1388년명 은제아미타여래삼존좌상 발원문의 검토와 의의 = Review and Significance about Record of Silver Amitabha Triad Buddha Statue in 1383 inscription

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

A silver coated Amitabha Triad Buddha statue in 1388 inscription has Goddess of Mercy (Avalokitesvara) on the left and Ksitigarbha on the right. All 7 items including the Buddha statue, silver guard rail, bronze case and silver case with holder were found.
Material of Buddha statue and main pedestal was silver alloy and that of mandorla was pure copper to differentiate from each other.
The sacred objects (腹藏物, bokjangmul) were contained inside of each Buddha statue. Among them, record (發願文) written on Korean paper sized 33.9X35.0 cm was especially discovered inside of the Goddess of Mercy statue. The record contained original sentences describing wishes which start with record accompanying great monk (大德同發願文), listing of around 500 names, and 15 April King Hongmu 16 (洪武十六年四月十五日) as finishing word. By the record, it was unveiled that the Buddhist rituals were served by monks and the statues were manufactured in 1383. In the original sentence, over 500 names of highly ranked and virtuous monks and ordinary people (believers stationed at home) were clearly written randomly without their titles or belonging classes, which is a distinctive feature compared to other records. This listing style of donators seemed to imply equality of all people in front of Buddha. Among donators, more than half of the members were monks, and in the ordinary believers familiar name like Lee, Seonggye was noticed.
Many people listed in the record were compared to the people attended in various Buddhist rituals in Anshimsa temple at Mt. Myohyang, Shinruksa temple or Taegosa temple shown in the literature of 14th century in the end-Goryeo dynasty. These rituals brought attentions because of the event of cherishing memory after death of famous monks of Zigong, Seongak named Naong, Wonzung named Bowooseonsa. The event coincided with the Buddhist ritual for monk Naong. Due to the sudden death of monk Naong, cherishing his death occurred nation wide, and consecutive Buddhist rituals which accompanied enshrining a bit of Śarīra (舍利, monk's bone after burnt dead body) were held all over the nation.
In 1383, year of manufacturing Buddha statue, stone bells housing Śarīra of monks Zigong and Naong were built in Anshimsa temple, and various articles left by the dead monk Naong were displayed in Bohyeonsa temple.
Because the Buddha statue was a small sized golden statue, it has low possibility to be enshrined in the temple. It was very popular in the 14th century to enshrine Buddha statue in the rock wall of high mountains, which was the influence of faith in favor of Mt. Gumgang. In reality, small sized golden statues were occasionary unearthed in the area of Mt. Gumgang, Mt. Myohyang and Mt. Gaya. By observing bronze case and railing unearthed together, the Buddha statue had highly possibility to be enshrined in the mountain, especially in the area of Mt. Gumgang or Mt. Myohyang. Really, Mt. Gumgang and Mt. Myohang were the location of enshrinement of funerary stupa and Śarīra of monk Naong. Especially, Mt. Myohyang was related with area of monk Naong's missionary activity, and actual Buddha statue was unearthed at Bubwangbong, Mt. Myohyang.