Introduction

Buddhist images, whether sculptures or paintings, only become objects of faith and worship through two rituals: jeoman (點眼), wherein the pupils of the Buddha’s eyes are painted in the final stages of creating a Buddhist image, and bokjang (腹藏), the ritualistic installation of various objects inside a Buddhist statue or painting. Virtually every country where Buddhism has been introduced has a tradition similar to the Korean bokjang tradition. In Korea, the objects to be installed in the image in the bokjang ritual are called bokjangmul (裝藏物 in China and 納入品 in Japan).

The exact origins of the bokjang ritual are not known, but the oldest evidence of such practices are the sixth-century Buddhas of Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Such evidence suggests that, contrary to previous assumptions, the practice of installing sutras or sarira (beads, crystals, or relics believed to be corporeal) within Buddhist sculptures likely began much earlier than the eighth century. In Korea, the earliest known example of bokjang is thought to be an agalmatolite jar dated by inscription to the second year of Yeongtae (永泰, 766), which was discovered inside the pedestal of a stone statue of Vairocana Buddha. Bak Gyeongwon and Jeong Wongyeong (1983) argued that this jar served as a sarira case enshrining the Pure Light Dharani Sutra (無垢淨光大陀羅尼經), similar to the practice of installing sutras and miniature pagodas inside a pagoda. The first known use of the term bokjang comes from Naksan Gwaneum Byeongsong (洛山觀音幷頌), from volume 25 of Dongguk Isanggukjip (東國李相國集, Collected Works of Minister Yi of Korea, 1241) by Yi Gyubo (李奎報, 1168-1241). The term also appears in some votive inscriptions from Buddhist sculptures dating to the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). Based on this evidence, the practice of bokjang is thought to have been established as a Buddhist ritual during the Goryeo Dynasty.

Thus far, a wide variety of bokjangmul have been discovered in Korea, including votive inscriptions, Buddhist texts, sutras, dharani (sacred words or short phrases), as well as textiles and traditional Korean paper. Other items used as bokjangmul include grains, scents, medicines, and cloth representations of parasols and vajras, all of which are typically found in groups of five, corresponding to the four cardinal directions and the center. Other constituent elements of the bokjang ritual in Korea are obobyeong (五寶甁, five wrappings for enshrining bokjangmul); huryeongtong (喉鈴筒, case for obobyeong); and hwangchopokja (黃綃幅子, yellow silk in which to wrap the huryeongtong). All three items were used to enshrine bokjangmul during both the Goryeo and Joseon (1392-1910) Dynasties according to a procedure described in the Josanggyeong Sutra (造像經). This differs from early bokjang practices in China and Japan, in which miniature representations of internal organs were installed inside sculptures of the Buddha. To date, studies of Korean bokjang have largely focused on the individual types of bokjangmul (e.g., sutras, dharani, textiles, votive inscriptions, etc.). Research has been limited by the difficulty of examining bokjangmul once they have been installed inside Buddhist sculptures or paintings, as well as by theft, damage, and the installment of new bokjangmul.

This paper examines the evolution of the Korean bokjang tradition by comparing five existing versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra, with specific focus on references to the main elements of bokjang from the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties (i.e., huryeongtong, obobyeong, and hwangchopokja). Those records are compared to surviving examples of huryeongtong, obobyeong, and hwangchopokja to illustrate how the procedures and contents of the bokjang ritual changed over time.

Josanggyeong Sutra and Changes in Bokjangmul

Comparison of bokjang terms from five versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra

The Josanggyeong Sutra, a non-canonical sacred text of Buddhism, details various Buddhist rituals, including instructions for creating and enshrining bokjang, and the process of making sculptures of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Today, five original versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra have survived in Korea: one each from Yongcheongsa Temple (1575), Neunggasa Temple (1697), Hwajangsa Temple (1720), Geumnyongsa Temple (1746), and Yujeomsa Temple (1824). There is also a transcription of an unknown original, which dates from the late Joseon period. The five versions and the transcribed copy have different titles, but the main contents are similar. For instance, all five versions include the following three chapters: “Daejangillamgyeong” (大藏一覽經), which compiles sutras related to the production of Buddhist statues; “Jebulbosal bokjangdan uisik” (諸佛菩薩腹藏壇儀式), which lists the proper bokjangmul for each of the cardinal directions and explains each object; and “Myogilsangdaegyowanggyeong” (妙吉祥大敎王經), which documents the procedures of the bokjang ritual.

