일제강점기 기록으로 보는 成佛寺 鐵造菩薩坐像 연구

Abstract

Iron Buddhist sculptures were widely produced at local Buddhist temples in Korea from the late Unified Silla through the early Goryeo periods. Most iron Buddhist sculptures produced at this time are identified as seated Buddhas. For a comprehensive study of Korean iron Buddhist sculptures, those located in North Korea should be analyzed, but little research on them has been conducted in past decades due to the division of the Korean Peninsula. Fortunately, the findings and publications of recent studies, including Buddhist Art of North Korea: Documentation in Gelatin Dry Plates published in 2014 by the National Museum of Korea, have introduced iron Buddhist sculptures such as the previously-known Iron Seated Buddha that is believed to have belonged to Jeokjosa Temple in Kaesong, the Iron Seated Buddha from Jangjwa-ri, Jangdan, and the Iron Seated Bodhisattva at Seongbulsa Temple in Hwangju.<BR> This paper discusses seven iron Buddhist sculptures, including the three mentioned above, which existed in what is now North Korea during the Japanese colonial era. It draws upon archival materials such as documents from the Japanese Government-General of Korea in the collection of the National Museum of Korea. Gelatin dry plate photographs in the museum collection reveal that an Iron Seated Bodhisattva sculpture, something rarely found in Korea, was enshrined at Seongbulsa Temple. Moreover, according to the Referential Report for Designation of Treasures, Historic Remains, Scenic Spots, and Natural Monuments in Each Province from 1935, the governor of Hwanghae-do Province inquired into the designation of “Doseon Iron Buddhist Sculpture” (道詵鐵佛) as a treasure. This sculpture refers to an Iron Seated Bodhisattva at Seongbulsa Temple. An examination of the stylistic characteristics of this Iron Seated Bodhisattva sculpture depicted in the gelatin dry plate photographs indicates that it is presumed to have been produced around the tenth century during the early Goryeo period when Buddhist sculptures still displayed stylistic characteristics from the Unified Silla Kingdom. This Iron Bodhisattva’s direct relevance to Doseon has not been clarified. However, given its material (iron) and its location near geopolitically strategic Jeongbangsanseong Fortress, the Iron Seated Bodhisattva appears to have been commissioned in an effort to protect the country.<BR> The significance of this paper lies in shedding light on the value of the Iron Seated Bodhisattva at Seongbulsa Temple by jointly analyzing its gelatin dry plate photographs and the contents of survey records from the time, which have formerly been reviewed separately.