southern Song; however the illusory presentation of serene religious sentiment in this painting needs to be distinguished from landscape, which purports to depict the physical world. Puritanically striving for the inward spiritual world, Puyue accomplishes to visualize the image obtained in his mind with mystical lines and tones. This is the reason why Puyue, who never used his worldly name, was thought to have been an advocate of Zhili’s theory and a practitioner of the Tiantai Pure Land school. Another work from the Southern Song, the Amitabha Triad by Zhang Sigong (張思恭) (Figure 4; Rozan-ji, Kyoto), needs to be addressed. Although we are not certain whether or not Zhang Sigong was a professional painter for the Buddhist subject from Ningbo itself, it can be safely conjectured that he would have been closely associated with Ningbo, which was the urban centre for the Tiantai Pure Land school.5 Especially the Tiantai Great Master (Honkoku-ji, Kyoto) which was on display in the special exhibition of Kyoto National Museum in autumn 2009, has to be deemed to be Zhang’s work on the basis that the work shows similar postures such as eyes looking downwards, as well as its inscription reading “painted by Zhang Sigong of the Great Song (大宋張思恭筆)” written in Zhang's calligraphic style and somewhat light and thin outlines resembling those of the Rozan-ji Amitabha Triad. The portrait in Honkoku-ji is interesting not only because the subject is Zhiyi (智顗), the patriarch of Tiantai school, but also because it shows that Zhang Sigong, while closely associated with the Ningbo region, also had an affinity with Zhang Sixun (張思訓), the painter of another Tiantai Great Master of Saikyō-ji, Shiga, who shared the same surname and middle name.6 ( Figure 4 ) Amitabha Triad, Zhang Sigong, Southern Song, 13th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 109.7 x 52.8 cm, Rozan-ji, Kyoto Both Puyue, who denounced the mundane world, and Zhang Sigong, who used his lay surname, produced visualized images based on the Song interpretation of the Visualization Sutra. In order to demonstrate this, I will prove the association between their paintings and the Illustration of the Visualization Sutra (Figure 5; Amida-ji, Nara), which has a concise depiction of the sixteen visualizations explained in the Visualization Sutra. ( Figure 5 ) Illustration of the Visualization Sutra, Kamakura, 13th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 128.5 x 61.5 cm, Amida-ji, Nara The Amida-ji Illustration of the Visualization Sutra was produced during the Kamakura period, modelled on the painting brought by Shunjōbō Chōgen (俊乘房重源, 1121-1206), who had been to China three times. Hamada Takashi and Yamakawa Aki concluded that this painting was structurally based on the Commentary to the Sutra of the Contemplation on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life by Yuanzhao (元照, 1048-1116) who was active in Hangzhou (杭州) during the late Northern Song.7 The upper center is allotted for the first visualization, the “Meditation on the Setting Sun,” the visualizations from the second to the seventh are arrayed on the right, and those from the eighth to the thirteenth, on the left. From the lower middle of the painting to the upper middle are the scenes of the nine-fold future life, arranged into the higher, middle and lower levels. Puyue’s Amitabha Triad has been found to be modelled on the thirteenth visualization, the “Meditation on Complex Concepts,” of this painting and Zhang Sigong’s Amitabha Triad, in which Amitabha is preaching, on the ninth visualization, the “Meditation on Amitabha’s True Body.” This fact testifies that Buddhist paintings of the visualized images from the Song dynasty depict the main deity in the form that is deeply associated with the visualization of Tiantai Pure Land school. Besides, among the paintings of the visualized images, there are many cases that have the image of surging clouds as seen in the Zhang Sigong's Amitabha Triad. Those clouds are employed here to draw a demarcation separating “the other shore” from “this shore,” and this iconography is widely employed in paintings of the apparition image and the summoned image, a discussion on which follows. For an example, a fine case of the visualized image is Avalokiteshvara with a Thousand Hands and a Thousand Eyes (Eihō-ji, Gifu; Figure 6), which offers an empty sky as the background to the main deity in order to represent the high state of mind obtained through meditation. Depending on whether the place where deities appear is “this shore” or “the other shore,” the visualized image is distinguished from the apparition image, as much as the presence and the absence of the surging clouds would do. As it was the case in Rozan-ji, Zhang Sigong’s Amitabha Triad (Zenrin-ji, Kyoto) shows clouds of five colors in front of Amitabha who is descending to the present world, yet these represent the velocity of Amitabha’s journey and therefore have a different function. Judging from such visual representations, we may regard the Vairocana Triad (Kenchō-ji, Kanagawa), a masterpiece of Buddhist art from the Southern Song, and the Shakyamuni (Seikadō Bunkō Art Museum, Tokyo) as fully-realised paintings of the visualized image.8 ( Figure 6 ) Avalokiteshvara with a Thousand Hands and a Thousand Eyes, Southern Song, Late 12th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 190.2 x 105.3 cm, Eihō-ji, Gifu IV APPARITION IMAGE The apparition image (示現像) denotes a type opposite to the visualized image and signifies an action close to the English word, “apparition” (Figure 7). It refers to cases in which the Buddhas and other deities supposed to be present in “the other shore” have themselves appeared in the present world using their supernatural abilities, and in the Buddhist terminology it is referred to as “instructing.” In the cases of the apparition image, no matter that one should cultivate oneself with proper methods and practices in order to reach enlightenment and also to perceive the true Buddha nature, the deities voluntarily comes down to appear to the people in the mundane world and perform their abilities. ( Figure 7 ) Apparition image The archetypical painting of the apparition image is Map of Sacred Potalaka (Figure 8; Jōshō-ji, Nagano), which depicts Avalokiteshvara appearing on Mount Potalaka, the famous Avalokiteshvara platform of enlightenment. This painting originates directly from an illustration inserted in a local record, the Dade changguo zhouguo zhi (大徳昌国州国志), compiled during the Dade years (1297-1307) of early Yuan. Nevertheless, the scene of Mount Potalaka in this painting, modified with the unique viewpoints prevalent in the Chinese paintings of important sites, resembles that of the Xihutu (西湖図) inserted in the Xianchun linan zhi (咸淳臨安志), compiled during the Xianchun years (1297-1307) of the Southern Song, as it depicts over eighty sacred places and their landmarks mostly dating back to the eighth year of Jiading (1215), when Pujisi (普済寺) became the central Buddhist monastery exalted as “the Avalokiteshvara Platform of Enlightenment under Heaven” so that Mount Potalaka along with Mount Wutai for the Manjushri cult and Mount Ami for the Samantabhadra cult became one of the Three Platforms of Enlightenment. Therefore, the scene of Potalaka in the Jōshō-ji painting seems to have been based on the image formed in the Southern Song, on which the sacred places, deemed indispensable during the Yuan, were added.9 ( Figure 8 ) Map of Sacred Potalaka, Yuan, 13th -14th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 112.8 x 56.5 cm, Jōshō-ji, Nagano On the top of the Jōshō-ji painting is an inscription in gold pigment: “補怛洛迦山觀音現□聖境.” Although unfortunately, due to the deterioration of the silk, one character is yet to be identified, the character xian (現) connotes the meaning of “apparition.” The scene embraced in this painting corresponds to what the inscription describes, and Avalokiteshvara is letting himself appear in a space of “this shore” while seated on a grass mat above Potalaka and, as his attending deities, taking Sudhana and Somachattra, the latter appearing in the Confucian elite’s attire. As seen in the Jōshō-ji painting, surging clouds are widely employed in the apparition image, although they should be distinguished from those appearing in the visualized image in respect that the apparition image causes deities surrounded by clouds to appear in the present world. As already made clear, that through which we identify a painting as a visualized image or an apparition image is not the presence of surging clouds in the painting but whether the place in which the deities appear belongs to “this shore” or “the other shore.” A fine example of the apparition image would be the White-Robed Avalokiteshvara of Gokuraku-ji in Kagawa (Figure 9).10 In this painting, Avalokiteshvara, in a white garment, seated in the lotus-posture and with both hands holding his left knee, is drawn in a big circle. According to Huaji (画継, preface dated 1167), the painting history by Deng Chun (鄧椿): “Li Gonglin (李公麟, 1049-1106) painted an Avalokiteshvara in the lotus posture with the hands joined, but [otherwise] just like an emancipated (自在) image, saying: “People normally identify Avalokiteshvara (自在) from his relaxed seated posture (破坐), however his emancipated spirit is in the mind and not in his appearance.”11 The White-Robed Avalokiteshvara of the Gokuraku-ji painting employs the relaxed seated posture , which was usual since the Northern Song, yet this painting offers an intriguing point by using authentic coloring with a dexterous contrasting skill and deliberately employs Li Gonglin’s ink drawing method. The date of this painting is thought to be the Yuan period at the latest but the Southern Song of the thirteenth century can also be suggested. Although the painting does not incorporate surging clouds, the swelling sea in the background certainly represents “this shore,” and the swirling sea in the foreground implies the transformation of Avalokiteshvara appearing in the present world. ( Figure 9 ) White-Robed Avalokiteshvara, Yuan, Late 13th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 113.8 x 58.5 cm, Gokuraku-ji, Kagawa Additionally, although the paintings of Amitabha descending to greet the dead soul have often been thought to be apparition images as they involve apparitions of Buddhas and deities, these images depicting the motion of the deities descending through the air, are best considered as a type of the summoned image. V SUMMONED IMAGE The summoned image (勧請像) denotes the paintings in which deities from “the other shore” appear in the present world on the request of people in “this shore,” and the meaning closely corresponds to “summon” or “summoning” in English (Figure 10). In the summoned image, deities appear in the present world in response to the request or pleading of people in “this shore” and in doing so the deities appear in a certain designated, pre-determined, pure-area of the present world. For this reason, the summoned image can be mistaken for the apparition image because in both cases, when they are conceived from the viewpoint of “this shore,” the deities from “the other shore” appear in “this shore” to perform their merits. Nevertheless, the summoned image precisely integrates the motion of deities coming through the air, and on this basis it can be clearly distinguished from the visualized image. During the Song, Buddhist rituals were performed more and more widely and ritual manuals were also compiled separately from the existing Tripitaka. In practice, a ritual involved a certain pure-area, the designated enlightenment platform, where paintings are arrayed and to which deities are summoned to descend. The paintings used for such purposes in Buddhist services may be considered as belonging to the category of the summoned image. Clouds are frequently employed in the summoned image; however the clouds in this case are different from the surging clouds in the visualized and the apparition images, as the clouds in the summoned image are drawn to represent the direction and dynamics of the deity moving towards the location of beseeching. ( Figure 10 ) Summoned image The most frequently-cited examples of the summoned image are a series of water-land paintings (C: shuiluhua, 水陸画). The Descent of Deities to Earth (Figure 11; Private Collection, USAUSAUSA), a water-land painting from the Southern Song, needs to be mentioned here.12 In this painting, five Buddhas, seven itinerant monks, and another forty Buddhas are arrayed diagonally as though they were descending one after another from the clouds. This painting is thought to date around 1200, the Southern Song, and thus to be the earliest extant water-land painting. As for the textual basis for this painting, the best known is the Fajieshengfan shuiliu shenghuixiuzhai yigui (法界聖凡水陸勝会修齋儀軌) of late Southern Song written by Zhipan (志磐), a monk scholar of the Tiantai school residing in Yuebosi (月波寺) north-west of Dongqianhu (東銭湖), East Ningbo. He was ordained at Junjiaoyuan (尊教院) located close to Yuebosi. The deities appearing in the painting are in accordance with this text; the five Buddhas, i.e. Mahavairocana, Vairocana, Shakyamuni, Amitabha, and Maitreya, the seven dharma-seeking or sutra-translating monks, representing the Tiantai, Meditation, Pure Land, Flower Garland, Ziyin, Esoteric, or Vinaya schools, respectively, and the forty Buddhas who correspond to the multiple Buddhas of the three times, the Buddhas of the world of the ten directions, and the three-thousand Buddhas of the past, the present and the future. The Descent of Deities to Earth thus comprises a countless number of Buddhas, who are explained in a myriad volumes of sutras, brought to China by dharma-seeking monks from China and sutra-translating monks from India, descending in response to beseeching to the water-land platform of enlightenment in “this shore.”13 ( Figure 11 ) Descent of Deities to Earth, Southern Song, Early 13th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 131.0 x 58.8 cm, Private Collection, USA The clouds accompanied by the summoned deities in the Descent of Deities to Earth demarcate “this shore” and “the other shore,” and at the same time effectively function to express the direction and velocity of their travel. Besides, in the exhibition Sacred Ningbo, the Five Hundred Lohans in a set of two paintings (cat. no. 120), preserved in Chion-in, Kyoto, was displayed together with this painting (cat. no. 118) and a careful examination conducted by scholars in the exhibition venue has discovered that the Five Hundred Lohans in two paintings and the Descent of Multiple Deities originally constituted one set.14 There are more water-land paintings from the Southern Song such as the Six Dharmas preserved in Shin-Chion-in, Shiga, and the Turning Constellations preserved in Zuisen-ji, Aichi. As to these sets of paintings, altogether eight in all, Takasu Jun surmises that they originally constituted one work possibly with more paintings on the basis of their common painting style and features – each representing ten deities in total descending across clouds.15 The exhibition Sacred Ningbo followed Takasu’s conjecture by displaying these two sets (cat. nos. 123, 124) in one space. The structures in which the deities are arranged in the Zuisen-ji and Shin-Chion-in paintings appear more accurately corresponding, rather than to the above mentioned Descent of Deities to Earth, to the Fajieshengfan shuiliu shenghuixiuzhai yigui which says that in the water-land festivals of the late Southern Song the indoor altar of the enlightenment platform was divided into upper and lower halls and ten deities were summoned to each hall. Painting 1 from Zuisen-ji (Figure 12, right), the deities of which face to the left, shows three figures with crowns in the front, two more16 flanking an empress wearing the Crown of Dragon and Phoenix and Pearl and Jade, followed by an emperor with mortarboard crown in the middle, and in the rear Confucius in a white robe with his hands in the revering position and beside him Laozi in a black robe with big ears and shaved head: these figures correspond to the Emperor and the Empress, the Civil and Military Officials, the Confucian Masters and the Men of Wisdom, the Daoist Hermit Masters and the attending deities, who are explained in Zhipan’s text as the subject of the second summoning. Painting 2 (Figure 12, left) has, as the leading figure, an empress wearing the Crown of Dragon and Phoenix and Pearl and Jade, followed by an emperor with the Crown of Twelve Flags and robe with the Twelve Symbols, and other attending deities. As to two of the figures, the seventh with a wooden hammer and the ninth with a chicken crown and a dipper, Takasu allows the possibility that they are two of the Five Ministers of Plague. With special regard to the appearance of the gods of plague, they would be the Gods and Goddesses of the Five Purgatories and the Four Rivers, the Multiple Gods and Goddesses of Luck and Fortune Supporting the Earth and Strolling in the Air, the Spirits of Ancestral Services and Holy Shrines, and other attending deities, who are according to Zhipan’s text the second last to be summoned, and thus among them the guardian deities associated with the function of superintending plague may feature. In this picture, the gods and goddesses of heaven, earth, mountains and rivers appear in the images of the emperor or empress. If so, the emperor image in the center may represent the Duke of Great Mountain of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Range, and the empress image may be taken to represent the Queen Mother of the West who was exalted as an empress during the Southern Song and revered as a Buddhist deity. The figure in the bowing posture with the Wish-Fulfilling Crown, the second one from the head of the line, is the god of luck.17 ( Figure 12 ) Paintings Thought to Depict Astral Constellations, Southern Song, 13th century. Two hanging scrolls; color on silk, 103.5 x 45.7 cm, Zuisen-ji, Aichi In the Shin-Chion-in paintings, if we follow Zhipan’s text, the painting which was once thought to be a scene of rebirth is more suitable to be construed as the people who established the water-land festival and ranked