The Yujeomsa Temple version contains the most systematic description of the bokjang ritual. It is also the latest known original edition of the Josanggyeong Sutra, and thus the most significant for our purposes. The Yujeomsa Temple version seems to have been produced with the goal of systematizing the description of the bokjang ritual and standardizing the terminology. All five versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra list the bokjangmul for the cardinal directions and the center, but the names or types of bokjangmul vary among the versions. However, only the Yujeomsa Temple version uses the word huryeongtong, a term that appears to have been in widespread use even before the publication of this version, as the expression huryeongtong siju (喉鈴筒施主, donation of huryeongtong) is found in three copies of votive inscriptions in the sculptures of Three Buddhas in Beopjusa Temple (1626). Other versions, however, include a variety of names for bokjang containers, e.g. palyeopgae1 (八葉箇, huyreongtong with a cover decorated with eight-petal motifs), eunhaptong (銀合筒, covered silver bowl), and huryeong palyeopgae (喉鈴八葉箇). For example, the Neunggasa Temple version uses huryeong palyeoptong eunhap (喉鈴八葉筒銀合), and huryeong eunhap palyeoptong (喉鈴銀合八葉筒).

The Yujeomsa Temple version introduces several new terms that replace or unify miscellaneous terms used in the other versions. For example, while the earlier four versions use the terms ogyeong (five mirrors) and osaekseung (五色䋲, string of five colors), the Yujeomsa Temple version replaces those terms with obanggyeong and osaekseon (五色線, threads of five colors), respectively. Also, the Yujeomsa Temple version uses the term obobyeong in place of obogwabyeong (五寶裹甁) and obogwabaek (五寶裹帛), which are used in the other versions.

Josanggyeong Sutra and Changes in Bokjangmul

In Korea, the central element of the bokjang ritual is the huryeongtong. Typically, the bokjangmul (e.g. vajras, flags of five colors, parasols, grains, medicines, etc.) are wrapped inside the obobyeong, which are then put into the huryeongtong. The huryeongtong is wrapped in hwangchopokja, and sabangju (四方呪, Sanskrit words for the four directions written on outer surface of huryeongtong) and sabanggyeong (四方鏡, mirrors for the four directions) are attached to the huryeongtong.

Table 1 shows how to prepare a huryeongtong, using the huryeongtong found inside the Amitabha Buddha from the statue of Three Buddhas in Sudeoksa Temple (1639). Over time, the procedure for preparing and installing huryeongtong changed, with variations in the types of objects installed, the material of the huryeongtong, and the place of enshrinement. Despite these procedural changes, the general concept of huryeongtong was applied in all bokjang practices.

1. HURYEONGTONG: Huryeongtong are meant to represent the heart of a Buddhist sculpture, and they are also at the very heart of the bokjang tradition. All of the records about bokjang from Josanggyeong Sutra focus on the placement of the objects in obobyeong, which are then placed within a huryeongtong.

According to the version of Josanggyeong Sutra from Neunggasa Temple, a huryeongtong was a silver bowl with a cover (銀盒), and such bowls have been found inside various Korean Buddhist sculptures. For example, a silver covered bowl, now in the collection of the Onyang Folk Museum (Fig. 1), was discovered inside a sculpture of Amitabha Buddha (1302), while another such bowl was found inside a giltbronze statue of the Medicine Buddha from Janggoksa Teample (1346). However, a gilt-bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha from Munsusa Temple (1346) was found to contain a wooden palyeoptong (Fig. 2), and another wooden container (Fig. 3) was found inside a late Goryeo wooden sculpture of Amitabha Buddah from Jaunsa Temple. Most huryeongtong of the Joseon Dynasty were metal, as evinced by those found inside a wooden statue of the Youthful Manjushri from Sangwonsa Temple (1466), sculptures of the Four Heavenly Kings from Songgwangsa Temple (1628), and a wooden sculpture of Three Buddhas from Sudeoksa Temple. However, a wooden statue of Mahasthamaprapta was found to contain a paper huryeongtong (1778, now in the collection of Onyang Folk Museum), and a bamboo huryeongtong of unknown origin has also been discovered.

