Monk-sculptor Schools and the Problem of Ghost-producing in the Late Joseon

Abstract

In the late Joseon period, Buddhist sculptures were produced in the workshops of monksculptor schools. There was a main monk-sculptor, the head of the school, and assistant monksculptors who each had different roles in the process of finishing a work. The schools were mostly exclusive to outsiders, rigidly organized from the main sculptor at the top to the most minor monk at the bottom of the ranks. This system of monk-sculptor schools functioned with two purposes; education and production of sculptures. A cooperation between main sculptors of different schools were rare unless it was necessary for Buddhist works of larger scale, for example, works commissioned by the government. In the monk-sculptor schools of the late Joseon, ghost-producing appear in two cases. The first, more minor sculptors may work under the name of the head sculptor, and in the second, a head sculptor originally from another school may use the assistance of minor sculptors of the school. The first case appears when a head sculptor is unable to direct production because of either old age or other problems, and the second sculptor-in-line takes the command. The head sculptor would still be in charge on paper, but the style of the work will already reflect the influence of others, signaling a passing of generation. The second case is witnessed when a monk-sculptor who had worked independently, employed minor monk-sculptors from other schools to work with him. The style of assistant monks will be apparent more than that of the head sculptor, and the resulting work will appear to be the work from the school of the assistants, not the nominal head sculptor. Ghost-producing was not widespread but an occasional occurrence that arose in the system of monk-sculptor schools. The examples are distinctive cases among many different ways of making Buddhist sculptures in the late Joseon, and an aspect of how the styles of sculpture schools were passed down.