as the tenth in the upper hall, and the painting known as the scene of the purgatory is more suitable to be construed as the figures of the seventh rank; Yama-raja, Ten Kings and Sisters, Eighteen Minor Kings, Multiple Servants, and other attending deities. One would surmise, on the basis of Zhipan’s text, that the work originally consisted of twenty paintings; however, there are no guarantees to identify every figure in the painting as one appearing in the text, and thus we need to be more careful in establishing the relevance of the theory to the painting. In any case, Zuisen-ji’s and Shin-Chion-in’s paintings are rare examples of the painting style that was widely employed for water-land paintings in the Ningbo area in the Southern Song period. A summoned image from the Song survives, structured on the basis of the Jinguangming zuishengwang jing (金光明最勝王経) translated by Yijing (義淨) and used at a confessional ritual. The exhibition Sacred Ningbo provided a separate exhibition room to display a pair of shrine doors, each with two panels, from the Kamakura period (Figure 13) formerly used to enshrine the King Udayana Shakyamuni statue of Seiryō-ji, brought from China by Chōnen. Taniguchi Kōsei pointed out that the twelve deities depicted on the doors are the celestial deities who were summoned to the Golden Light Repentance Rite of the Song. Led by his own excellent view that the ritualistic method of the water-land festivals was inherited from the Golden Light Repentance Rite of the Song, Taniguchi demonstrates that cultivation-rectification festivals held in the first month of the lunar calendar in Sennyū-ji, Kyoto, also inherit the ritual tradition of the Song.18 ( Figure 13 ) Standing Shakyamuni, paintings from the doors of a portable shrine, Kamakura, 13th century. Four panels; color on wood, 168.1 x 44.3-50.7 cm, Seiryō-ji, Kyoto The Golden Light Repentance Rite purports to rectify natural and social disasters such as unexpected changes in heaven and earth, ailments and elements threatening the stable prosperity of the state, following the Jinguangming zuishengwang jing, translated by Yijing. In the ritual, taking place in the enlightenment platform of Shakyamuni, multiple deities from heaven are summoned and receive the reverence and hear the repentance of the people in the mundane world. A manual for this ritual was established by Zunshi (遵式, 960-1032) of the Northern Song who played an important role in the Song revival of the Tiantai doctrines in collaboration with Zhili. Xiatianzhusi (下天竺寺) of Hangzhou was the centre for this form of ritual, which subsequently became widespread. Lin Mingyu recently discovered that there were a number of discourses on the order of deities to be summoned in the platform for Golden Light repentance rituals, and nearly twenty deities and their attendants are known to have been determined in the early Southern Song according to the Zhutianzhuan (諸天伝) by Xinhuan (神煥) and Zhongbian zhutianzhuan (重編諸天伝) by Xingting (行霆).19 Although dated in the Yuan, relatively late, a painting in four panels called the Assembly of Daoist and Buddhist Deities (道仏諸尊集会図), preserved in Myōkō-ji, Aichi and listed as an Important Cultural Property, offers images of the deities to be summoned in the Golden Light repentance rituals in the Shakyamuni platform of enlightenment. Each painting accommodates the images of five deities and altogether twenty deities in four paintings, which constitute a world of their own. Further surviving examples of the summoned image are a work from the Ming in Shinkō-ji, famous wall paintings by the court painters in Fahaisi (法海寺) of Beijing dated to 1445, which depicted twenty deities and their attendants and some surviving paintings of a certain work from the Edo period which was used in the Golden Light repentance ritual. The three water-land paintings in Shōkaku-ji can be safely categorized into the summoned image.20 Although not to be deemed of the summoned image, the Assembly of the Three Buddhas and Multiple Deities (Mangan-ji, Kyoto) shares the same eighteen deities with the Myokō-ji painting.21 I have enumerated so far a few examples of the summoned image, including those that were discovered recently. Its main characteristic lies solely in the image of the deities moving across the air. As mentioned earlier, in the paintings from the Southern Song, clouds play an important role in presenting the dynamics and direction of movement. What is interesting is that a certain association with rituals is identified in the Mahamayuri (Ninna-ji, Kyoto) which is known to be a stylistic variant of a Northern Song Buddhist painting. One may prefer to categorize this painting as a visualized image as Mahamayuri riding clouds faces the front of the painting; however the clouds accompanying the deity are connected by their tails to be transformed into the clouds of distinct shapes, and they are the images of different nature from the surging clouds appearing in the paintings of the visualized image. In this case the deity is shown descending at an overwhelming speed from “the other shore” to “this shore.” It is highly probable that the Mahamayuri was produced to be used for summoning the deity in the rituals for Mahamayuri.22 If the style of “moving across the air with accompanying clouds” is particularly taken for the basis of identifying the category to which the painting should belong, many Amitabha paintings produced widely in East Asia may well be regarded as the summoned image. In the present discussion, only one painting will be introduced as an example of such a case, which is the Descent of Amitabha Triad of the early Southern Song, now preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Figure 14).23 ( Figure 14 ) Amitabha Trinity Descending on Clouds, Southern Song, 12th century. Hanging scroll; color on silk, 97.1 x 53.8 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Denman Waldo Ross Collection (09.86) Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston VI BUDDHIST PAINTINGS FROM THE SOUTHERN SONG TO THE YUAN The Buddhist paintings of the Song have been found to have three types of visual representations when they are construed in the framework consisting of “this shore” and “the other shore.” The system could not avoid a major change when the new age, the Yuan, advanced. The contemplation displayed in the visualized images of the Song disappears in the Buddhist paintings of the Yuan and the images of the deities are adorned with the increasing decorations: sometimes even abnormal images such as the Shakyamuni Triad in Rokuō-in, Kyoto, embracing both Buddhist and Daoist images, appeared. In this case, there is no demarcation between “this shore” and “the other shore,” and the surging clouds depicting the dynamics of travel across the two realms are not employed. As it has already been pointed out in my earlier publication on the Song and Yuan Buddhist paintings in Japan, the strong inclination to the religious practicality which is noteworthy in the Yuan Buddhist paintings represents the mergence between the Buddhism of mundane wishes, i.e. the Amitabha Pure Land cult, and the Daoistic and folk beliefs whose concerns are with practical interests.24 Daoism has theories of longevity and immortality in the place of the Buddhist issues of death and reincarnation, and therefore the paintings of the Buddhist-Daoist mergence would make the demarcation, and distance, between “this” and “the other” realms blurred and rarely detached, and they set up their own route to circulate between the two realms (Figure 15). When people are strongly concerned with practical wishes, they keep the deities in “the other shore,” thus meant to be astray from them, staying in the practical world to be visible to them. In respect that they appear to the eyes of people, the paintings may seem to be of the kind similar to the apparition image, however, the deities are neither those in “the other shore” nor those appearing in “this shore.” ( Figure 15 ) Syncretic image of Buddhism with Daoism Among the Buddhist paintings of devotional deities from the Yuan, there are Shakyamuni triads; one in Rokuō-in, Kyoto (Figure 16), mentioned, another in Nison-in, Kyoto with an inscription in red ink: “進士王鍔妻孫百三娘合家眷發心綵絵,” a third from Joshō-ji, Nagano with a seal in ink: “陀市林子明畫,” and a fourth which was formerly in Tōfuku-ji and now is preserved separately in the Cleveland Museum of Art and Seikadō Bunkō Art Museum. In addition, the Amitabha Triad in Uesugi Jinja, Yamagata bears an inscription in ink with the information that the Xu (徐) family donated in 1309 to produce it. None of these paintings employ clouds.25 The tendency that devotional paintings in the transitional period from the Southern Song to the Yuan employ gradually less clouds is well manifested in the Shakyamuni Triad in Tōfuku-ji, Kyoto, and the Shakyamuni Triad with Eighteen Lohans in the Okazaki City Art Museum. These paintings are dated to the late thirteenth century.26 Even in the summoned images, which should involve “moving across the air,” Buddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure Land in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Figure 17), and the Multiple Heavenly Deities in Shōkaku-ji, Aichi, the latter seems to display an association with the Golden Light repentance ritual: there are no clouds to be found in the paintings from the Yuan.27 Along with the gradual disappearance of the surging clouds in the Buddhist paintings during the transition from the Southern Song to the Yuan, some individual developments can be highly assessed such as more humanistic images with long finger nails, i.e. Daoistic or folk images, enhanced contrasts, and more graceful decorations made with gold pigment to make the paintings appear more practically realistic; however they might seem to suggest that the deities are meant to be of the present world. ( Figure 16 ) Shakyamuni Triad, Yuan, 14th century. Three hanging scrolls; color on silk, 135.7 x 77.2 cm, Rokuō-in, Kyoto ( Figure 17 ) Buddha Amitabha Descending from His Pure Land, Southern Song, late 13th century. Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk, 104.5 x 53.7 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1987 (1987.148) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / Art Resource, NY VII CONCLUSION In the present discussion, aided by the scholarly understandings achieved from the exhibition Sacred Ningbo, three distinguishable characteristics in the Buddhist paintings of devotional deities from the Southern Song has been introduced, by categorization into the visualized, the apparition, and the summoned images. Also mentioned has been the way how the Buddhist visual presentations of the Yuan resulted from the mergence between the Buddhist and Daoist images, greatly modified from those of the Southern Song. The significance of the exhibition Sacred Ningbo, which attempted to interpret the context formulated by objects, place and people and their interrelatedness in the networks, may well be more highly appreciated in the present scholarly fashion, which advocates cross-boundary research. However it is still the field of art history that needs to amplify and deepen the discussions on the issue of “visuality” that is broadly related to our system, either taking a broad perspective or perceiving as appearing. This preliminary discussion leaves behind the question on how the facts discovered here have been made manifested, in terms of differences or similarities, on the East Asian religious art in general, and, more broadly, to the religious art in its entirety.

Several hundred thousand metal printing types and wooden printing types are currently in the collection of the National Museum of Korea. Most of them were used by the Joseon central government and the royal family, for printing and publishing important books. The Gyoseogwan Office (校書館), which was the representative publication bureau of the Joseon government, and also the Kyujanggak Library (奎章閣), which was founded by King Jeongjo and took charge of publishing and preserving the hand written and autograph documents of former kings (御製書·御定書), both took custody of the printing types, and put them to various usages. Among all the printing types that remain today, there are over 400,000 metal printing types, and they can be categorized into several sorts, such as imjinja (壬辰字),1 jeongnija (整理字),2 hanguja (韓構字),3 sillokja (實錄字),4 and gyoseogwan inseocheja (校書館印書體字).5 They were mostly cast in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. During the Japanese colonial period, these printing types were all transferred to the Yi Royal Family Organization (李王職),6 and then moved to the Councilor Division (參事官分室) of the Government-General of Joseon. After being processed and surveyed, they were placed in custody of the Museum of the Government-General of Joseon in 1916, and now finally, are housed in the National Museum of Korea. As recorded in Shen Gua's (沈括, 1031-1095) Mengxi bitan (夢溪筆談, section 307), movable printing types were first invented by a person named Bi Sheng (畢昇, 970-1051) during the Song dynasty, but the types he created were carved from clay [with added glue: jiaotu (膠土)] and fired, before being fixed resin to a metal board. Then the people of the Goryeo period on the Korean peninsula put printing types made of metal to practical usage for the first time in the world. Jikji (直指), which is now kept in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, is a Buddhist text printed in 1377, and is the world’s oldest extant metal print book. And there is also a record that a text entitled Sangjeong yemun (詳定禮文, Detailed Definitions of Ritual Protocols) had already been printed with metal printing types in 1234. The Joseon people inherited the Goryeo people's skill and expertise of using metal printing types. They created metal printing types for more than dozens of occasions, and continued to use them in publishing books. Such vibrant usage of metal printing types is rare in East Asia. Also, the ones that remain today hold a special place in world culture. There are not that many metal printing types that currently remain in China, and it is hard to identify the time periods when they were cast and the areas where they were used. The Printing Museum, Tokyo (印刷博物館) has several suruga types (駿河版銅活字) which were cast in 1607 under the influence of Joseon types, but there are not that many either. The Joseon printing types in the collection of the National Museum of Korea are the world's sole group of printing types of which the origin and usages are clearly known to us. The number of remaining individual types and the number of their sorts, simply outnumber any other remaining groups of printing types in East Asia. They are the living proof that Joseon was a leading country in the area of type-printing culture (Figure 1). ( Figure 1 ) Representative metal printing types from the collection of the National Museum of Korea II HANGEUL METAL PRINTING TYPES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA Although King Sejong promulgated Hunminjeongeum [訓民正音, Correct sounds (and letters) to teach and enlighten the people] or hangeul in 1446, the Chinese characters continued to serve as the official writing system. Therefore, most of the books published during the Joseon period were printed with Chinese characters, and accordingly, 99% of the printing types now in the collection of the National Museum of Korea are printing types featuring Chinese characters. Then, there are also 753 pieces of hangeul printing types, 232 large ones and 521 small ones, among more than 400,000 pieces of metal printing types at the National Museum of Korea. Among books published during the Joseon period, there were versions that contained translated versions of Chinese texts or eonhaebon (諺解本) published as well so that ordinary people could easily understand the contents. In order to publish these translations, hangeul types were required. Hangeul represents a very unique alphabet system which can rarely be seen in other countries, so the hangeul printing types also bear unique features of their own. And especially those in the collection of the National Museum of Korea are not to be found elsewhere, even within Korea. The task of casting metal printing types were overseen by the government during the Joseon period, and the civilian manufacturers never produced hangeul metal printing types as they only had limited usage, so there were not that many hangeul metal types produced to begin with. All these 753 pieces of hangeul metal printing types at the National Museum of Korea form a rare group of valuable items. It has been our general belief that when a metal printing type was worn down after being used many times, they were melted down and then used in creating new sets of types. We also believed that the printing types that had been created in the early half of the Joseon period had already been destroyed, due to the warfare such as Japanese invasion of Korea which broke out in the 1590s. Yet there are indeed types created during the early Joseon period and currently kept at the National Museum of Korea. Hangeul metal printing types were created to represent ‘whole’ letters, composed of consonants and vowels already combined. Consonants and vowels were not cast separately. Earlier, these types were assorted into two categories by their size, and were designated as either eonmunja daeja (諺文字大字, large-size types) or eonmunja soja (諺文字小字, small-size types). The Museum of the Government-General of Joseon once test-printed all the extant types, and published Joseon hwalja gyeonbon cheop (朝鮮活字見本帖, A Sample Collection of Joseon Printing Types),7 and the hangeul types that were displayed in this book, are now housed in the National Museum of Korea (Figure 2). ( Figure 2 ) The Joseon hwalja gyeonbon cheop printed with hangeul types and the actual types used to print it III EXAMINATION OF THE HANGEUL METAL PRINTING TYPES AND ANALYSIS OF THEIR CHARACTERISTICS There are not so many detailed records regarding the printing type production of the Joseon period, and no record remains regarding the production of hangeul printing types. Hangeul printing types must have been produced as part of a supplemental effort to the main task of casting types for Chinese characters. The production dates of the hangeul printing types at the National Museum of Korea are also unavailable to us. In order to ascertain when all those 753 pieces of hangeul printing types were created, and what kind of books were published with them, we have to examine the figures and the writing styles displayed by all the individual printing types, and compare them with currently remaining old texts also printed with metal printing types.8 As a result, it is confirmed that the hangeul printing types of the Museum can be sorted into two groups. 