Regarding the shape of the huryeongtong, all five versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra refer to it as either a hap (盒), meaning a covered bowl, or a tong (筒), simply meaning a container, without more detailed explanation. Among huryeongtong from the Goryeo Dynasty, there are at least three in the form of a covered bowl: the aforementioned silver covered bowls from the statue of Amitabha Buddha (1302) and the gilt-bronze statue of Medicine Buddha in Janggoksa Temple (1346), as well as the wooden palyeoptong discovered inside the gilt-bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha from Munsusa Temple (1346). A wooden statue of Amitabha Buddha from Jaunsa Temple contained a covered wooden huryeongtong, but it was rectangular in shape, with curved sides (Fig. 3). Another huryeongtong of unknown origin, believed to be from the late Goryeo or early Joseon period, is a short, round wooden container with a flat bottom, but it differs from the previously mentioned covered bowls. A document called Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi (彌陀腹藏入物色記) (Fig. 4)2 features a list of bokjangmul installed inside the gilt-bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha from Munsusa Temple. The list includes saridong (舍利同, sarira case) and palyeopdong (八葉同), which refer to containers in the form of covered bowls. Here, the word dong (同) seems to have the same meaning as tong (筒). Since these objects have the same shape as other objects called hap (盒), it is believed that, at that time, hap and tong (筒) were used interchangeably to refer to vessels of the same shape.

According to the Yujeomsa Temple version of the Josanggyeong Sutra, the shape of huryeongtong of the Joseon Dynasty depended on where they were to be installed; round containers were placed inside Buddhist statues, while rectangular containers were used for Buddhist paintings.3 Large cylindrical huryeongtong with covers, a shape not seen in previous eras, were also common during the Joseon Dynasty. The huryeongtong found inside the statue of the Youthful Manjushri from Sangwonsa Temple (1466, Fig. 5) exemplifies this style of huryeongtong. Thus, the shape of huryeongtong changed over time, and the most notable changes involved the cover. Among huryeongtong from the Goryeo Dynasty, the covered silver bowl of Onyang Folk Museum (1302, Fig. 1) and the palyeoptong from Munsusa Temple (1346, Fig. 2) have flat covers with no openings. However, the rounded rectangular container from Jaunsa Temple (1346, Fig. 3) has a cover with an opening (1.5 cm in diameter) that is lined with a metal rim (Fig. 6). In contrast, the huryeongtong from Sangwonsa Temple (1466, Fig. 5), and the two huryeongtong discovered inside the wooden sculptures of Vairocana Buddha from Daejeokgwangjeon Hall (大寂光殿) and Beopbojeon Hall (法寶殿) of Haeinsa Temple (1490, Fig. 7) have covers with an extended open spout.

This spout is assumed to have been called a huhyeol (喉穴), a term that first appears in the Yujeomsa Temple version of the Josanggyeong Sutra, which instructs “Make a huhyeol over the center of the palyeopgae” (八葉蓋, eight-petal cover).4 This record offers no additional details about the huhyeol, but several extant huryeongtong from the Joseon Dynasty have covers with an open spout on top of the palyeopgae. In some examples, such as the huryeongtong found inside the sculpture of Shakyamuni Buddha in Gounam of Woljeongsa Temple (1710, Fig. 8), the threads of five colors that were wound around the obobyeong were pulled through the opening in the center of the palyeopgae and up through the spout, so that they protruded to the outside. Thus, the term huhyeol probably refers to the extended spout.

As the style of huryeongtong changed from the covered bowls of the Goryeo Dynasty to the large cylinders of the Joseon Dynasty, the covers were also undergoing a transformation from flat lids to rounded covers with an extended spout. The first relevant records concerning this change do not appear until 1824, in the Yujeomsa Temple version of the Josanggyeong Sutra, but it is believed that cylindrical huryeongtong with huhyeol had become prevalent by the early Joseon period and remained in use through the remainder of the dynasty.

