사면불상의 의미 재고 -전 대구 동화사 비로암 삼층석탑 출토 사리장엄을 중심으로- = Reexamination of the Significance of Four-sided Buddha Images-Focusing on Sarira Reliquaries Presumably from the Three-story Stone Pagoda of Biroam Hermitage at Donghwasa Temple in Daegu

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The four gilt-bronze Buddhist plaques currently on display at the Daegu
National Museum and the agalmatolite sarira reliquary owned by the
Dongguk University Museum in Seoul form part of the same sarira reliquary
set enshrined in the Three-story Stone Pagoda of Biroam Hermitage at
Donghwasa Temple in 863, third year of the reign of King Gyeongmun of
Silla, to commemorate King Minae (r. 838-839). The four gilt-bronze plaques
forming the casket surrounding the sarira jar are inscribed with Buddha triads,
respectively featuring the Medicine Buddha holding a medicine case in the
left hand, a Buddha with hands held together, a Buddha with hands in the
bhumisparsa (earth-touching) mudra, and a Buddha wearing a resplendent
crown and hands in the bodhasri (wisdom-fist) mudra, each with an attendant
bodhisattva on either side. According to their iconographic characteristics
and conventional interpretations, the Buddha holding the medicine case
has been identified as the Medicine Buddha of the east, the Buddha making
the bhumisparsa mudra as Sakyamuni of the south, the Buddha with hands
together as the Amitabha of the west, and the Buddha wearing a crown and
making the bodhasri mudra as Vairocana of the north. More specifically,
the Buddha wearing a crown and with hands in the bodhasri mudra has been interpreted as Mahavairocana of Vajradhatu (diamond realm), the
principal icon of esoteric Buddhism. the principal icon of esoteric Buddhism.
Hence these four icons have been considered the major example of the four
Buddhas of the four directions of esoteric Buddhism dating to the Silla period.
In terms of iconographic characteristics, however, they do not correspond
at all to the four Buddhas of the four directions of esoteric Buddhism, which
are featured in the center of the Mandala of the Two Realms (K. Yanggye
mandara) along with the Buddha of the center, comprising the five Buddhas
of the five directions. Therefore, to properly understand their meaning and
characteristics, rather than approaching them from the perspective of esoteric
Buddhist art, they should be placed in the same context as similar examples of
the “four-sided Buddhas,” which represent the four Buddhas on four sides.
Among the four-sided Buddha images of Korea, the largest number are
relief carvings on stone pagodas. The four-sided Buddhas of stone pagodas
are highly varied as if living beings, and there is not a single instance of two
identical image. But they have been found to be naturally connected to each
other according to several rules. First, the axis of time and place exists, so
the Medicine Buddha of the east and Amitabha Buddha of the west form the
horizontal axis of place, while Sakyamuni, the present Buddha, and Maitreya,
the future Buddha, form the vertical axis of time. Considering the funerary
nature of a stone pagoda, where the relics (sarira) of Sakyamuni are enshrined,
in many cases Sakyamuni making the bhumisparsa mudra is carved on the
southern side, which is the front of the pagoda. But the growing popularity
of images of Vairocana making the bodhasri mudra gradually influenced the
composition of the four-sided Buddhas on stone pagodas, and Sakyamuni, who
had occupied the front of the pagoda, eventually gave way to Vairocana.
Around the time Vairocana making the bodhasri mudra began to appear
among the four-sided Buddhas carved in relief on stone pagodas, there
emerged cases of Vairocana images with the same iconography being created
simultaneously in the same worship space. Sudoam Hermitage at Cheongamsa Temple in Gimcheon has a stone pagoda decorated with four Buddhas on
four sides, including a Buddha making the bodhasri mudra. In the same
compound, a stone seated image of Vairocana making the bodhasri mudra
was enshrined as the principal icon of Daejeokgwangjeon Hall. Likewise,
the principal icon of Biroam Hermitage at Donghwasa Temple in Daegu is a
seated statue of Vairocana making the bodhasri mudra, similar to the Buddha
wearing a crown and making the bodhasri mudra found among the four gilt bronze Buddhist plaques from the pagoda at the same hermitage. It is clear
that an attempt was made to differentiate between the two with iconographic
features such as the addition of the crown and variation of the robes. Within
this new order, appropriate iconographic features of esoteric Buddhism were
selected to differentiate the Buddhas because the four-sided Buddhas are
symbolic of the countless Buddhas of all directions throughout the world (K.
sibangjebul, literally “buddhas of the ten directions”). The Buddhas of the
four sides, all different from each other, would have been an effective way
of helping people to contemplate the Buddhas of the ten directions when
circumambulating the pagoda. In the case of the Three-story Stone Pagoda of
Biroam Hermitage at Donghwasa Temple where the four-sided Buddhas are
not carved on the exterior, the inscription on the sarira jar mentions haengdo,
a type of spiritual practice indicating circumambulation of the pagoda. The
purpose of this practice would have been to circle the pagoda while imagining
the four Buddhas protecting the sarira inside the pagoda and thereby attain
the same virtue attained by contemplating the Buddhas of the ten directions.
Originally, the Buddhas of the ten directions described in Mahayana
Buddhism refer to a countless number of Buddhas of infinite variety. As if
reflecting this description, it is not easy to define the characteristics and
meaning of the four-sided Buddhas, which are infinitely varied as if living
beings. They are generally found on the exterior of stone pagodas but are
sometimes hidden on the inside; without a single, defined direction they seem
to be in constant flux and change, which is the inherent nature of the four sided Buddhas as symbols of the Buddhas of the ten directions. This is also why
they cannot be regarded as images of esoteric Buddhist art.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 머리말
• Ⅱ. 전傳 대구 동화사 비로암 삼층석탑 출토 금동판의 4여래
• Ⅲ. 석탑 표면 장식 부조 사면불상
• Ⅳ. 사면불과 시방제불十方諸佛
• Ⅴ. 맺음말