Bukenqu Guanyin at Mount Putuo, China and the Avalokiteśvara Statues from Mid-Goryeo - Tracing the Origin of the Wooden Avalokiteśvara Statues at Bongjeong and Bogwang Temples -

Abstract

This paper examines the legend of so-called “Bukenqu Guanyin” (不肯去觀音, Guanyin who does not want to leave) at Mount Putuo (普陀山) in China and proposes it as the source of origin of the two Avalokiteśvara statues enshrined at Bongjeongsa (鳳停寺) and Bogwangsa (普光寺) at Andong in Korea. A miraculous statue which was allegedly expressed its will to stay at Mount Putuo in the mid-ninth century, Bukenqu Guanyin has been related to a Japanese Buddhist monk Egaku (慧顎), who is described in a series of literary sources written after the 13th century, such as Baoqing Siming zhi (寶慶四明志, 1227) and Putuo luojia shanzhuan (普陀洛伽山傳, 1361), as the person who founded Mount Putuo as the sacred place of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. In addition, a wooden statue now enshrined at Sennyuji 泉涌寺 in Kyoto (made in Southern Song China and brought to Kamakura Japan in ca. 1230) has been regarded as the oldest extant example which was made after the Bukenqu Guanyin. This paper, however, illuminates the role of Silla and Goryeo in establishing the cult of Bukenqu Guanyin at Mount Putuo, based on the 12thcentury records, such as Xuanhe fengshi Gaoli tujing (宣和奉使高麗圖經, 1124) and Mozhuang manlu (墨莊漫錄, first-half of the 12th century). The literary sources inform us that the Bukenqui Guanyin served as the focus of prayer to the Northern Song envoys and Goryeo merchants who travelled between China and Korean peninsula via sea. Based on the evidence, I argue that the Bukenqu Guanyin was already known in Goryeo as late as the 12th century and that the statues at Bongjeongsa and Bogwangsa, which were made in 1199 and late 12th century respectively, are likely to have been made based on the knowledge and the cult of the Bukenqu Guanyin at Mount Putuo.