01 HANGEUL PRINTING TYPES USED IN COMBINATION WITH THE EULHAEJA TYPES: THE OLDEST EXTANT HANGEUL METAL PRINTING TYPES Comparative examination of the Joseon's translated versions and the metal printing types from the collection of the Museum, revealed 29 individual (small) printing types that seem to have been used in publishing Neungeomgyeong eonhae (楞嚴經諺解, Korean Translation of the Shurangama Sutra) of 1461 and Dusi eonhae (杜詩諺解, Korean Translation of Tu Fu’s Poems) of 1481. Among those 29, 11 types were confirmed to be exact matches with the letters displayed in both books. Several of them were photographed with a microscope, their reversed images were compared with the figures printed on the paper, and they turned out to be identical (Figures 3, 4). ( Figure 3 ) Hangeul printing types used in combination with the eulhaeja types, which were used in publishing Neungeomgyeong eonhae ( Figure 4 ) Image from the printing types in black overlaid on the printed letters (in white on the grey ground), to show their exact correspondence Neungeomgyeong eonhae is a hangeul translation of the Shurangama Sutra, and was published in 1461 (during King Sejo's reign). The printing types that were made to print Chinese characters and used in printing the Chinese section of the Neungeomgyeong eonhae are called the eulhaeja (乙亥字) printing types. This printing type was produced in 1455 (the first year, eulhae, of King Sejo's reign) based upon the writing style of a governmental official and also a calligrapher named Gang Hui-an (姜希顔). Actually, another sort of printing type named gyeongoja (庚午字) had been produced five years earlier in 1450, based upon the writing style of Prince Anpyeong Daegun (安平大君), who was famous for his magnificent calligraphy style. Yet the newly-enthroned King Sejo, frustrated and angered by the fact that his own brother Anpyeong had opposed his enthronement, destroyed (melted) the types and newly created the eulhaeja types. Eulhaeja printing types were one of two major printing type groups [the other being the gapinja (甲寅字) types produced in 1434] that were heavily used in the early half of the Joseon period. The hangeul printing types used in printing (the translated section of the) Neungeomgyeong eonhae are called ‘hangeul printing types used in combination with the eulhaeja printing types.’ The hangeul printing types produced during the Joseon period did not have any specific designations, so today they are referred to with the title of the printing types which were used in combination with them to print Chinese characters. In addition, because these printing types were used for the first time in printing this particular text, they are sometimes referred to as the ‘Neungeom hangeul types.’ Later, these hangeul printing types were used in publishing Amitagyeong eonhae (阿彌陀經諺解, Korean Translation of the Amitabha Sutra) in 1461 and Dusi eonhae (杜詩諺解) in 1481. They were also used in the governmental task of publishing translations of important Confucian texts which continued in 1588-1590. It is estimated that these neungeom hangeul types would have been created after 1455 when the eulhaeja types were first created, and before 1461 when Neungeomgyeong eonhae was first published. Whose writing style provided the template for these neungeom hangeul types is still unknown, yet it is certain that they feature the characteristics of hangeul writings which prevailed in the early days of the Joseon period. As we all know, Korean letters show combinations of consonants and vowels, like ‘consonant-vowel’ or ‘consonant-vowel-consonant.’ Furthermore, just as the Chinese characters were placed in a squared space, the hangeul consonants and vowels, likewise, were properly positioned in a squared space on either the paper or the printing type. The fashion of positioning consonants and vowels, changed from period to period, and from situation to situation. In the early days when hangeul was first created, it was decided to reflect the nature of the hangeul letters which were composed of the so-called ‘initial sound (consonant),’ ‘middle sound (vowel),’ and the ‘final sound (consonant),’ so the face of a type was divided into four quadrants and the consonants and vowels were simply placed there, in a fashion which is now referred to as a ‘partitioning of space based upon the sound system.’ In this case, the consonant representing the final sound, which is placed under a vowel, would turn out to be too big, and the balance between all the consonants and the vowel would seem to be off. Therefore, the fashion of placing the consonants and the vowel continued to change in subsequent periods. Later the consonants and the vowel, representing the first, middle and final sounds, were placed inside the squared space yet in appropriate positions. Such fashion is now referred to as a ‘partitioning of space based upon appropriate compositions.’ In later periods, the consonants became relatively smaller than the vowel, and the overall position of the initial consonant gradually shifted downward, and the vowel was displayed in two major fashions. ‘Vertical vowels’ like ‘ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅣ’ became relatively larger than the consonant in subsequent periods, and the distance between such vertical vowels and the consonants was also increased, while ‘horizontal vowels’ like ‘ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ’ remained relatively the same, except that they also changed in format due to brush stroke changes (Figure 5).9 ( Figure 5 ) Changes in the fashions of placing hangeul consonants and vowels Hangeul letters featured in Neungeomgyeong eonhae show the initial, middle and final sounds placed in a four-quadrant square. From Figure 5 we can see how the squared space is portioned based on the sound system, and consonants and vowels are positioned accordingly. A thorough cross-checking between 29 individual (small) printing types that seem to be hangeul printing types used in combination with the eulhaeja printing types and the translated versions printed with the eulhaeja types, are not yet to be completed. But all the 29 printing types display the aforementioned characteristics (Figures 6, 7). ( Figure 6 ) Top: Letters of which the consonants and vowels are positioned based upon the sound system (hangeul printing types used in combination with the eulhaeja printing types) Bottom: Letters of which the consonants and vowels are positioned based upon appropriate composition (hangeul printing types used in combination with the musinja printing types) ( Figure 7 ) Fronts and backs of the 29 hangeul printing types used in combination with the eulhaeja types These 29 pieces of printing types share similar features not only in terms of writing style but also in the appearance of the outside of the types. First of all, the letters are carved upon the metal relatively shallowly. The most noticeable similarity shared by these types is seen on the back side of the printing types. Most of the currently remaining printing types display rounded grooves on the back. In the case of the large printing types this rounded groove runs in the same direction as the letter, but in the case of small types the groove runs in the opposite direction. Of course, the shape and depth of the grooves vary considerably from type to type. The types used in printing the eulhaeja version mostly have flat backs. As we can see from Figure 7, even in cases that show grooves the grooves are very shallow, and the form of the grooves are also triangular and not rounded. When erected, they all stand stably, and there are traces of actually rubbing the base to help them stand stably. If one sees the side of the printing type, most of the types remaining today show slant, but types in this group show a vertical nature, and an almost perfectly rectangular shape (Figure 8). ( Figure 8 ) Six views of the hangeul types used in combination with the eulhaeja types The back of the printing types very much mirrors the fashion of type-arrangements. According to records, the gyemija (癸未字) printing types first produced during the reign of King Taejong were arranged upon a printing plate covered with beeswax. Because the beeswax did not harden easily, the types could not be held firmly in place, and often shifted in printing. So it was only possible to print a few pages a day. King Sejong attempted to enhance the printing types, and as a result the gapinja printing types had flat bases and a clear form. These enhanced types did not require the usage of beeswax, and it became possible to print 40 copies a day.10 Regarding the eulhaeja printing types, there are no records of how they were cast, but they were created 20 years after the creation of the gapinja types, and as we can see examples in which both the gapinja types and eulhaeja types were used side by side, we can presume that the eulhaeja printing types also had flat bottoms. Figures of the hangeul metal printing types used in combination with the eulhaeja types provide some basis to this presumption. In the meantime, 60 pieces of hangeul metal printing types at the Museum were selected and analyzed, and the metallurgical results show that three of them were distinctively different from the others. They all belong to the aforementioned group.11 Metallurgical analysis of the 29 types that are believed to have been hangeul types used in combination with eulhaeja types show that 22 of them were alloyed with more than 80% of copper, and 24 of them with less than 10% of lead. This high concentration of copper and comparatively low proportion of lead shows us that they were produced in a different time period, or with a different method.12 As we can see, among 753 pieces of hangeul metal printing types, 29 pieces are confirmed as types that were used in combination with the eulhaeja types, that had been created in the 15th century. 02 HANGEUL PRINTING TYPES USED IN COMBINATION WITH THE MUSINJA TYPES Among the 753 pieces, except the 29 pieces mentioned above, the rest of the collection are confirmed as ‘hangeul printing types used in combination with the musinja types.’ Musinja metal printing types were created in 1668 (the ninth year of King Hyeonjong's reign) by the Military Minister and Defence Commander (守禦使) Kim Jwa-myeong (金佐明), who produced the types at the Sueocheong Office (守禦廳) with the resources of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of the Military. The writing style featured by this type is the same as the gapinja types. Actually these types are the fourth generation of types modeled after the gapinja types, so they are also called saju gapinja (四鑄甲寅字, gapinja type, fourth casting). After Kim Jwa-myeong died, these types were transferred to the Gyoseo-gwan Office (校書館) and were used in publishing books that the government needed. And the hangeul printing types that were used in combination with these musinja types are now referred to as ‘hangeul printing types used in combination with the musinja types.’ There is no record regarding the production date of these hangeul types. Of all the texts printed with this type, Daehak eonhae (大學諺解, Korean translation of the Daxue, Book of Great Learning), which was bestowed on someone by the King in 1695 (the 21st year of King Sukjong's reign), is the earliest one we can confirm. Therefore, it seems they were produced after 1668 and before 1695. Musinja types were widely used during the reigns of Kings Sukjong and Yeongjo when the government published new books, and the hangeul types used in combination with them were also used in various occasions such as when the Sishu (四書, The Four Books of Confucianism) were translated. All hangeul metal printing types except the ones that had been used in combination with the eulhaeja types show complete match with the printed letters featured in texts said to have been printed with hangeul printing types used in combination with the musinja types (Figure 9). ( Figure 9 ) Hangeul printing types used in combination with the musinja type, which were used in publishing Daehak eonhae and Siygeong eonhae Letters printed with these types show the consonants and vowels placed appropriately considering the balance of composition, and the consonants are smaller than those featured in hangeul types used in combination with eulhaeja types. In addition figures that seem like printed and figures that seem like handwritten are mixed here. Such situation can be found in other printed texts as well which used hangeul types that were used in combination with musinja types (Figures 10, 11). ( Figure 10 ) Comparison between "handwritten" styles (left) and "printed" styles (right) ( Figure 11 ) Combination of "handwritten" (in red squares) and "printed" styles (circled) used in printing Daehak eonhae and Sigyeong eonhae The feet of the hangeul printing types used in combination with musinja types shows a pattern. In case of large printing types the direction of the letter and the groove are the same. In case of small printing types, the direction of the letter and the groove are different. Yet some of the large ones also show some variation. The depth and width of the grooves vary from letter to letter (Figure 12). The side view of types are a little inclined, and the lower section gets narrower, but there are cases of the reverse as well. Also due to the mismatch between left and right pillars there are types that do not stand stably when erected. ( Figure 12 ) Front and back sides of hangeul printing types used in combination with musinja types We can see from records mentioning the production of gapinja types and the overall figures of the hangeul types that were used in combination with eulhaeja types, that the metal printing types of the early half of the Joseon period used to their bases rubbed flat so they would not need beeswax. But the backs of the hangeul types used in combination with musinja types have rounded grooves and in some cases the left and right pillars do not match in length (Figure 13). ( Figure 13 ) Side view of types showing different heights of type face and different shapes of grooves on the foot In this case it must have been hard to arrange them without either beeswax or soaked paper to plug in the types. So this figure of the hangeul types used in combination with musinja types indicates that the fashion of arranging printing types was not the same during the early periods and the later periods. But we still cannot confirm the exact period when this change would have taken placed. Daehak eonhae printed in 1695 (the 21st year of King Sukjong's reign) and Daehak yulgok seonsaeng eonhae (大學栗谷先生諺解, Yulgok Yi Ih's translation of the Book of Great Learning) printed in 1749 (the 25th year of King Yeongjo's reign) were both printed with hangeul types used in combination with musinja types, but the quality of printing seems different (Figure 14). It seems like a result of using musinja types too long until they were too much abraded, so the text that was printed later was of inferior quality. Yet this translated version features not only unclear prints as a result of an abraded printing type, but also prints that must have come from ‘wooden printing types.’ Such wooden printing types must have been required as there was some shortage of metal ones. We can see that hangeul wooden (instead of metal) printing types used in combination with Musin-ja types did exist (Figure 15). ( Figure 14 ) Hangeul printing types used in combination with the musinja types, which were used in publishing Daehak yulgok seonsaeng eonhae ( Figure 15 ) Hangeul metal and wooden printing types used in combination with the musinja types King Jeongjo who succeeded King Yeongjo was also deeply interested in publication. He himself authored many books and documents, launched several publication projects, and created many types of printing types. While he was still the crown prince (世孫), he ordered the production of the fifth generation of gapinja types (known as imjinja types) and after he was enthroned he ordered the production of not only the sixth generation of gapinja types so-called jeongyuja types (丁酉字) but also iminja (壬寅字), saengsaengja (生生字), jeongnija (整理字) types, and so forth. The total number of types ordered by him reached the hundreds of thousands. Hangeul metal and wooden printing types used in combination with musinja types were again used together in publishing Myeonguirok eonhae (明義錄諺解, Korean Translation of the Mingyilu, Book to Shed Light on Justice) and Sok myeongeuirok eonhae (續明義錄諺解, supplement to Myeonguirok eonhae) which were all printed with imjinja types. Compared to Daehak yulgok seonsaeng eonhae, more wooden types seem to have been used, and so was the case with the Yujungoe daeso sinseo yueum (喩中外大小臣庶綸音, Royal words enlightening all the vassals and subjects everywhere) printed with jeongyuja types (Figure 16). ( Figure 16 ) Example of a ‘Hangeul printing type used in combination with musinja printing types’ seen in imjinjabon or jeongyujabon versions We can see wooden printing types were created in several occasions, from the Ilseongnok (日省錄, Records of Daily Reflection) record which says that hangeul wooden printing types were carved for the publication of the king's Yuneum order.13 Jeongjo also said that it would be all right to create hangeul printing types in metal and also in abundance. It is not clear whether they were mass produced as the king suggested, but it is likely that it was not the case. IV OTHER HANGEUL PRINTING TYPES FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA In the collection of the National Museum of Korea, there are not only metal printing types, but also wooden printing types. And thousands of them are wooden hangeul types.14 Most of them were used together with hangeul types used in combination with the musinja types. Yet there are two additional types. One is the group of types used in printing Jeungsu muwonrok eonhae (增修無冤錄諺解, Revised version of the Book to Leave No Bitter Feelings and Frustration) in 1790 (14th year of King Jeongjo's reign). The printing types used to print Chinese characters for this book are the late gyoseogwan inseoche (後期校書館印書體字) types. They are metal printing types, estimated to have been created around 1723 (3rd year of King Gyeongjong’s reign), and they were modeled after the types that were being heavily used in Chinese publications since the middle period of the Ming dynasty. These hangeul printing types also featured figures proportionate to those of the Chinese characters, and they are smaller than wooden hangeul types used in combination with musinja types. The other additional example is a group of types created in 1795 (the 19th year of King Jeongjo's reign) and used in printing Oryunhaengsildo (五倫行實圖, Illustrated Stories Exemplifying the Five Confucian Virtues) in 1797 (the 21st year of King Jeongjo's reign). They are also called ‘oryunhaengsil hangeul printing types,’ and they feature a typical handwritten style, resembling brush strokes. The bottoms are rectangular and flat, and unlike other hangeul wooden printing types their sides are also straight. The jeongnija types used in printing Oryunhaengsildo also show straight side pillars compared to those of the Imjinja types. Jeongnija types and oryunhaengsil hangeul types show similar figures and height, so it would have been easy to use them together (Figures 17, 18). ( Figure 17 ) Left: Hangeul printing types used in combination with first-cast jeongnija printing types Right: Hangeul printing types used in combination with late gyoseogwan inseoche types ( Figure 18 ) Height comparison between the jeongnija printing types, and hangeul printing types used in combination with the jeongnija types