Another important component of huryeongtong is the palyeopgae. The term palyeop first appeared as palyeopdong (八葉同) in a document entitled Geoan (擧案), found inside a statue of the Thousandarmed Avalokitesvara (1322, private collection), as well as in the Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi document from Munsusa Temple (1346, Fig. 4). Of the five versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra, only the Yujeomsa Temple version states that the sarira case and huryeongtong should have a palyeopgae. But the record is quite vague about how exactly the palyeopgae should be used in relation to the sarira case and huryeongtong. The Yujeomsa Temple version includes palyeop daehongryeon jido (八葉大紅蓮之圖), a design of daehongryeon (large red lotus inscribed with Sanskrit words for directions inside eight petals) and states that palyeopgae, which is different from daehongryeon (大紅蓮), should serve as the cover for huryeongtong.5 The huryeongtong installed inside the hanging scroll painting of Shakyamuni Buddha from Seomamsa Temple (1753, Fig. 13) has a cover shaped like a large lotus with eight petals, but it was originally found wrapped in a palyeop daehongryeon jido (八葉大紅蓮之圖), as was the huryeongtong from inside the painting of Sakra in Seonamsa Temple. Based on this evidence, palyeopgae and daehongryeon are thought to be separate objects. If palyeopgae can be regarded as the cover of huryeongtong, then the palyeoptong from Munsusa Temple (1346, Fig. 2), which thus far has been considered a covered wooden bowl, would be the earliest example. On both the cover and body of this bowl, lotus seeds and a double layer of eight petals were painted in red, probably in order to express palyeopdong (八葉同), as mentioned in Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi. The huryeongtong from Sangwonsa Temple (1466, Fig. 5) has a cover shaped like a lotus with eight petals, while another cylindrical huryeongtong of unknown origin has a lotus-shaped cover, as well as an attached gilt-bronze plate shaped like an eight-petal lotus (Fig. 9). In later periods, metal plates in the shape of an eight-petaled lotus were often found inside the huryeongtong, atop the obobyeong (Fig. 10). This suggests that palyeopgae, which were once attached to the outside of the huryeongtong, eventually became separate objects that were placed inside the huryeongtong.

2. OBOBYEONG: Obobyeong literally translates as “five treasure bottle[s],” which symbolize the four cardinal directions and the center. If the huryeongtong represent the heart of Buddhist sculptures, then the obobyeong are the chambers of the heart.

According to the Josanggyeong Sutra, the obobyeong represent the five treasures of wisdom of Vairocana Buddha. Specifically, the north is represented by a glass bottle, the south by a jewel bottle, the east by an onyx bottle, the west by a coral bottle, and the center by a rock-crystal bottle. The Yujeomsa Temple version states that obobyeong could be made from papers of five colors, if the seven treasures were not available.6 In actuality, though, most surviving obobyeong from the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties are made from cloth. Indeed, the other four versions of the Josanggyeong Sutra use the term obogwabaek (五寶裹帛, silk for wrapping five treasures), which probably explains why textiles were commonly used.

The exact shape of obobyeong does not appear to have been standardized in the Goryeo Dynasty. For example, the obobyeong discovered inside the giltbronze statue of Amitabha Buddha from Munsusa Temple (1346, Fig. 11) were made from cloth shaped as a heart, square, circle, and triangle. Even so, there is still not enough evidence to make a conclusive statement about the shape of obobyeong from the Goryeo Dynasty. At the same time, almost all of the extant obobyeong from the Joseon Dynasty are square, as exemplified by the obobyeong found inside the wooden statues of Three Buddhas from Sudeoksa Temple (1639). There are a few exceptions, such as the obobyeong from the wooden statue of Vairocana Buddha at Haeinsa Temple, estimated to have been installed in 1490, which features textiles of various shapes, including a square, circle, and semicircle.

