Buddhist Artwork as Political Symbolism: With a Focus on Buddhist Artwork Created in the 920s in Later Paekche

Abstract

This article explores the utilization of Buddhist artwork as political symbolism during the Later Paekche period (892–936). Despite its brief duration, Later Paekche produced diverse styles of Buddhist artwork throughout its reign. After emerging victorious from a battle in 920 that conferred legitimacy upon his claim to the reestablished throne of Paekche, Kyŏn Hwŏn (甄萱, 867–936 CE) created a stone stūpa very similar in appearance to a Paekche-era stūpa. However, after plundering the capital of Silla in 927 and challenging Koryŏ for supremacy, Kyŏn Hwŏn shifted his political goals and proclaimed a new identity as the rightful ruler of a unified Korean peninsula. At that time, all the Later Three Kingdoms of the Korean Peninsula were based on the culture of Silla; thus, after 927, Later Paekche created Buddhist artwork based on the style and technology of Silla as a cultural symbol to unite the Later Three Kingdoms.