The Bronze Age of Korea, which is characterized by its bronze artifacts and mumun (plain) pottery, witnessed the emergence and eventual demise of various pottery types, such as notched-rim raised band pottery, top-shaped pottery, double-rimmed pottery decorated with short, slanted lines, rim-perforated pottery, and attached-rim pottery. It is commonly accepted that, of these, attached-rim pottery was the last in a series of pottery types which comprised the undecorated mumun pottery tradition of this period. Attached-rim pottery, which was made by attaching a clay band (round or triangular in cross-section) to the rim of the pottery vessel, is generally found in association with long-necked and black polished jars, mounted dishes, grooved stone adzes, triangular stone arrowheads and various types of bronze objects, notably the Korean-type bronze dagger. In earlier studies of this pottery type, much interest was focused on the Seoul and Gyeonggi region, as it had yielded many sites containing attached-rim pottery.1 The paucity of subsequent discoveries, however, acted to diminish the potential of this region in the study of attached-rim pottery. Fortunately, recent excavations in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region have led to the accumulation of new data on attached-rim pottery.2 Research is currently being undertaken on this newly acquired material, but as formal excavation reports have yet to be published for many of the sites, the study of the ceramic data has inevitably been limited. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine the chronological relationship of sites which have yielded attached-rim pottery by analyzing the artifacts found in association with it. In doing so, it will be possible to gain some insight into the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. II THE EMERGENCE OF THE ATTACHED-RIM POTTERY CULTURE 01 BACKGROUND The following views have been put forth regarding the emergence of the attached-rim pottery culture in the Korean peninsula. 1) The view that it emerged in the Han River region Lee Baekgyu has suggested that the later phase of the Bronze Age witnessed the diffusion of plain pottery types from the northwestern and northeastern regions of the peninsula into the Han River region.3 The distinctive attached-rim pottery was seen to have come about through the combination of these respective pottery types. In addition, Lee established a typological scheme which proposed that vessels with ring-shaped handles developed into those with composite horn-shaped handles, and subsequently into those with simple horn-shaped handles. Based on this scheme, he maintained that the Suseok-ri site was earlier date than the Eungbong site. Han Sangin has also argued that attached-rim pottery, which is characterized by its hard fabric (vis-à-vis the fabric of earlier mumun vessels), emerged through the development of previous ceramic types.4 According to Han, the preceding mumun pottery culture had been established in the central region of the Korean peninsula through the combination and development of cultural influences which had spread from the northwestern and northeastern regions of the peninsula in the Early Bronze Age. Subsequent cultural influences, such as the Liaoning-type bronze dagger culture (the diffusion of which occurred in many waves) and the Songguk-ri culture of central-western Korea, also reached this region. It was therefore suggested that attached-rim pottery came about though the combination of these various cultural elements. 2) The view that it emerged in the Daedonggang River region Park Soonbal suggested that the double-rimmed pottery of the Liaodong region spread to the Daedonggang River region, where it developed into the distinctive attached-rim pottery type.5 However, as will be seen below, he soon modified his view. 3) The view that it appeared as the result of population movement Park later changed his stance and maintained that, rather than being an indigenous development which occurred within the Korean peninsula, attached-rim pottery emerged as the result of communities migrating from the Liaoning (遼寧) region.6 This migration was seen to be the result of military conflicts that had taken place between Gojoseon and the state of Yan (燕), such as the eastern invasion by General Qin Kai (秦開) of Yan around the late fourth to early third century BCE. Based on his analysis of the Korean-style bronze dagger culture, Yi Kun-moo has suggested that the Korean-style bronze dagger culture and the attached-rim pottery culture were both introduced from the Liaoning region.7 Although the views of Park and Yi differ in terms of their specific understanding of the attached-rim pottery culture – such as its place of origin, as well as when it first emerged – both were generally accepted by the majority of archaeologists. The ‘migration theory’ therefore came to form the framework within which the study of the attached-rim pottery culture took place; and it was no longer held that the attached-rim pottery culture developed indigenously within the Korean peninsula. In sum, the generally accepted view regarding the attached-rim pottery culture is that it originated in the Liaoning region, and that it was introduced into the Korean peninsula by migrating populations. According to studies on how the migration of populations may be identified within the archaeological record, as highlighted by Kim Jangsuk,8 the following phenomena should be observed: (1) the sudden appearance of non-indigenous elements in areas where there is a continuation of the preceding material culture; (2) the material culture of the migrating group, upon settling down in the region, clearly consisting of both traditional elements of the migrating group’s material culture and new elements adopted from the material culture of the indigenous population; (3) a temporal continuity which can be established between the migrating group’s homeland and the region to which that group has migrated. With regard to the attached-rim pottery culture of the Korean peninsula, the following features have been observed: the sudden appearance of a new pottery culture consisting of attached-rim pottery and mounted dishes in a region which witnessed the continuation of the preceding perforated-rim pottery culture; the presence of the grooved adze which was a cultural element borrowed from the indigenous population; the co-existence of perforated-rim pottery; the continuity that can be observed between the attached-rim pottery culture of the Korean peninsula and the Liaoning pottery culture of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. This evidence may therefore be taken to suggest that the emergence of the attached-rim culture in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region – an alien culture appearing suddenly and with no connections to the indigenous cultural tradition – was an event triggered by the migration of populations. Indeed, Park notes that “the types of archaeological material which may be regarded as representing migration are those closely related to both residence and subsistence, such as cooking equipments (e.g. caldrons), which are a necessity of daily life, and the structural characteristics of hearths.”9 02 THE Date ofATE OF THE APPEARANCE OF THE ATTACHED-RIM POTTERY CULTURE Following the research of Park and other scholar, the fourth or third century BCE was the widely accepted date for the appearance of the attached-rim pottery culture.10 More recently, however, a consensus has gradually emerged which regards the fifth century BCE or an even earlier date as being more likely for the appearance of this culture. Lee Cheonggyu has argued, based on analysis of artifacts from Shangbao-cun (上堡村) in Benxi County (本溪县), Liaoning Province, that the attached-rim pottery of this region was introduced into the Korean peninsula prior to the establishment of the Korean-type dagger culture. Lee argued that the date for the diffusion of this pottery type should be set at sometime before the fourth century BCE, since the distinctive regional nature of the Korean-type dagger culture was thought to have emerged around that time, and to have become fully established by the early third century BCE, following the invasion by Yan.11 In addition, recent excavations have led to an accumulation of radiocarbon dates which have been used to steadily argue that the attached-rim pottery culture was introduced into the Korean peninsula around the fifth century BCE or earlier, rather than the fourth or third century BCE.12 It should be noted that these radiocarbon dates are not wholly unproblematic; as well as conflicting with the earlier understanding of the emergence and diffusion of the attached-rim pottery culture, some of the sites and features yielded dates which differ greatly. Accordingly, the radiocarbon dates must be approached with caution, but the fact that these absolute dates are concentrated within a certain time bracket must also be acknowledged. Therefore, the aim of this paper will be to consider the dates for the appearance of the attached-rim pottery culture by examining artifacts from the Liaoning region, which is regarded as the homeland of the communities responsible for transmitting this culture into the Korean peninsula. The absolute dates for the sites which have yielded attached-rim pottery in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region are presented in Table 1. ( Table 1 ) Absolute dates obtained for samples from sites of the attached-rim pottery period in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region (see Table 3 for the references) Site Feature Date (B.P.) Calibrated ranges 2σ 1σ Suseok-ri, Namyangju House No. 3 Sample ① 2230±208 905 BCE - 380 CE House No. 3 Sample ② 2340±120 790 BCE - 160 C Saemal, Ilsan Peat layer 2600±70 905-430 BCE 830-550 CE Gawaji, Ilsan Peat layer 2460±70 770-405 BCE 760-415 BCE Mangi Fortress, Anseong Cultural Layer 2450±80 780-400 BCE 755-415 BC Yuljeon-dong II, Suwon Pit No. 3 Sample ① 2470±40 763-411 BCE 760-432 BCE Pit No. 3 Sample ② 2510±50 796-413 BCE 524-488 BCE Pit No. 3 Sample ③ 2410±80 788-378 BCE 758-398 BCE Pit No. 4 2450±50 462-406 BCE 758-411 BC Yuljeon-dong I, Suwon House No. 1 Sample ① 2870±40 763-411 BCE 1125-975 BCE House No. 1 Sample ② 3020±40 796-413 BCE 1372-1133 BCE House No. 1 Sample ③ 2730±40 788-378 BCE 902-830 BCE House No. 3 Sample ① 3160±60 762-406 BCE 1509-1323 BCE House No. 3 Sample ② 2990±40 762-406 BCE 1296-1129 BCE Pit No. 2 2780±40 762-406 BCE 995-842 BCE Pit No. 4 2520±40 762-406 BCE 789-543 BC As can be seen from the above, most of the radiocarbon dates are earlier than the fourth century BCE and are concentrated around the eighth to fifth centuries BCE. Given that these absolute dates have yet to be compared with relative dates obtained through the typological study of artifacts, we should be wary of establishing a chronology of the attached-rim pottery period based solely on the former. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the absolute dates are concentrated within a certain time bracket. If the attached-rim pottery culture was indeed introduced into the Korean peninsula sometime prior to the fourth century BCE, it is possible that the Korean attached-rim pottery culture may have originated in present-day Liaoning Province at around the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. With regard to this, we may focus on the state of Yan’s expansion into the Liaoxi (遼西) region around the later part of the Spring and Autumn period or the early part of the Warring States period, an event which has been discussed by Song Hojung as follows: 13 The Mountain Rong (山戎) or Xianyun people who had been living in the Liaoxi region during the Spring and Autumn period gained power in the eighth to seventh centuries BCE.14 This growth of the Mountain Rong was regarded, in particular, as a great threat by its neighboring country, the kingdom of Yan. Therefore Yan requested assistance from the kingdom of Qi (齊), which was then the hegemonic power in the region. Qi accordingly routed the Mountain Rong and conquered the Liaoxi region. After this first defeat, the Mountain Rong again attempted to invade Yan; Yan again called upon Qi which, once more, routed the Mountain Rong. This event, in which Qi further established its hegemony by subjugating the Mountain Rong of the northern region, took place during the early fifth century BCE. In annihilating the Mountain Rong who then occupied the present northeast region of china, Qi was able to remove the longstanding threat from the north. As a result, Yan was able to expand into the Liaoning region where it maintained a relatively stable presence and subjugated the various local communities. Some scholars believe that the Mountain Rong was a designation of the Donghu people (東胡族); at the time, the term ‘Donghu (東胡)’ was used to refer, collectively, to the barbarian communities living in the area west of Liaoning Province during the fifth to third centuries BCE (i.e. the Warring States period). In sum, it can be seen that the Chinese kingdoms of Qi and Yan conquered the Mountain Rong or the Donghu people in the seventh to fifth centuries BCE and expanded into the Liaoxi region. In contrast to this, Bok Gi-dae has argued that it was the Joseon or Yemaek (濊貊) communities, rather than the Mountain Rong or the Donghu, that maintained a cultural presence in the Liaoxi region during the Spring and Autumn period. However, both Song and Bok have identified the sudden appearance of Yan cultural elements in the Liaoxi region around the fifth century BCE, and agree that, regardless of the identity of the cultural presence in the region, Yan culture had spread into the Liaoxi region by at least the fifth century BCE. It was as part of this process that the attached-rim pottery culture groups migrated into the Korean peninsula. Based on the nature of the dwellings from the Houshan (后山) site in Xinmin-xian (新民縣), Gongzhu-tun (公主屯),15 and the burials from the Zhengjiawazi (鄭家窪子) site in Shenyang (沈陽),16 it appears that the homeland of these migrating groups was located in the Liaozhong (遼中) region. The archaeological culture which corresponds to this is the Liangquan (凉泉) culture which was prevalent in the Liaozhong and Liaobei (遼北) regions from approximately 600 to 300 BCE.17 The culture is comprised of elements such as attached-rim pottery, black burnished jars with long necks, mounted dishes, and vessels with ring-shaped handles. Given that this artifact composition is similar to that of the attached-rim culture at the time of its appearance in the Korean peninsula, a strong link between the two may be established (Figure 1). ( Figure 1 ) The Attached-rim pottery culture of the Liaodong region (From Park, 2004) 1•4•6: Zhengjiawazi Tomb No.6312, Shenyang 2•3•7•11: Zhengjiawazi, Shenyang 5: Longtoushan, Dongfeng, Jilin 8•18•20•21: Gongzhu-tun, Xinmin 9•12•15: Tuanshan, Kaiyuan 13: Xitaishan, Changyuan 14•16: Jiangjiagou, Xifeng 17: Shahe, Xifeng 19: Xifeng Shanmenka As examined above, the appearance of the attached-rim pottery culture in the Korean peninsula seems to have taken place sometime earlier than the fourth or third century BCE. Although the specific date cannot be set, the fifth century BCE may be tentatively regarded as the period in which this culture spread into the peninsula, based on recorded historic events, absolute dates and the artifact assemblage of the Liaoning region. Of course, it must be stressed that this period witnessed only the introduction of the attached-rim pottery culture into Korea, an event which should be regarded separately, as noted by Lee Cheonggyu,18 from the development of the Korean-style bronze dagger culture, with which there exists a slight time gap. III THE CHRONOLOGY AND ABSOLUTE DATES OF KEY SITES 01 BURIAL SITES Burial sites from the Seoul and Gyeonggi region which can be attributed to the attached-rim pottery period, with the exception of the dolmen from Sangjapo-ri, Yangpyeong,19 which is an indigenous type of burial, are as presented in Table 2. ( Table 2 ) Burials of the attached-rim pottery period in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region No. Site Key associated artifacts Reference Burial type 1 Baekryeongdo, Ongjin Long-necked jar with Ring-shaped handles 1 Unknown 2 Yuljeon-dong Suwon Burial No. 1 Black polished pottery s herds 2 Earth cut burial 3 Yuljeon-dong, Suwon Burial No. 2 2 Earth cut burial 4 Banjae-ri, Anseong Burial No. 1 Long-necked jar, round attached rim-pottery 3 Stone cist burial 5 Banjae-ri, Anseong Burial No. 2 Long-necked jar, round attached rim-pottery 3 Stone cist burial 6 Banjae-ri, Anseong Burial No. 3 Long-necked jar 3 Stone cist burial 7 Balan-ri, Hwaseong Burial No. 1 Long-necked jar, round attached rim-pottery 4 Wooden coffin burial 8 Balan-ri, Hwaseong Burial No. 2 Long-necked jar, round attached rim-pottery 4 Wooden coffin burial 9 Manjeon-ri, Anseong Location 6 Semi-circular jade ornament with two holes Oval attached-rim pottery 5 Wooden coffin burial 10 Manjeon-ri, Anseong Location 4 Korean-type bronze dagger 6 Wooden coffin burial 11 Manjeon-ri, Anseong Location 2 Iron hand knife fragments, iron arrowhead, triangular stone arrowhead 7 Wooden coffin burial 1 The Korean Archaeological Society. “The Black-burnished, Long-necked jar from Baekryeongdo.” Gogohak 3 (1974). 