In the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties, various types of bokjangmul were placed inside obobyeong and then tied with the threads of five colors. Obobyeong of the Goryeo Dynasty were tied like pouches (Fig. 12), as seen in the obobyeong from the statue of Amitabha Buddha (1302, Fig. 1) and the gilt-bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha from Munsusa Temple (1346, Fig. 2). Every version of the Josanggyeong Sutra, except the one from Yujeomsa Temple, uses the term obogwabyeong (五寶裹甁, five treasure wrapping bottles). Gwa (裹) means to wrap in a cloth, so this term likely applies to the pouch-shaped obobyeong of the Goryeo Dynasty.

In the Joseon Dynasty, obobyeong were made by placing bokjangmul in a square cloth, folding the cloth into a triangle, rolling the cloth into the form of a tube, and then tying it with the threads of five colors (Table 1). The transition from pouch-shaped obobyeong to cylindrical obobyeong corresponds to the shift from bowl-shaped to bottle-shaped huryeongtong.

In the Joseon Dynasty, the five bobyeong were wrapped and tied together with the threads of five colors and then encased in the huryeongtong to make an obobyeong. However, it is not currently known if this same procedure was also used during the Goryeo Dynasty. Most obobyeong of the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties have been found inside the huryeongtong, but there are some notable exceptions, such as the obobyeong found in the wooden statue of the Ten Kings of Hell from Munsusa Temple in Go chang (1653), which was tied outside the huryeongtong. Moreover, both the hanging scroll painting of Shakyamuni Buddha (1753, Fig. 13) and the wooden statues of the Three Buddhas in Donghwasa Temple (1727) had huryeongtong containing six metal cylinders (five obobyeong and one sarira case). This technique was likely used to include both sarira cases and obobyeong, in accordance with the Josanggyeong Sutra.

The Josanggyeong Sutra states that 75 objects should be enshrined in the obobyeong, including five medicines, five grains, five scents, five parasols, five vajras, five leaves, five flags of five colors etc.7 Obobyeong of the Goryeo Dynasty are often found to contain small amounts of different grains, medicines and scents, but by the Joseon Dynasty, the grains, medicine, and scents were joined by a variety of other objects, including parasols, vajras, and flags of five colors.8 Also, the wooden statue of Amitabha Buddha from Heukseoksa Temple (1458) contained four leaf-shaped textiles, which is unique among examples of bokjang.

3. HWANGCHOPOKJA: The Josanggyeong Sutra refers to a hwangchopokja, which is a piece of yellow cloth used to wrap huryeongtong. The Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi document includes the term hwangpokja (黃幅子), which seems to be synonymous with hwangchopokja. The only detail that the Josanggyeong Sutra provides about the hwangpokja is that it should be about 45.0 cm in length.

The gilt-bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha from Munsusa Temple (1346) contained five pieces of cloth, including the yellow cloth used to wrap the palyeoptong. Meanwhile, the wooden container found inside the wooden statue of Amitabha Buddha in Jaunsa Temple was wrapped with pieces of blue, yellow, and red cloth (Fig. 14). The covered bowl found inside the gilt-bronze statue of the Medicine Buddha from Janggoksa Temple (1346) was wrapped in cloths of five colors, as well as a yellow cloth. Thus, it seems that during the Goryeo Dynasty, the yellow hwangpokja was used together with cloths of other colors. In contrast, most huryeongtong from the Joseon Dynasty were wrapped with a single yellow cloth (Mun Myeongdae 1968, 366-367). There are some exceptions, such as the huryeongtong from the wooden statue of Buddha from Gosansa Temple in Hongseong (1543), which was wrapped in various colors of silk (i.e. orange, white, sky-blue, purple and yellow), as well as the threads of five colors. However, most of the evidence suggests that cloths of multiple colors, including hwangchopokja, were used to wrap huryeongtong of the Goryeo Dynasty, but only hwangchopokja were used in the Joseon Dynasty (Yi Seonyong 2005, 80).

