석굴암 팔부중상(八部衆像) 연구 ―양식 분석에 의한 조성 시기 재고(再考) = A Study of the Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto: A Reconsideration of the Construction Period through Stylistic Analysis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto are the oldest examples of divine statues in Korea. They are the only statues from which we can imagine the appearance of those divines, who constituted a Buddhist pantheon according to the rank in the temple hall. However, due to the stylistic complexity and the iconographical ambiguity, only various conjectures have been raised despite their importance. Papers on the Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto published since 2000 are active attempts to overcome this situation, providing various perspectives on the investigation of the character of the antechamber (mandapa) space as well as the iconography and style, and the research on the original form. In this study, I analyzed the iconography and style in more detail with the results of recent surveys, and based on this, attempted a new hypothesis about the construction period of the Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto.
Among the Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto, the statues that are iconographically clear are Nāga, Gandharva, Asura, Yakṣa and Garura. The image of the Nāga is iconographically clear due to the dragon above the head. But the Nāga’s costume of China’s Northern and Southern Dynasties and the shape of the hand are awkward. This may be the result of the copying and transference of an original painting that came in a long time ago.
The Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto are classified into three groups. The first group consists of Nāga (No. 1), Gandharva (No. 2), and Yakṣa (No. 6), which are characterized by elegant and realistic expressions. They are similar in size, around 220cm, and the size and shape of the rock altars are also almost the same. Vertical cross-section silhouettes of similar thickness and inclination or arc-shaped silhouettes of horizontal cross-section bodies can be judged to be statues created together at the same time in the same manner.
The image belonging to the second group is No. 5, which is schematic and rigid, but is close to the first group in terms of volume and thickness of relief. The foreshortened representation of the left hand does not match the schematic style of the statue. It is assumed that the original statue was copied and replaced. The third group, which show a more rigid aspect, Asura (No. 4), No. 7, and Garura (No. 8) have been replaced too. However, the lower body of the Asura statue, which was awkwardly repaired in modern times, belongs to the first group, and seems to be the remaining part of the original statue before being replaced. It is possible that such continuous replacement resulted from the difference in the quality of granite stone used at the time of the first construction.
It is supposed that the original set of the Eight Legions of Seokguram Grotto was created at the end of the 8th century. Compared to the statue of the Four Heavenly Kings belonging to the same guardian deities, the difference is remarkable. The foreshortened hand of the No. 5 statue is a unique sculptural expression that appears in the guardian statues of the Unified Silla of the 8th century. In addition, the Seokguram-style stone piece excavated in the Seokgatap pagoda and the head of Vajrapani in the Gyeongju National Museum of Korea are the data suggesting the possibility that the Seokguram Grotto may have been modified after its initial completion.