2 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. The Site of Yuljeon-dong II, Suwon. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2005. 3 Lee Sangeup. “The Dwelling Site of Banjae-ri in Anseong.” The Proceedings of the 48th Annual Conference of the Histoical Society: Archaeology Session. The Korean Archaeological Society, 2005. 4 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. “The Balan-ri Settlement Site.” The Excavation of the Settlement Site of Balan-ri, Hwaseong, and the Iron Production Site of Gian-ri. 2003. 5 Gijeon Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. Preliminary Report of Excavations in the Gongdo Housing Development Area in Anseong (Location 5 and 6) for the 1st Meeting of the Excavation Committee. Gijeon Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 2004. 6 Gijeon Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. Preliminary Report of Excavations in the Gongdo Housing Development Area in Anseong (Location 3) for the 5th Meeting of the Excavation Committee. Gijeon Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 2005. 7 Gijeon Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. Preliminary Report of Excavations in the Gongdo Housing Development Area in Anseong (Location 2) for the 4th Meeting of the Excavation Committee. Gijeon Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, 2005. An artifact which can be attributed to the earliest period is the long-necked jar with ring-shaped handles from Baekryeongdo, Ongjin. Although we cannot be certain since the specific context of its discovery is unknown, it is likely that this jar was a grave good deposited within a burial, given its polished surface and the fact that it was found in a complete state. As is generally known, the ring-shaped handle is the type of handle found on the attached-rim pottery of the earliest phase. Therefore, the Baekryeongdo site, which yielded a long-necked jar with ring-shaped handles, can be regarded as the earliest burial site of the attached-rim pottery culture in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. A burial which can be attributed to the last phase is the wooden coffin burial from Manjeong-ri, Anseong. Iron arrowheads and iron hand knife fragments were found in Location 2. The iron hand knife, the production of which seems to have been influenced by the bronze hand knife, begins to appear in the Hoseo region in association with the Chinese iron age culture of the Warring States period. In addition, a wooden coffin made of a carved-out wooden log was identified at Location 6 of the Manjeong-ri site; it yielded a small attached-rim pottery vessel with a simplified rim. If we take into account the fact that the full-scale use of wooden coffin burials took place in the Hoseo and Honam regions in conjunction with the appearance of iron objects,20 it can be estimated that the date for the use of this type of wooden coffin burial cannot not be earlier than the second century BCE, which is when the iron objects first came into use in the Hoseo region. The two wooden coffin burials from Balan-ri both yielded flat based long-necked jars with attached rims that are round in cross-section; stylistic analysis indicates that these jars are clearly of an earlier date than the attached-rim vessel from Manjeong-ri Location 6. In addition, as the wooden coffin burials of Balan-ri were made using wooden logs,21 they can also be dated to later than the appearance of iron objects in this region. A total of three stone cist burials were identified at the Banjae-ri, Anseong site, of which burials No. 1 and No. 2 yielded attached-rim pottery and black polished long-necked jars. Burial structures reported as Togwangweiseok-myo (earth cut burials lined with stone) may be understood as stone cist burials without wooden coffins; they are thought to be an earlier type of burial vis-à-vis wooden coffin burials. Therefore, it is possible to attribute the burials of Banjae-ri to an earlier period than burials No. 1 and No. 2 of Balan-ri and the wooden coffin burial from Manjeong-ri. The chronological sequence of the burial sites examined thus far can be set out as follows: Baekryeongdo → Banjae-ri → Balan-ri → Manjeong-ri. Of course, in the case of sites yielding more than two burials, temporal variation may be expected among the burial structures. However, it can be argued that such fine chronological subdivisions are not that important within the current context of research. As for the burial from Yuljeon-dong, while the absence of artifacts makes it difficult establish a specific date, the discovery of a composite horn-shaped handle from Pit No. 2, which is believed to be a burial, suggests that this site belongs to a later date than the Baekryeongdo site, which yielded a ring-shaped handle (Figure 2).22 ( Figure 2 ) Chronological scheme of burials of the attached-rim pottery period from the Seoul and Gyeonggi region ( Table 3 ) Daily activity sites of the attached-rim pottery period from the Seoul and Gyeonggi region No. Area Site Key artifacts Feature Reference 1 Goyang Gawaji Round attached-rim pottery, triangular attached-rim pottery, mounted dish, rod-shaped handle Scatter, peat layer 1 2 Goyang Gwansan-ri Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish Scatter Yokayama 3 Goyang Sigi-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 4 Guri Galmae-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 5 Guri Gyomun-ri Round attached-rim pottery, grooved adze Scatter Yokayama 6 Namyangju Gawoon-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle, mounted dish Scatter Yokayama 7 Namyangju Gogok-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle, grooved adze Scatter 2 8 Namyangju Rung-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 9 Namyangju Sambi-ri Round attached-rim pottery, grooved adze Scatter Yokayama 10 Namyangju Suseok-ri Round attached-rim pottery, long-necked jar with ring-shaped handles House 3 11 Namyangju Ansan Fort Round attached-rim pottery Scatter 4 12 Bucheon Gogang-dong Rim-perforated pottery, round attached-rim pottery, ring-shaped and composite horn-shaped handles, mounted dish Stone circular enclosure, Scatter 5 13 Seoul Garak-dong Round attached-rim pottery House 6 14 Seoul Guryong-san Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 15 Seoul Daemo-san Round attached-rim pottery, handle, grooved adze House 7 16 Seoul Mangwoo-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle, grooved adze Scatter Yokayama 17 Seoul Bulam-san Round attached-rim pottery Scatter Yokayama 18 Seoul Acha-san Round attached-rim pottery, composite horn-shaped handle, mounted dish Scatter 8 19 Seoul Yongmari Mountain Fortress Round attached-rim pottery Scatter Yokayama 20 Seoul Wolgok-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle, mounted dish Scatter Yokayama 21 Seoul Eungbong Round attached-rim pottery, composite horn-shaped handle, grooved adze Scatter 9 22 Suwon Yuljeon-dong Round attached-rim pottery, composite horn-shaped handle House, enclosure ditch 10 23 Siheung Oido Round attached-rim pottery, triangular attached-rim pottery, rod-shaped handle, bronze arrowhead with iron tang Shell midden 11 24 Ansan Choji-dong Attached-rim pottery Shell midden 12 25 Anseong Mangi Mountain Fortress Round attached-rim pottery, ring-shaped and composite hornshaped handles, mounted dish Scatter 13 26 Anseong Banjae-ri Round attached-rim pottery, ring-shaped handle, grooved adze House, enclosure ditch 14 27 Anseong Jukju Mountain Fortress Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter 15 28 Yangju Dorak-san Fort Round attached-rim pottery Scatter 16 29 Yangju Yongam-ri Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish Scatter 16 30 Yangpyeong Gyopyeong-ri Attached-rim pottery Scatter 17 31 Yeoju Myeokgok-ri Round attached-rim pottery, composite horn-shaped handle, mounted dish Scatter 18 32 Yeoju Heunam-ri Round attached-rim pottery House 19 33 Osan Gajang-dong Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish Scatter 20 34 Yongin Bojeon-ri Round attached-rim pottery Scatter 21 35 Yongin Bongmyeong-ri Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish Scatter 22 36 Yongin Songjeong-ri Mounted dish Scatter 22 37 Yongin Jangpyeong-ri Round attached-rim pottery Scatter 22 38 Yongin Jukjeon-ri Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish, cover Pit, firing structure 23 39 Uijeongbu Buyong-san Round attached-rim pottery, grooved adze Scatter 24 40 Uijeongbu Tapseok-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 41 Incheon Geomdan-dong Round attached-rim pottery, ring-shaped and composite horn-shaped handles, mounted dish Scatter 25 42 Incheon Wondang-dong Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish Scatter 26 43 Ilsan Hyundal-san Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 44 Paju Naepo-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle Scatter Yokayama 45 Paju Dokseo-ri Round attached-rim pottery, composite horn-shaped handle, grooved adze, Han mirror fragments Scatter Yokayama 46 Paju Seonyoo-ri Round attached-rim pottery Scatter 27 47 Paju Simhak-san Round attached-rim pottery House 28 48 Paju Josan-ri Round attached-rim pottery, handle, grooved adze, Scatter Yokayama 49 Pyeongtaek Wonjeong-ri Round attached-rim pottery, triangular attached-rim pottery Shell midden 29 50 Pyeongtaek Jijae-dong Attached-rim pottery Scatter 30 51 Pocheon Seondan-ri Round attached-rim pottery Scatter Yokayama 52 Hanam Mangwol-dong Round attached-rim pottery, handle, Scatter 2 53 Hanam Misa-ri Round attached-rim pottery House 31 54 Hanam Choi-ri Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish Scatter Yokayama 55 Hanam Chungoong-ri Round attached-rim pottery Scatter Yokayama 56 Hwaseong Gogeum-san Rim-perforated pottery, round attached-rim pottery House 32 57 Hwaseong Doi-ri Round attached-rim pottery Peat layer 33 58 Hwaseong Donghak-san Round attached-rim pottery, mounted dish, composite horn-shaped handle, grooved adze House, enclosure ditch 34 59 Hwaseong Bansong-ri Round attached-rim pottery, triangular attached-rim pottery, handle, mounted dish Pit, ditch 35 (Note that the Yokayama material was referenced from Lee Baekgyu, 1974; Han Sangin, 1981; and Kim Beomchul, 2001.) 1 Institute of Korean Prehistoric Culture. The Research Excavation Report of the Ilsan New Town Development Area I. 1992. 2 Kim Jeonghak. “A Study of the Mumun Pottery Culture of Korea.” Baeksan hakbo 3 (1967). 3 Kim Wonyong. “Excavation Report of the Prehistoric Settlement Site of Suseok-ri.” Misul jaryo 11 (1966). 4 The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation. The History and Cultural Sites of Namyangju City. 1999. 5 Bae Gidong, Lee Hanyong, and Kang Byeonghak. The 3rd Excavation Report of the Prehistoric Site of Gogang-dong, Bucheon. Hanyang University Museum, 1999. 6 The Jamsil Area Excavation Team. “Excavation Report of the Jamsil Area.” Hagnguk gogohakbo 3 (1975). 7 Hanyang University Museum. Preliminary Excavation Report of the Daemo-san Site. Hanyang University Museum, 1999. 8 Lim Byungtae. “The Chronology of the Mumun Pottery of the Han River Region.” Hanguk sahak nonchong: Feschirft in Honor of Professor Lee Hongjik’s 60th Birthday. Shingu munhwasa, 1969. 9 Yokoyama Shōzaburo. “Excavation report of the Eungbong Site, Gyeongseong-bu.” Shizengaku zasshi 2-5 (1930). 10 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. The Site of Yuljeon-dong, Suwon –Excavation of the Yuljeon-dong, Suwon Housing Development Area. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2004. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. The Site of Yuljeon-dong II, Suwon. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2005. 11 Im Sangtaek, Lee Junejeong, and Woo Jeonghyun. “Overview of the 2001 Oido Excavation.” The Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference of the Historical Society: Archaeology Session. The Korean Archaeological Society, 2002. 12 Kim Wonyong. “Excavation Report of the Choji-ri (Byulmang) Shell Midden.” Hanguk gogohakbo 7 (1979). 13 Danguk University Central Museum. Excavation Report of Mang-I Mountain Fortress (Ⅰ). Danguk University Central Museum, 1996. 14 Lee Sangeup. “The Dwelling Site of Banjae-ri in Anseong.” The Proceedings of the 48th Annual Conference of the Historical Society: Archaeology Session. The Korean Archaeological Society, 2005. 15 Institute of Buried Cultural Properties, Danguk University. Site Survey and Excavation Report of Jukju Mountain Fortress, Anseong. Institute of Buried Cultural Properties, Danguk University, 2002. 16 The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation. The History and Cultural Sites of Yangju-gun. The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation, 1998. 17 The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation. The History and Cultural Sites of Yangpyeong-gun. The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation, 1999. 18 Yi Kun-moo, Lee Gangseung, Han Younghui, and Lee Baekgyu. “Site Survey Report of the Han River Region.” Report on the Progress of the Jungdo Site. National Museum of Korea, 1980. 19 Seoul National University Museum. The Dwellings of Heunam-ri III. Seoul National University Museum, 1976. 20 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. Preliminary Excavation Report of the Cultural Sites Located in the Gajang Industrial Complex of Osan. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2004. 21 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. Preliminary Report of Excavations in the Suji Bilart Housing Development Area in Bojeon-ri, Yongin for the 1st Meeting of the Excavation Committee. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2002. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. Preliminary Report of Excavations in the Suji Bilart Housing Development Area in Bojeon-ri, Yongin (Location 4) for the 5th Meeting of the Excavation Committee. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2003. 22 The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation. The History and Cultural Sites of Yongin City. The Land Museum of the Korea Land and Housing Cooperation, 2003. 23 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. The Daeduk-gol Site, Jukjeon. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2003. 24 Sejong University Museum. The History and Cultural Sites of Uijeongbu City. Sejong University Museum, 2001. 25 Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation and Inha University Museum. Investigation Report of Cultural Sites in the Geumdan Land Regeneration Area, Incheon. Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation and Inha University Museum, 2003. 26 Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. Preliminary Report of Excavations in Section 4 of the Wondang Area, Incheon for the 1st Meeting of the Excavation Committee. Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2002. 27 Han Sangin. “An Examination of the Nature of the Attached-rim Pottery Culture.” Master’s thesis, Seoul National University, 1981. 28 Cho Jinseon. “The Prehistoric Dwelling at Simhak-san, Paju.” Yongma. Jeonnam National University, 1993. 29 Ajou University Museum. “Overview of the Excavation of the Wonjeong-ri Site in Pyeongtaek.” Gwagi gogo yeongu 2 (1997). 30 Gyeonggi Province Museum. The History and Cultural Heritage of Pyeongtaek. Gyeonggi Province Museum, 1999. 31 The Misa-ri Site Excavation Team. Misa-ri 5. The Misa-ri Site Excavation Team, 1994. 32 Im Hyo-Jai, Kim Sungnam, and Lee Jinmin. The Gogeum-san Site, Hwseong. Seoul National University Museum, 2002. 33 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. Preliminary Excavation Report of Sites Located in the Hyangnam Housing Development Area, Hwaseong. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2002. 34 Kim Jaeyoun. “Overview of the Excavation of the Donghak-san Site, Hwaseong.” The Archaeology of the Unified Silla Period: The Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of the Korean Archaeological Society. Korean Archaeological Society, 2004. 35 Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. Site Survey Report of Sites in the Dongtan Area of Hwaseong. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2001. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute. Excavation Report of the Bansong-ri Haengjang-gol Site Located in the Dongtan Area (Location 20) of Hwaseong. Gijeon Cultural Heritage Research Institute, 2004. 