The version of the Josanggyeong Sutra from Yujeomsa Temple states that after objects are enshrined within the huryeongtong, it should be wrapped with a hwangchopokja.9 The exact wrapping procedure from the Goryeo Dynasty is not known, but during the Joseon Dynasty, the huryeongtong was placed in the center of the hwangchopokja, which was then gathered around the huhyeol and tied with the threads of five colors. Some huryeongtong found inside Buddhist paintings were wrapped at the top and bottom with paper illustrations from the Josanggyeong Sutra, such as palyeop daehongryeon jido (八葉大紅蓮之圖), junjeguja cheonwonjido (准提九字天圓之圖, design of nine letters and letters of the four directions), or yeolgeumgang jibangjido (列金剛地方之圖, design of Vajra Buddha for the four directions), before finally being wrapped with hwangchopokja. However, in most cases, huryeongtong were wrapped with hwangchopokja in a way that was much simpler than the procedure described in the Josanggyeong Sutra.

During the Joseon Dynasty, the four corners of the hwangchopokja would typically be marked with the four directions in black or red characters (Fig. 15). No such markings have been found on hwangchopokja from the Goryeo Dynasty, indicating that this practice accompanied the other changes in the bokjang tradition.

Changes in the Bokjang Tradition

From the Goryeo to the Joseon Dynasty, the shape of huryeongtong changed from a covered bowl into a cylinder, and the shape of obobyeong changed from a pouch into a cylindrical roll, to fit more easily into the huryeongtong. To better understand these changes, the purpose of bokjang and the interrelationship between the bokjang practices of each period must be explored.

The practice of bokjang is closely tied to the worship of sarira. According to Josangyangdogyeong Sutra (造像量度經), which was published after the Josanggyeong Sutra, sarira were to be enshrined in the crown on the head of a Buddhist statue. In fact, sarira were discovered inside the urna (third eye) of the statue of the Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara in Jikido Hall (食堂, dining hall) of Toji Temple (東寺). The Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan were found to contain sarira, textiles, and fragments of the Sutra on Dependent Arising (緣起經) written in the characters of the fifth to sixth century (Fig. 16). Thus, it would seem that, early on, the practice of bokjang was not distinct from the practice of enshrining sarira and sutra (i.e. dharma sarira) inside a pagoda or sculpture.

Indeed, the inscription on the agalmatolite jar found inside the pedestal of a stone statue of Vairocana Buddha (766) states that the Pure Light Dharani Sutra (無垢淨光大陀羅尼經) was originally enshrined within the jar. Overall, however, in Korea, the practice of enshrining sarira differs from the practice of bokjang.

In early bokjang practices in China and Japan, representations of internal organs were installed inside statues of Buddha, in accordance with the belief that enshrining sarira inside a statue of Buddha animates the sculpture. This practice is exemplified by the standing image of Shakyamuni Buddha in Seiryoji Temple (淸凉寺) in Kyoto, Japan (Fig. 17). It is uncertain whether the practice of bokjang prior to the Goryeo Dynasty may have been driven by similar beliefs. But for the most part, the Korean tradition of bokjang, focusing on the use of huryeongtong and the belief in five directions, is more concerned with Buddhist rituals involving the five directions, rather than trying to animate Buddhist statues (Bak Gyeongwon and Jeong Wongyeong 1983, 57).

With the publication of the Josanggyeong Sutra, the practice of bokjang of the Joseon Dynasty differentiated itself from that of the Goryeo Dynasty. The Josanggyeong Sutra described the concept of the five directions in great detail and explained the meaning of the various objects used as bokjangmul. Thus, the ritualistic aspect of bokjang can ostensibly be traced back to the Josanggyeong Sutra. In the Goryeo Dynasty, fewer objects were placed in the obobyeong, and fewer types of objects were used as bokjangmul. Also, the directions were marked by oryunjongja and jinsimjongja, but the sabangju and sabanggyeong were not used. The concept of five directions became much more important in the bokjang practice of the Joseon Dynasty, when five varieties of objects (e.g. grains, medicines, scents, etc.) were placed in the obobyeong, corresponding to the five directions. At the same time, new objects (e.g. vajras, parasols, flags, etc.) appeared, which had not been used in the Goryeo Dynasty.