02 DAILY ACTIVITY SITES (DWELLING SITES, ARTIFACT SCATTERS, SHELL MIDDENS) Sites – excluding those burial sites previously mentioned in Table 2 – which can be attributed to the attached-rim pottery phase are as follows: As can be seen from the above, attached-rim pottery is usually found in association with long-necked jars with handles, grooved stone adzes, and mounted dishes. The chronological sequence of each artifact type is as follows: 1) Attached-rim pottery: vessels with round (in cross section) clay bands attached to the rim → vessels with triangular (in cross section) clay bands attached to the rim 2) Handles: ring-shaped handles → composite horn-shaped handles → rod-shaped handles 3) Grooved stone adze: absent → present 4) Foot of mounted dish:23 short foot (Type 1) → long hollow foot (Type 2) → long solid foot (Type 3) According to these diachronic changes, daily activity sites can be categorized into the following four types of cultural assemblages: Assemblage Type A: Attached-rim pottery with round (in cross section) clay bands and ring-shaped handles are present. Assemblage Type B: Attached-rim pottery with round (in cross section) clay bands, ring-shaped handles, composite horn-shaped handles, grooved stone adzes, and Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes are present. Assemblage Type C: Attached-rim pottery with round (in cross section) clay bands, composite horn-shaped handles, grooved stone adzes, and Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes are present. Assemblage Type D: Attached-rim pottery with triangular (in cross section) clay bands, composite horn-shaped handles, rod-shaped handles, grooved stone adzes, and Type 2 and 3 mounted dishes are present. Assemblage Type A does not contain any indigenous artifacts, such as the grooved stone adze, and therefore may be regarded as representing the attached-rim pottery culture at its incipient stage. The representative site of this assemblage is Suseok-ri, Namyangju, where attached-rim vessels with round (in cross section) clay bands and long-necked jars with ring-shaped handles were found together. While mounted dishes were not found at this site, it may be assumed, based on the outline of diachronic change which has been identified for this pottery type, that Type 1 mounted dishes would have been used at this site. It should be noted that this site is similar to the Houshan site, in Xinmin-xian, Gongzhu-tun, in terms of its location within the landscape, hearth layout, and artifact assemblage (Figure 3). ( Figure 3 ) Assemblage Type A (1-5: House No. 3 from Suseok-ri, Namyangju; 6-8: House No. 6 from Suseok-ri) Assemblage Type B is found in association with Assemblage Type A and contains composite horn-shaped handles in addition to the earlier ring-shaped handles. Sites which may be regarded as belong to this assemblage are Mangi Mountain Fortress, Banjae-ri and the Geomdan Area in Incheon. In contrast to other settlement sites of this period, such as Suseok-ri, in Namyangju, and Gyoseong-ri, in Boryeong, the Banjae-ri site is of considerable scale, yielding 74 houses. Some of these houses were found to have been rebuilt over earlier houses, thereby indicating that communities may have settled at the site for a considerable period of time. Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes are found together at sites belonging to this assemblage (Figure 4). ( Figure 4 ) Assemblage Type B (1-9: Mangi Mountain Fortress, Anseong; 10-16: Geomdan Area, Incheon) Contact between the two assemblage types that have been presented above resulted in the formation of Assemblage Type C. This assemblage consists of attached-rim pottery with round (in cross section) clay bands, grooved stone adzes, and composite horn-shaped handles, and may be regarded as the most typical artifact assemblage of this period. The majority of attached-rim pottery sites of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region may be attributed to this assemblage; the most representative of these sites are Eungbong and Acha-san, in Seoul, and Myeokgok-ri, in Yeoju, as well as a large number of the sites reported by Yokoyama.24 Sites such as Donghak-san, in Hwaseong, and Yuljeon-dong, in Suwon, also belong to this assemblage. Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes continue to be found together at sites of this assemblage (Figure 5). ( Figure 5 ) Assemblage Type C (1-8: Eungbong, Seoul; 9-16: Acha-san, Seoul) Assemblage Type D has been observed at sites such as Oido, in Siheung, Gawa Area, in Pyeongtaek, and Bansong-ri, in Hwaseong, all of which are located along the coastline. The attached-rim pottery culture of this region, characterized by vessels with triangular (in cross-section) clay bands attached to the rim, is seen to similar to that of the southern region, based on the presence of artifacts such as the bronze arrowhead with iron tang and rod-shaped handle. Both Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes are found together at sites of this assemblage (Figure 6). ( Figure 6 ) Assemblage Type D (1-9: Gawa Area, Pyeongtaek; 10-13: peat layer from Gawa Area; 14-17: Oido, Siheung) 03 CHRONOLOGICAL PHASES AND ABSOLUTE DATES The burial and daily activity sites of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region examined above can be categorized into the following four phases. Firstly, attached-rim vessels with round clay bands were introduced into the Seoul and Gyeonggi region in Phase I. Interaction with indigenous communities did not take place during this time and the material culture of this phase is characterized by artifacts of Assemblage Type A, such as attached-rim vessels with round clay bands and ring-shaped handles. Phase I has an absolute chronology of around the fifth century BCE, and the limited number of sites which belong to this phase indicates that that it was relatively short-lived. The Baekryeongdo site can be attributed to this phase. It can also be noted that the stone cist burial was the main type of burial used in Phase I. The merging of the newly introduced round attached-rim pottery culture with the indigenous culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region took place in Phase II. The material culture of this phase is characterized by artifacts of Assemblage Type B, such as attached-rim vessels with round clay bands, ring-shaped handles, composite horn-shaped handles, Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes, and grooved adzes. Phase II also has an absolute chronology of around the fifth century BCE, and the limited number of sites which belong to this phase indicates that that it was also relatively short-lived. The stone cist burials of Banjae-ri can be attributed to this phase. It is in Phase III that the archetypal form of the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region came to be established. The material culture of this phase is characterized by artifacts of Assemblage Type C, such as attached-rim vessels with round clay bands, composite horn-shaped handles, Type 1 and 2 mounted dishes, and grooved adzes. Although some uncertainty exists regarding this issue, the beginning date for Phase III can be set at around the fifth or fourth century BCE. The end date for this phase can be set at around the third century BCE, after which attached-rim vessels with triangular clay bands made their appearance. The burials of Yuljeon-dong, in Suwon, may be attributed to this phase. It is also possible that the stone cist burials of Banjae-ri may belong to Phase III. Phase IV witnessed the co-existence of the triangular attached-rim pottery culture with the round attached-rim pottery culture of the previous phase. The material culture of this phase is characterized by artifacts of both Assemblage Type C and Assemblage Type D, such as attached-rim vessels with triangular clay bands, composite horn-shaped handles, rod-shaped handle, Type 2 and 3 mounted dishes, and grooved adzes. Burials which can be attributed to this phase include the wooden coffin burials from Manjeon-ri and Balan-ri. The beginning date for Phase IV can be set at around the second century BCE, while the end date for this phase can be set, as will be discussed below, at around the beginning of the first century CE. The diachronic change observed in the attached-rim culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region which was examined above is presented, schematically in Table 4. ( Table 4 ) Schematic diagram of diachronic change in artifact association 04 THE END DATE FOR THE ATTACHED-RIM POTTERY CULTURE With regard to the end date for the attached-rim pottery culture, we must focus on the Han mirror fragments collected from Dokseo-ri A, in Paju,25 which was one of the sites reported by Yokoyama (Figure 7). The two fragments were recorded as “讀書里 A 九.七.十四.” They are very small in size, measuring approximately 2cm in length; the back edge of the mirror was found to have a width of 1.6cm and a thickness of 0.3-0.4cm. The absence of decorative patterns on the remaining fragments makes it difficult to know for certain, but the shape of the back edge of the mirror suggests that the mirror may have been decorated with a band of characters (異體字銘帶鏡) or with a dragon motif (虺龍文鏡) – it is highly likely that it was the latter. Found in association with the mirror fragments were artifacts typical of Assemblage Type C, such as round attached-rim pottery, rim fragments of long-necked jars, Type 2 mounted dish sherds, pieces of composite horn-shaped handles, grooved adzes, pommel fittings, and triangular stone arrowheads. While we cannot know for certain if the Han mirror fragments and the round attached-rim pottery were retrieved from the same context, it is indeed possible to associate round attached-rim pottery with the mirror fragments found at the same site. In addressing this association between attached-rim pottery and Han mirrors, we should take into account the fragments of a Han mirror decorated with a dragon motif found in the Hwaehyun-ri shell midden in Gimhae, and dated to the beginning of the first century CE.26 Since the Han mirror fragments from Dokseo-ri A may also be dated to the beginning of the first century CE, this indicates that the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region continued into the first century BCE. ( Figure 7 ) Artifacts from Dokseo-ri A IV THE NATURE OF THE ATTACHED-RIM POTTERY CULTURE OF THE SEOUL AND GYEONGGI REGION As discussed above, the sites which have yielded the earliest examples of attached-rim pottery in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region are Baekryeongdo and Suseok-ri. While long-necked jars have been identified at these sites, grooved adzes – which may be taken to represent contact with the indigenous communities of this region – are absent. This artifact assemblage may therefore be regarded as representing the situation of attached-rim pottery communities upon arriving and settling down in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. Given that this type of artifact assemblage has not been observed elsewhere in Korea, it is highly likely that the Han River region was the location where the attached-rim pottery culture first gained its foothold in the peninsula. As the result of contact with indigenous communities, the artifact assemblage of round attached-rim pottery and ring-shaped handles came to be transformed into the typical artifact assemblage of this region (i.e. Assemblage Type C), consisting of round attached-rim pottery, jars with composite horn-shaped handles, and grooved adzes.27 A large number of the attached-rim pottery sites which have been identified so far may be categorized into this assemblage. Therefore, it is believed that further, detailed analysis of sites yielding artifacts of Assemblage Type C will help shed light on the nature of the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. It should also be noted that contact between migrant (i.e. attached-rim culture) and indigenous communities would have resulted in the exchange of cultural influences in both directions. With regard to this matter, Lee Hyeongwon has presented a model which assumes that that contact between communities of the Songguk-ri culture and attached-rim pottery culture led to the formation of two different settlement types: Gwanchang-ri type settlements which were formed through the adoption of foreign cultural elements (represented by artifacts) by indigenous communities (represented by houses and artifacts), and Gyoseong-ri type settlements which were formed through the adoption of indigenous elements (by artifacts) by migrant communities (represented by houses and artifacts).28 In other words, it has been suggested that, through the exchange of cultural influences, the pre-existing and newly-settled communities of the region came to merge with one another. In the Seoul and Gyeonggi region, rim-perforated pottery and attached-rim pottery have been found in association at Gogang-dong, in Bucheon (Figure 8). Of course, it must be acknowledged that this type of association has only been identified at a limited number of sites. In addition, such an association has only been observed at site level, rather than within a single feature. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that such an archaeological context may be interpreted as resulting from contact between indigenous and attached-rim pottery communities. These sites have all been attributed to the Yeoksam-dong assemblage. Kim Hansik has argued that, by the time that the attached-rim pottery culture had made its appearance in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region, sites of the Heunam-ri assemblage had disappeared and only sites of the Yeoksam-dong assemblage remained.29 Given that end date for the Yeoksam-dong assemblage has been set at approximately the fifth century BCE based on radiocarbon dates, we may assume that the Yeoksam-dong assemblage and Attached-rim pottery culture would had co-existed during at least the fifth century BCE.30 ( Figure 8 ) Artifacts from Gogang-dong Although evidence of contact exists, it appears that communities of the attached-rim pottery culture in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region were not as successful as their counterparts who had settled down in the Hoseo and Honam regions in adopting to their new home and integrating with the indigenous social groups. The discovery of bronze artifacts at sites such as Gwaejeong-dong, in Daejeon, Dongseo-ri, in Yesan, and Namseong-ri, in Asan, and iron artifacts at sites such as Namyang-ri, in Jangsu, Habsong-ri, in Buyeo, and Soso-ri, in Dangjin, indicates that the attached-rim pottery culture communities of the Hoseo and Honam regions had successfully integrated with the local society to the extent that, by the fourth to second century BCE, they were able to appropriate impressive bronze and iron objects as grave goods. On the other hand, sites in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region have only yielded a small number of bronze artifacts consisting of a limited number of types, such as bronze daggers, bronze hand knives, and bronze spearheads. The subsequent emergence of triangular attached-rim pottery is represented by sites such as Oido, in Siheung, Gawaji, in Ilsan, Wonjeong-ri in Pyeongtaek, and Haengjang-gol Bansong-ri, in Hwaseong. A common characteristic feature of sites yielding triangular attached rim pottery is their location – the sites are located around the western coastline of the region. Of the artifacts found in association with attached-rim pottery, the rod-shaped handle from the Gawaji site is of interest. This style of handle is found attached to ‘Myeongsa-ri type’ jars and, in the southern region of the peninsula, occurs in association with triangular attached-rim pottery.31 The presence of Type 3 mounted dishes (Gawaji) and bronze arrowhead with iron tang (Oido) may also regarded as clear indication that a triangular attached-rim pottery culture similar to that of the southern parts of the peninsula was in existence in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. However, it appears that, unlike the triangular attached-rim pottery culture of the Yeongnam region, which spread inland, the triangular attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region was constrained to the western coastline area. It is also interesting to note that the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region does not occur in association with Jungdo-type pottery or paddled (tanalmun) pottery. Although a consensus has yet to be established regarding the emergence of the Jungdo-type pottery culture, it is generally agreed that this pottery culture came about through the influences of a foreign pottery culture. However, the relationship between this foreign pottery culture and the attached-rim pottery culture in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region is different to the situation observed in the southern regions of the peninsula. In the Yeongnam region, the gradual transformation of the attached-rim pottery culture into the Wajil pottery culture can be observed in pottery types such as pouch-shaped vessels, pottery with composite horn-shaped handles, and mounted bowls. In contrast, paddled pottery and attached-rim pottery are not found in association, and vessels of the attached-rim pottery phase which contain Wajil pottery elements have not been found in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. Although it is the Seoul and Gyeonggi region, rather than the Yeongnam region, that has yielded the clearest case of association between a paddled short necked jar and a flower pot shaped pot, as evidenced at the Daljeon-ri site, in Gapyeong,32 these pottery types have yet to be found in association with attached-rim pottery in this region. In contrast to this, paddled pottery and Jungdo-type pottery are often found in association in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. This can be taken to illustrate the fact that attached-rim pottery was not able to gain a leading position in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. V CONCLUSION This paper examined the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region. While this culture was in existence for at least five centuries, only a very limited number of artifacts have been found for this period. In addition, rather than having been found through excavation, most of these artifacts come from surface surveys; what material exists is rarely found in an intact state or in clear association with other artifacts types. Thus, any discussions taking place on attached-rim pottery culture at the present time must be regarded as being speculative. However, the southern part of the Gyeonggi region has recent yielded a number of sites, such as Banjae-ri and Manjeong-ri, in Anseong, and Donghak-san, in Hwaseong. It is therefore hoped that, once the excavation reports of these sites are published, the study of the attached-rim pottery culture of the Seoul and Gyeonggi region will be met with further progress.

The National Museum of Korea which is located in Seoul, Korea is one of the many institutions in the world that house Central Asian objects discovered in the present day Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China. The collection consists of more than 1,500 objects in total, and approximately 150 objects have been on display in the museum’s permanent gallery for Central Asian art since the museum’s relocation to Yongsan (Figure 1).1 ( Figure 1 ) View of Central Asian Gallery at the National Museum of Korea in 2005 Like most of the Central Asian collections in the world, the one in the National Museum of Korea has a rugged past. It was originally part of the so-called Ōtani Collection, which consists of the objects excavated and collected between 1902 and 1914 during the three expeditions organized by Ōtani Kōzui (大谷光瑞, 1876-1948), who was the 22nd abbot of the Nishi Hongan-ji (西本願寺), the head monastery of the main branch of Jōdo Shinshū (淨土眞宗) located in Kyoto, Japan (Figure 2). Ōtani had learned about the European expeditions to Central Asia while he was in London in 1900-1902 and decided to organize his own expedition.2 ( Figure 2 ) Ōtani Kōzui (1876-1948) Ōtani himself participated only in the first expedition, which was carried out in 1902-1904, but he continued to be in control of the whole project, overseeing and giving orders to the members of the second and third expeditions. Along with Ōtani, Honda Eryū (本多惠隆, 1876-1944), Inoue Kōen (井上弘圓, 1872-1939), Watanabe Tesshin (渡邊哲信, 1874-1957) and Hori Kenyū (堀賢雄, 1880-1949) participated in the first expedition. The second expedition, which took place in 1908-1909, was led by Tachibana Zuichō (橘瑞超, 1890-1968), who at the age of nineteen became famous with his discovery of the Li Bo manuscript (李柏文書) near Loulan dated to the fourth century.3 Tachibana was accompanied by Nomura Eizaburō (野村栄三郞). The third expedition, which took place in 1910-1914, was again led by Tachibana Zuichō who was joined by Yoshikawa Koichirō (吉川小一郞, 1885-1978), A.O. Hobbs, and Li Yuqing (李毓慶).4 It is commonly understood that the purpose of Ōtani’s expeditions was different from the European expeditions to Central Asia, which are regarded to have developed from the imperialistic ambitions of their respective countries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.5 Ōtani’s intention in organizing the expedition is stated in his preface in Saiiki kōko zufu (西域考古圖譜, Illustrated Guide to the Archaeology of the Western Regions) published in 1915, which mentions that his interest in xiyu or the Western Regions derived from the significance of this area in Buddhism’s eastward transmission and that his expeditions intended to gather Buddhist materials including scriptures.6 Besides, the fact that Ōtani’s enterprise was a private undertaking makes it unique when compared with the government-sponsored projects of the European countries. Moreover, the members of the expeditions were mostly young monks who were versed in Buddhist and Chinese traditions, but who lacked any sort of archaeological training, unlike European explorers such as Albert Grünwedel (1856-1935) and Aurel Stein (1862-1943). While the religious and personal aspects of Ōtani’s expedition are undeniable, it is worth noting that the Jōdo Shinshū sect was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Japanese government's military engagements and imperialistic ambitions around the turn of the century. In addition to providing financial support, the abbots promulgated the ideology of militarism during the wars against China and Russia.7 During the war with the Qing dynasty, Ōtani Kōson (大谷光尊, 1850-1903), Ōtani Kōzui’s father, composed a famous song that emphasized the loyalty of the followers of Jōdo Shinshū to the emperor.8 As for Ōtani Kōzui, he wrote a column in 1917 entitled “The Empire in Crisis” in the magazine Chūō kōron (中央公論, Central Review).9 Here he contended that in order to overcome the domestic and international crises Japan was facing, they should adopt militarism and the ideology of Great Asia, which implied that Japan should dominate Asia in order to prevent the invasion of external (i.e. Western) forces. This is not to argue that Ōtani’s expedition was directly connected with some sort of political scheme or espionage.10 Nevertheless, it would be misleading to regard Ōtani’s expeditions simply as personal and religious on the basis of the source of funding and the religious orientations of the participants. It appears that Ōtani’s expedition should be understood in a larger context that involves complex social and political situations in Japan in the early twentieth century.11 As the result of the three expeditions, a sizeable collection of Central Asian objects was created, which included ancient manuscripts, murals, sculptures, paintings, textiles, coins, seals, pottery, and mummies.12 When these objects were brought to Japan after each expedition, they were kept in several locations including Nishi Hongan-ji, Kyoto Imperial Museum, and Nirakusō (二樂莊), Ōtani’s luxurious villa in Kobe completed in 1910 (Figure 3).13 ( Figure 3 ) Nirakusō, Ōtani Kōzui’s villa in Kobe The objects were further dispersed when Ōtani resigned as abbot in 1914 in order to take responsibility in the embezzlement case at Nishi Hongan-ji. This was even before the return of Yoshikawa Koichirō, the last member to return home from the third expedition, and left no time for proper arrangement and research of the objects. Upon resignation, Ōtani relocated his base to China, and accordingly part of his collection was transferred to Lüshun, which eventually became part of Lüshun Museum’s collection.14 As for the objects in Nirakusō, they became the possession of a businessman named Kuhara Husanosuke (久原房之助, 1869-1965) when he purchased the villa in 1916. In the same year, Kuhara presented the Central Asian objects kept in Nirakusō as a gift to Terauchi Masatake (寺內正毅, 1852-1919), the first Governor-General of Korea during the Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). The reason behind Kuhara’s gift is uncertain, yet it has been pointed out that Terauchi and Kuhara were both from Chōshū (長州), and that the gift of objects was possibly made in exchange for a transfer of concessions in Korea.15 Thus a part of Ōtani’s collection came to belong to the Chōsen Sōtokufu Hakubutsukan (朝鮮總督府博物館) or the Museum of Government-General of Joseon located in Seoul. The museum opened on December 1, 1915 under the leadership of Terauchi Masatake, and one of its most important roles was to showcase the objects collected from the field surveys of archaeological and art historical monuments carried out during the colonial period.16 The museum consisted of a few buildings within the Gyeongbokgung Palace complex, including "Bongwan" or the Main Hall, a two-story stone structure in Western style, and several traditional timber-framed buildings such as Geunjeongjeon, Sajeongjeon, Manchunjeon, and Sujeongjeon (Figure 4). According to Japanese newspapers back then, the embarkation of the '373' Central Asian objects took place in Kobe on April 30, 1916 and the Sujeongjeon was being repaired for their display.17 ( Figure 4 ) Sujeongjeon, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Museum of Government-General of Joseon In September 1916, four months after their arrival in Seoul, the Central Asian objects were opened to the public. It appears that many of them were displayed in the four rooms of Sujeongjeon during most of the Japanese colonial period as shown in the documentation of the exhibits in 1916, 1921, 1926, 1936, and 1938.18 The glass plate photograph taken then shows a few wall paintings displayed in the building (Figures 5, 6).19 Research on the objects was carried out in this period mainly by Kumagai Nobuo (熊谷宣夫), who started working at the museum in 1939. He published a series of articles on the collection, many of which dealt with the murals from the Bezeklik Caves in Turfan.20 ( Figure 5 ) View of the exhibits in Sujeongjeon ( Figure 6 ) A mural from Bezeklik Caves displayed in Sujeongjeon II With Korea’s independence from the Japanese colonial rule in 1945, the National Museum of Korea was established in December of the same year with the collection of the Museum of Government-General of Joseon.21 It continued to utilize the buildings of the Museum of the Government-General of Joseon, and the Central Asian objects continued to be housed in Sujeongjeon. In 1946, Sherman Lee, who is best known as a renowned art historian and Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1958 to 1983, noticed the significance of the Central Asian collection when he was working as a civilian advisor to General Douglas MacArthur and proposed that it should be moved to a fireproof building. The proposal was accepted immediately and the objects in Sujeongjeon were moved to the Main Hall, which was the only stone building at the museum (Figure 7).22 ( Figure 7 ) The Main Hall of the Museum of Government-General of Joseon This transfer of the objects proved to be timely. When the Korea War suddenly broke out in the summer of 1950, the museum’s collection remained in Seoul during the first fall of Seoul to the North Korean army.23 In September 1950, a couple of wooden buildings at the museum housing the collection were destroyed during an aerial bombing. Most of the Central Asian objects appear to have been safe, except some, including the mummy of a young woman from Loulan, that were housed in Manchunjeon. It was unfortunate to lose the mummy, which, according to a description by a museum staff member back then, was in a fairly good condition before the damage with its blonde hair, white teeth, and fleshy cheeks intact.24 The American army reclaimed Seoul in September 1950, and the museum managed to move its major exhibits to Busan, the second largest city in Korea located in the southern part of the peninsula. However, the Central Asian objects were left in Seoul, for some of them, especially the wall paintings, were too heavy to pack and move safely in a short period of time. Fortunately though the objects escaped from the North Korean army’s attention, and were preserved in the Main Hall. In April 1951, when the American Army reclaimed Seoul from its second fall in late 1950, several museum staff members returned to Seoul and worked on the transportation of the three truckloads of Central Asian objects to the warehouse in Busan where the museum's main collection was being kept. Because of the time limit, they could not bring the entire collection, but the objects they brought to Busan included important ones including the wall paintings.25 After the war was suspended in 1953, the museum briefly used the building in Namsan in 1954, and then reopened in its new location of Seokjojeon, the oldest example of Western style architecture in Korea, in the Deoksugung Palace complex in 1955.26 A small number of the Central Asian objects among those that were kept in Seoul were displayed on the third floor of the East Wing. Meanwhile the Central Asian objects that had been moved to Busan during the war were not brought back to Seoul immediately, as the museum staff regarded that the threat of the war remained despite the ceasefire. Later in 1956, they were moved from the warehouse to the newly built Pusan National University Museum. Then in 1961, they were again moved to the new building at the Gyeongju National Museum. In 1974, after 23 years, they were returned to Seoul and were kept in the new museum building in Gyeongbokgung. In the same year, a new exhibition space for Asian objects was opened in the museum, and the Central Asian objects along with the Nangnang (C: Lelang) materials were displayed.27 During this period, the first article on Central Asian collection of the National Museum of Korea by a Korean scholar, Kwon Young-pil, was published in the museum journal Misul jaryo in 1977.28 Since then, he has continued publishing a series of articles and books on Central Asian art and culture.29 In 1986, the National Museum of Korea reopened in Jungangcheong or the former Office of the Government-General of Joseon built during the Japanese colonial period (Figure 8). In this new location, a spacious gallery of 600 square meters was provided for the permanent exhibition of the Central Asian collection.30 Approximately 150 objects were displayed including the wall paintings, paintings on silk or hemp, Buddhist sculpture, pottery and tomb figurines (Figure 9). In the same year, the first catalogue of the Central Asian collection entitled “Jungang asia ui misul (The Art of Central Asia)” featuring a selection of the objects was published (Figure 10). In addition, a special exhibition of the Central Asian collection from the Museum für Indische Kunst in Berlin was held at the museum in 1991, which helped to draw attention to Central Asian art in Korea. ( Figure 8 ) The poster for the reopening of the National Museum of Korea at the former Office of the Government-General of Joseon in 1986 ( Figure 9 ) View of Central Asian Gallery in the National Museum of Korea in 1989 ( Figure 10 ) Cover of the catalogue of "Central Asian Art"(1986) As for the study of the collection, Kwon Young-pil’s pioneering works were followed by contributions of more Korean scholars including Min Byung-hoon, Ahn Byung-chan, and Lim Young-ae.31 Trained in Central Asian history and having worked as the curator of the National Museum of Korea since 1997, Min Byung-hoon established a solid foundation for the study of the Central Asian collection at the National Museum of Korea by publishing several articles that dealt with various subjects including the history of the collection, epitaph tablets and the Fuxi and Nüwa paintings from the Astana Tombs.32 He worked closely with conservators of the museum and Japanese scholars, and wrote a couple of articles on the Uighur inscriptions in the Bezeklik murals and the Turfan documents.33 Ahn Byung-chan, who worked as a conservator of the museum, contributed to the field with his writings on the fragments of the pranidhi scenes from Bezeklik Cave 15 and the conservation of the Central Asian objects.34 Lim Young-ae, a historian of Buddhist art, conducted research on several clay sculptures in the collection, which are known to be from Turfan.35 In 1996, the Korean government decided to remove Jungangcheong as part of its project of eliminating the remaining vestige of the Japanese colonial period.36 Accordingly, the museum galleries moved to a temporary location, a building within the Gyeongbokgung complex that had been previously used as the museum’s education center. At that time, only Korean objects were displayed in the limited exhibition space and no permanent exhibition of the Central Asian collection was possible. However, during this period a special exhibition on the museum’s collection opened in 2003 with the title of “Seoyeok misul (Arts of Central Asia) (Figure 11).” It showcased more than 300 objects from the museum’s collection, and they were displayed according to three themes: religious culture, funerary culture, and artifacts from daily life. As for the new research, the results of conservation and art historical collaboration between the National Museum of Korea and Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo were published in 2002 and 2005.37 ( Figure 11 ) Cover of the catalogue of the special exhibition “Arts of Central Asia”(2003) Since 2005, the Central Asian collection has been displayed in its permanent gallery in the new museum building in Yongsan, Seoul.38 The highlights of the collection include the murals from Bezeklik Caves, baskets and masks from Loulan dated to the Bronze Age, and funerary objects from the Astana Tombs (Figure 12). With this author joined the museum as a curator of Central Asia in 2004, a small-scale special exhibition on the murals of “Thousand Buddhas” theme was organized in 2006 in an effort to shed a light on some overlooked objects in the collection.39 Another project worth noting is that a comprehensive catalogue of the collection plans to be published in 2014. ( Figure 12 ) Masks from Loulan, Bronze Age. National Museum of Korea

Gisa jinpyori jinchan uigwe (己巳進表裏進饌儀軌) in the British Library is a palace record album of the late Joseon period, of a type produced for the Royal Archives, and surviving principally in three collections: Kyujanggak (奎章閣) at Seoul National University, Jangseogak (藏書閣) in the Academy of Korean Studies, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. Like hundreds of surviving record paintings, it was produced at royal command for a clear purpose. My paper will place the manuscript in relation to record paintings, and suggest a political justification for the lavish scale of the event and of the record volume. An English translation of the manuscript’s title is Record of the Presentation Ceremony and Banquet in the Gisa Year (1809). Records were made of important events in the royal household and the court, throughout the Joseon period, but none from before 1600 survives. Because of the Confucian ideology embraced by the state, rites were observed for ancestral worship, for receiving foreign envoys, for military campaigns, for funerals of members of the royal house, and in celebration of weddings and anniversaries. The gisa (己巳) or 1809 volume was produced as an anniversary celebration, to honour Lady Hyegyeong, also known as Lady Hong (惠慶宮 洪氏, 1735-1815). As a young girl, she had been betrothed and married in 1744 to the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Sado (思悼世子, 1735-1762). Although the marriage was contracted in 1744, it was consummated only in 1749, after the groom came of age, an occasion marked in traditional Korean life by the ‘capping ceremony,’ gwallye (冠禮). Lady Hyegyeong is best known as the author of Hanjungnok (閑中錄, Records Written in Silence), a personal and haunting memoir of her life before and after the tragic death of her husband. Prince Sado, son of King Yeongjo (英祖, r. 1724-76), developed a mental illness which led to violent and bizarre behaviour. Eventually his father, King Yeongjo, had him locked in a large storage chest for rice, where he died after eight days, in the summer of 1762. Prince Sado’s son went on to succeed his grandfather, reigning as King Jeongjo (正祖) from 1776 to 1800. King Jeongjo moved the remains of his father to a mausoleum at Hwaseong (華城), present day Suwon, and made annual processions there, to underline his reverence for his father’s memory. In 1795, the year of Lady Hyegyeong’s 60th birthday, she accompanied him on a visit to the tomb, an event which has been often reproduced in paintings and books. By honouring the late Crown Prince, the court was effectively reinstating him in the royal genealogy. King Jeongjo died in 1800 and was succeeded by his ten-year old son, King Sunjo (純祖). Lady Hyegyeong was then 66 years old. The celebrations and banquet in 1809 marked the hoegap (回甲) or sixtieth anniversary of the consummation of Lady Hyegyeong’s marriage, which had been celebrated on the 27th day of the first month of 1749 (the 25th year of King Yeongjo’s reign), the capping ceremony having taken place on the 22nd day. In 1809, Lady Hyegyeong was the dowager queen mother, having outlived her husband and then her son King Jeongjo. An important aim of this paper is to clarify the occasion of the ceremony and to establish without doubt that the person honoured was Lady Hyegyeong, and to correct the erroneous information published in Douglas, Supplementary Catalogue of Chinese Books and Manuscripts in the British Museum (1903), where the volume is described as "presentation of gifts and congratulations to the Queen of Corea on the occasion of her being ‘capped’ in the year 1869 [sic]." Folio 30 of the manuscript begins the royal edict about the ceremony by referring to jagung gwallye hoegap or the sixtieth anniversary of the capping ceremony of the widowed royal grandmother (jagung [慈宮] is a term used by a royal grandson to his grandmother who is the widow of an uncrowned crown prince). II THE JOSEON ROYAL ARCHIVES It was the practice to make several copies of some records, and to store them in different places, including archives remote from the capital, in order to protect them from possible loss through invasion or fire. In the nineteenth century, the archives were kept at Odaesan (五臺山), Jeoksangsan (赤裳山), Taebaeksan (太白山) and Jeongjoksan (鼎足山) Mountains. The last of these repositories, Jeongjoksan, was on Ganghwado Island (江華島). Many of the documents stored there were made to be viewed by the king, and used superior quality paper, binding and textiles for the covers. It is notable also that the calligraphy and painting on the royal viewing copies is of a consistently high standard. Since the British Library manuscript was purchased from an individual in Paris in 1891, we must assume that it