During the Goryeo Dynasty, the concept of the five directions may not have been clearly expressed inside the huryeongtong, but it was represented by wrapping the huryeongtong in various textiles symbolizing the five directions, including hwangchopokja. The concept of the five directions appears to have been standardized and established as an element of bokjang practice in the sixteenth century, as printed copies of the Josanggyeong Sutra became more widely distributed and available. Hence, in the Joseon Dynasty, the five directions came to be represented inside the huryeongtong, and the directions were simply marked on the hwangchopokja outside the huryeongtong.

However, the bokjang practices of the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties did not develop separately from one another. There are two known documents from the Goryeo Dynasty that list objects that may be used as bokjangmul: the Geoan (擧案) document found inside the statue of Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara (1322), and the Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi document found inside the gilt-bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha in Munsusa Temple (1346). The objects listed in Geoan include palyeopdong, huryeong, lotus pedestal, geumjwaja (金座子, golden stand), seven treasures, five scents, and five medicines. Meanwhile, Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi lists such objects as five scents, five medicines, five treasures, five medicinal herbs, huryeong (喉鈴), five grains, hwangpokja, saridong (舍利同), and palyeopdong (八葉同). Notably, all of the objects for bokjangmul that are described as the contents of obobyeong in the Josanggyeong Sutra (e.g., the seven treasures, five scents, and five medicines) can be found in one of these two lists. Thus, the bokjang practices of both the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties are closely related, particularly since both focus on enshrining obobyeong inside a huryeongtong.

In addition, the Neunggasa Temple version of the Josanggyeong Sutra (1697) includes the terms huryeong palyeoptong eunhap (喉鈴八葉筒銀盒) and huryeong eunhap palyeoptong (喉鈴銀盒八葉筒), corresponding to the earlier terms huryeong and palyeopdong. This would seem to suggest that huryeong and palyeopdong, which were separate items in the Goryeo Dynasty, were integrated in the Joseon Dynasty. Such change is supported by extant examples of bokjang from the two dynasties. Table 2 shows that huryeong, palyeop, tong (筒), and hap (盒), as mentioned in Geoan, Mita bokjang ip mulsaek gi, and the Josanggyeong Sutra, were initially separate items that were eventually merged into a single object known as huryeongtong. In particular, the item huryeong is no longer listed among the objects for bokjang of the Joseon Dynasty, but the Yujeomsa Temple version uses the single word huryeongtong, indicating the merging of items that had occurred by the Joseon Dynasty. Thus far, the earliest known version of the Josanggyeong Sutra is the Yongcheonsa Temple version (1575), but there may have been relevant sutras describing bokjang from the Goryeo Dynasty. Therefore, the differences between the bokjang practices of the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties do not represent a rupture in the tradition, but instead reflect the unique characteristics of Korean Buddhist culture that developed over time based on the sutras.

Conclusion

This paper has examined changes in the tradition of bokjang during the course of the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties, focusing on objects related to the huryeongtong.

In earlier practices from the Goryeo Dynasty, huryeongtong were typically shaped like a covered bowl or bottle, and they had no definitive name. By the Joseon Dynasty, the shape had been standardized as a cylinder with an extended open spout. Furthermore, the palyeop, huryeong, and hap/tong, which had been separate items in the Goryeo Dynasty, were combined into the single object of huryeongtong by the early Joseon period. At the same time, the shape of the obobyeong changed from a pouch to a cylindrical form. Finally, the hwangchopokja, which had been composed of textiles of various colors during the Goryeo Dynasty, was replaced in the Joseon Dynasty by a single piece of yellow cloth marked with the five directions.

It seems that practice of bokjang initially began in Korea as a way to enshrine Buddha’s relics and sutras, but with the publication of the Josanggyeong Sutra, the tradition gradually developed into a practice unique to Korea, incorporating the concepts of five directions and huryeongtong. Despite the numerous changes that took place within the bokjang tradition from the Goryeo to the Joseon period, the core element always remained the huryeongtong, demonstrating that the bokjang practices of the two dynasties were interconnected. Moreover, this congruity suggests that the bokjang practices of the Goryeo Dynasty were performed in accordance with sutras related with the Josanggyeong Sutra that was published in the Joseon Dynasty.