had been brought to France in 1866-67 with the group of some 300 manuscripts from the Ganghwa Island repository, Oekyujanggak (外奎章閣), taken by the French force under Admiral Roze. It is not clear how the manuscript became separated from the rest of the collection, which is now in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Taking into account its Oekyujanggak provenance, and the high quality of calligraphy and painting it contains, we can be confident that it was a royal viewing copy, produced using high-quality materials and well-qualified calligraphers and artists, to be consulted by the king. Efforts to research the circumstances of the sale of the manuscript to the British Museum (the British Library Oriental Department was until 1973 administratively part of the British Museum) have been mostly unsuccessful, because the archive has been weeded, and most of the correspondence between the vendor and the Museum has been destroyed (Figure 1). To my knowledge, the gisa manuscript is a unique copy (some records of palace ceremonies and other royal archive documents have survived in multiple copies). ( Figure 1 ) Letter dated 3 September 1891 to the Director of the British Museum refusing to sell the volume. Another letter, reversing this decision and agreeing to sell, is recorded in the archives, but does not survive. British Library Archive, DH4, 5, 100 III THE BRITISH LIBRARY MANUSCRIPT Like other palace records, the record of the gisa celebration for Lady Hyegyeong follows a standard format. First, an order of events is presented, leading to the announcement of the choice of the day for the ceremonies. A practice ceremony of presentations was held in the Hall of Splendid Government, Huijeongdang (熙政堂) of Changdeokgung Palace (昌德宮), on the tenth day of the first month; the actual ceremony and banquet took place in the Gyeongchunjeon (景春殿), Hall of Bright Spring, in the Changgyeonggung Palace (昌慶宮) on the 22nd day of the first month and the 27th day of the second month, respectively. It is not clear why the banquet commemoration took place in the second, rather than the first month, which would have been an exact 60-year anniversary. Next, the officials charged with making arrangements are listed, starting with Ministers Yi Myeon-gyeong (李勉競, 1753-1812), Hong Myeong-ho (洪明浩, 1736-1819) and other officials of the Board of Rites, a section chief of the Board of Works and others, including an official of the Bureau of Royal Attire, totaling thirty-three named and two unnamed officials. These are followed by diagrams and then paintings of the setting, positions, architecture, musicians, accessories, furniture, implements and paraphernalia, ceremonial armour, musical instruments and costumes that were made for and used in the ritual. Following this lengthy group of illustrations are several pages of text detailing the royal edicts, in Korean jeongyo (傳敎), giving instructions about the ceremony and banquet. These edicts date from the twelfth month of the previous year, extending to an edict on the 19th day of the third month about a detail relating to rewards for the officials during the presentation ceremony. Some edicts are announced as gujeon hagyo (口傳下敎, ‘verbal edict transmitted’) while others are listed as jeonwal (傳曰, ‘it is decreed’). Here, the importance accorded to the form of events is evident. For example, there is an order (31r line 6) that that flower vases should be presented in the manner of Bongsudang (奉壽堂), the Hall for Longevity, at Hwaseong. Next, from folios 34 to 94, the volume contains a careful account of the processes involved in mounting the ceremony, including administrative orders about the arrangements and the music to be played. They record the greetings, the documents exchanged between officials, details of particular ceremonies, discussions, detailed lists of foods and gifts, furniture and utensils, fans and other ceremonial implements, names and titles of officials and ladies taking part, in every case listing separately those for the presentation ceremony and for the banquet. The final pages name or enumerate the craftsmen and musicians who participated, and the lists of their rewards, which included a salary increase, tiger skins, horses, wood, cloth and rice, running to three pages. For many people, the greatest interest of the manuscript lies in the brightly and lavishly coloured paintings depicting the ceremonies. These are preceded by black and white diagrams that give a schematic account of the buildings and the positioning of the participants in the events. Six double-page diagrams precede the colour illustrations, showing clearly that the purpose of the ceremony and of the record was to mark the occasion in a ritually correct way. The diagrams provide an ‘at a glance’ record of the scale and style of the events. Even the number and positions of the musicians in each of the two orchestras were stipulated with scrupulous accuracy. The panoramic view of the presentation ceremony, marking the anniversary of the capping ceremony in 1749, presents the scene as if the outer walls had been peeled back to reveal the interior of the hall. The tiled roof of the Hall of Bright Spring is swathed in puffy clouds (Figure 2). Red blinds screen off the inner area. Much of the hall remains empty with attendants bearing flags and canopies lined up along the walls furthest from the throne. At the rear, separated from the throne and the attendant ladies by low curtains, is the platform ensemble of musicians, dressed in red. The most important space is the throne area, although Lady Hyegyeong herself is not shown. The red-lacquered throne is placed before a tall screen with a dramatic painting of enormous luxuriant peony heads, these being thought an appropriate subject for a ceremony in honour of a wedding. The throne itself, described later as a ‘silver folding throne,’ in Korean eungyoui (銀交椅), is high-backed; a trapezoid foot-rest sits in front of it, and small tables with incense burners and official seals are placed nearby. Attendants carrying fans stand just outside the inner room. Other fan-bearers are lined up facing the throne, along the outer wall. A dozen or more tables laden with gifts and messages of congratulation are neatly arranged around the perimeter of the hall, and the ladies and attendants are depicted in their designated positions, exactly as directed in the plan for the occasion, almost like dancers in a complex choreography. Woven sedge mats can also be observed, in position for the participants to prostrate themselves. ( Figure 2 ) Bifolium 11v-12r. Presentation Ceremony. British Library, Or. 7458 A second and even more imposing panoramic view shows the banquet, the more important of the two ceremonies, since it commemorates the consummation of the Prince and Lady Hyegyeong’s marriage in 1749 (Figure 3). In the same building, the Hall of Bright Spring, two orchestras attend the proceedings, a platform ensemble as before, enhanced now with the addition of a terrace orchestra (Figure 4). Because of the extra space required to show all the participants, the painting here extends its boundaries to the courtyard area outside the Hall of Bright Spring, even showing the fruit trees in their bare-branched winter state, growing just inside the brick- and tile-built outer wall of the palace compound. The overall effect is one of pomp and display, of lavish provision and minute attention to detail. ( Figure 3 ) Bifolium 12v-13r. Banquet ( Figure 4 ) Detail of fol. 12v. Close examination of the two panorama scenes reveals that they were not painted in a realistic manner, but that the artist adopted multiple perspective points, from bird’s eye view to face-on. The buildings, equipment and participants in the ceremonies are not depicted to scale, but are adapted to allow a complete display of all the courtiers and their accoutrements in the palace setting, executed with apparent but deceptive precision across the two pages of the open manuscript. The two panorama views are followed by four bi-folio paintings. The first depicts the inner room during the banquet, where the throne, this time raised on a platform, is now set against an even larger screen, with ten panels (Figure 5). The subject-matter here is buildings in a landscape, and we can see hills, pavilions, trees, and a low-walled compound (Figure 6). High candlesticks, twice the height of the court ladies, bear massive candles decorated with writhing dragons and stand near the wine tables. Beautifully-presented cakes are lined up on four well-spaced tables, the largest being directly in front of the throne (Figure 7). (Later in the manuscript 16 leaves are devoted to lists of the sumptuous fare offered at the banquet, ff 72 – 79b). Two further paintings show the East and West Additional Ranks, the former in a two-sectioned arrangement separated by a wall, the latter a single area, bounded once more by a curtained wall (Figure 8). The fifty-four musicians of the platform orchestra and the fifty-one musicians of the terrace orchestra are then shown, as two separate full-page illustrations, with their concert masters leading them, distinguished from the other musicians by their green robes. ( Figure 5 ) Folio 13v. Interior of the hall, showing banquet and attendants ( Figure 6 ) Detail of fol. 13r. Raised throne (for Lady Hyegyeong) with ten-fold landscape screen ( Figure 7 ) Detail of fol. 13r. Banquet dishes placed in front of the raised throne ( Figure 8 ) Bifolium 14v-15r. West Additional Ranks The remaining illustrations provide a kind of visual inventory of the ceremony; proof of the designs and materials used for the serving vessels, floral decorations, costume and so on. Here, and in similar painted pages in numerous other ritual manuscripts of the late Joseon period, the purpose of the artists who executed the paintings can be very clearly understood. The images of tables, canopies, ritual axes and musical instruments were produced not for enjoyment or pleasure. On the contrary, the solemn nature of the event is underlined by the documentary style of the painting. The colour palette of yellow, black, red, blue and white reflects the associations of these colours with the five elements. The restriction of the colours used to the five primary colours of Chinese and Korean folklore emphasizes the connection between the ruler and the cosmos, and is characteristic of the colours used in court record painting of the late Joseon. No attempt was made to scale the images, or to convey realistically the relative sizes of the musical instruments. However the value and purpose of the illustrations is the same as for the rest of the volume: they were to be consulted in future occasions when deciding the form and scale of similar events. Although the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the consummation of the wedding of a deceased crown prince was unlikely to occur frequently, the principle of consulting precedent in order to adopt ritually correct practices for the royal calendar was the foundation stone on which the Joseon court was built. It was therefore important to provide adequate description and depiction of the celebrations, as a reference point for future officials and rulers in their deliberations about the correct form for anniversary celebrations. IV ILLUSTRATION OF FLOWERS, IMPLEMENTS, AND COSTUMES The illustrations are as follows: Coloured flowers, chaehwa (綵花) fol.18r, eojam sagwonhwa ilssang (御簪絲圏花), a pair of hairpins for royal ladies, with silk round flower heads fol.18v, 19r&v sagwonhwa, circular silk flowers with bees: fol.20r, (four types of flowers) Top right: sugonghwa (首拱花), hand-held flower; Top left: sanghwa (床花), table flower; Bottom right: junhwa (樽花), flower in vessel (one red cluster, one pink cluster); Bottom left: iseongchung supayeon, two-part lotus; fol.20v, (eight types of flowers): Top row, right to left: single small lotus, red three-blossomed flower, red flower, moon cassia; Bottom row, right to left: peony, red flower, red flower, ‘four seasons flower; Vessels and utensils, giyong (器用) fol.21r, Top row: silver folding chair, low table for presenting food; Middle row: silver foot stand, seal table covered with coloured silk; Lower row: octagonal incense stand with bowed legs, in red lacquered wood, brazier stool; fol.21v, Top row: food table with silk covers, wine table also with silk covers; Middle row: longevity wine stand in red lacquer with a yellow surface, a square red lacquered box of silk flowers; Lower row: box of silk flowers, table for a flower arrangement in a wine vessel, jun (樽); fol.22r, Top row: incense burner, dragon candle; Middle row: incense container, pricket candle stand with trailing ribbons; Lower row: painted candle, candle stand; fol.22v, Top row: silver sun and moon bottle bearing a roundel (badly discoloured) with a ‘crow in the sun’ design (?), golden jak (爵, three-legged vessel); Middle row: a jade jak, a beautifully carved shallow dish with a relief design on the outer wall of scrolling plants and leaves, golden stand or coaster, jeom (坫), on which to place goblet after drinking; Lower row: silver gilt coaster, wine jar; fol.23r, Top row: silver ladle, silver dish; Middle row: gold beaker, silver coaster; Lower row, gold coaster, silver phoenix ewer; fol.23v, Top row: silver bottle, jak; Middle row: five jeongbae (呈杯) bowls, plate; Lower row: wine vessel used as a flower vase (to see it in context compare folios 13r detail, 13v and 20r), porcelain bottle; Ceremonial armour, uijang (儀仗) fol.24r, a red and a green gae (盖, parasol) each with golden finial; three seon (扇, fans) each with a pair of opposed creatures: dragon, phoenix and peacock, respectively, one silver axe; fol.24v, one golden axe, one silver and one golden stirrup, one silver and one golden sword, one silver upright gourd on a pole (note use of gold leaf); fol.25r, three gourds (one upright gold, one transverse silver, one transverse gold), three gi (旗) pennants [one with a baektak (白澤), one with a three horned-animal, one with a horned dan] (note use of gold leaf); fol.25v, one gi (flag) with a phoenix, one sun parasol, one red and one blue shade parasol (?), a small gold axe and a crystal-topped staff; fol.26r, a blue fan (seon) and two swords (precious sword and cloud sword), the swords sheathed in lacquer sheath, tied with purple silk; Musical instruments, akgi (樂器) fol.26v, geongo (建鼓) pavilioned drum, bak (拍) clappers and hui (麾) standard; fol.27r, Top row: sakgo (朔鼓) first drum, gyobanggo (敎坊鼓) drum, bipa (琵琶) flute, Lower row: eunggo (應鼓) drum, haegeum (奚琴) fiddle, ajaeng (牙箏) zither; fol.27v, gayageum (伽倻琴) zither, banghyang (方響) iron chimes, piri (觱篥) oboe, hyeongeum (玄琴) zither, daegeum (大琴) flute, janggo (杖鼓) hourglass drum; fol.28r, dangjeok (唐笛) Chinese flute, saeng (笙) panpipes, chuk (柷) plunger (trapeziform box, painted with bamboo on a green background, and with coloured stylised clouds, with a stick which is struck three times at the start of the musical piece), tungso (洞簫) end-blown flute, pyeongyeong (編磬) stone chimes standing in a frame on duck-carved feet, eo (敔) whisk and tiger (with serrated back formed of 27 notches which is struck with a bamboo stick at the end of the piece); fol.28v, pyeonjong (編鐘) bronze bells, note dog-lion feet at base of frame and five peacocks at top of frame, and dragon heads projecting; Costumes, boksik (服飾) fol.29r, yeohap boksik (女佮服飾) female attendants’ dress (from top row): hwagwan (花冠) flowery head-dress (see folio 15r, singing women, for this headwear in context), hwang chosang (黄綃裳) yellow silk skirt, hwang chosam (黄綃衫) yellow silk coat, osam (?) skirt, sudae (繍帯) brocade belt; fol.29v, jeonak boksik (典樂服飾) costume worn by the leader of the musicians: mora bokdu (冒羅幞頭, flap-eared hat), cheongsam (靑衫, green robe) belt worn by the leader and also by the musicians akgong boksik (樂工服飾) costume worn by musicians: hwahwa bokdu (畫花幞頭) hat and hong juui (紅紬衣) red coat of silk. V GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPT The manuscript consists of one volume (47.2 x 33.9 x 4cm), 94 folios, 12 columns per page, 24 characters per column, text borders traced in red lines (34.6 x 27.3cm) (Figure 9). Its size is similar to the other royal manuscripts from Oekyujanggak described in Park’s catalogue. The upper margin is 7.6cm, and the lower margin 5.2cm. The calligraphy is clear and well executed and placed. A red 'fish-tail' has been added. Red lines have been drawn to form the columns. The pages of the manuscript are folded at the fore-edge, in thread-bound style, and are made of a glossy cream-coloured paper of high quality. Double sheets are used throughout, making the volume very durable. ( Figure 9 ) Folio 30v. Opening passage of edict giving instructions about preparing the Presentation Ceremony and Banquet The front and back covers are covered with olive-green silk backed by several sheets of thick paper. Two narrow bronze bands hold the leaves together (Figure 10). The bronze band attached to the front cover has a large bronze ring attached at its centre, for handling and lifting (diameter 5.8cm). Both bands are incised with surface decoration of floral scrolls and each has 5 cut-bronze eight-leafed chrysanthemum blossoms as rivet heads, each formed of two concentric bands of leaves surrounding a central flower head incised with diagonal markings (Figure 11). The flower heads are distributed at regular intervals along the length of each band. At the top left of the front cover a title strip is attached (33.6 x 5cm); it is made of cream-coloured silk with a red border, and the title is written “Gisa jinpyori jinchan uigwe jeon (己巳進表裏進饌儀軌 全).” ( Figure 10 ) Cover of the manuscript Record of the Presentation Ceremony and Banquet in the Gisa Year (1809). H: 47.2 cm, British Library, Or. 7458 ( Figure 11 ) Detail of one of the two bronze bands and one of the eight eight-petalled chrysanthemum flower heads that lock the album leaves in place The silk covers show signs of wear and staining; the edges particularly are worn and damaged. Worm damage is apparent in the lower margins of ff. 1-12. Analysis of the manuscript carried out by University College London scientists in June 2000 showed that the following pigments were used in painting the manuscript: vermilion, carbon, azurite, lead white, malachite and possibly orpiment and red ochre. VI CONCLUSION The 1809 celebration manuscript in the British Library is a significant addition to the literature about Lady Hyegyeong, one of Korea’s most famous and most honoured authors. The marriage it commemorated had ended in tragedy with the death of Prince Sado, but despite her despair and fall from high status in the mid-eighteenth century, Lady Hyegyeong survived to see both her son and her grandson reign, as Jeongjo and Sunjo, respectively. By the mid-1790s, she had returned to her position at the centre of court life, and was able to see respects being paid at the new tomb of her husband. The paintings of her visit in 1795 to the royal mausoleum, in the company of her son the king, are well-known to scholars of Korean history, and can be understood as the embodiment of her revival, and of the overturning of the verdict of history on her tragic, demented husband. Less well-known, partly as a result of early misunderstanding of the manuscript by the first Europeans who studied it over a hundred years ago, is the manner in which King Sunjo's court honoured in 1809 the sixtieth anniversary of his grandparents’ wedding. The celebrations, as the description of the record volume has shown, were impressive. The record album reflects the conventions for court painting of the mature Joseon period. The painting style is flat, and colours are not highlighted or shaded in any way. Different scenes adopt different perspectives (full frontal for the detailed view of the orchestra; bird’s eye view of the main hall during the ceremonies). The central figure, the subject of the celebrations, Lady Hyegyeong herself is not portrayed, but the large silver folding ceremonial chair placed in front of the imposing folding screen in the inner hall can be understood as a sign of the esteem she enjoyed in this late period of her long life. Although the festivities themselves were not the most elaborate of their kind, in that only instrumental music and song was performed, but no dances, they did constitute a substantial and solemn celebration of the anniversary of the coming of age and the marriage of Prince Sado. The 1809 manuscript is thus evidence of the continuing rehabilitation of Prince Sado, and of the high esteem in which his wife was held. Commissioned by the court office responsible for preparing, presenting and recording the celebrations, it is an example of ritual record painting, executed by court artists as part of the great continuing enterprise of recording the present for the edification of future rulers.