The origin of Buddhist paintings can be divided into before and after A.D. 2. It could be found that the Buddhist paintings before A.D. 2 were manufactured by having edifying contents, including for example, Painting of Buddhist texts, jātaka(story a...
The origin of Buddhist paintings can be divided into before and after A.D. 2. It could be found that the Buddhist paintings before A.D. 2 were manufactured by having edifying contents, including for example, Painting of Buddhist texts, jātaka(story about the past life of Buddha), and Painting of Yaksa that were drawn in Jetavana, i.e. the first temple of India when Buddha was alive and also manufactured for vyuha and that the Buddhist paintings after A.D. 2 were created for worship simultaneously with the manufacturing of Buddhist statues.
Ceiling wall paintings in the Bamiyan Stone Cave, Afghanistan, murals in the stone cave of Xinjiang Province, China, and murals in the Mogao Caves of Tunhuang, which were introduced to China by way of the western regions are precious remains showing the transition history of Buddhist paintings in each period. In our case, there were Buddhist paintings drawn by Solgeo and Damjing during the period of the three Kingdoms, which suggests that Buddhist paintings were created simultaneously with the acceptance of Buddhism during the period of the Three Kingdoms.
The Buddhist paintings from the Chosun Dynasty have timely importance in the history of Korean paintings, and in the Buddhist temple during the periods of Yeongjo and Jeongjo, various kinds of Buddha, Buddhist saints, and Sinjungdan (platform for serving the god of good will) were enshrined in the platform and a group of mothers of Buddha were formed.
Painting of the Vulture Peak Assembly inherited from the icon indicating the meeting where Śākyamuni preached 『The Sutra of the Lotus』 in Yeongchwisan Mountain, India. It is a representative icon of Buddhist paintings for worship. In this paper, Hanging Scroll in the Eungjindang Hall, Songgwangsa Temple created by monk Uigyeom who was worshipped as the best mother of Buddha(佛母) in Chosun Dynasty was made in a circular size (144.5×166.5) and the peeled-off part was drawn anew and modified as I intended.
The work procedure can be briefly summarized as follows.
First, the master artisan replicated the overall composition of the original Hanging Scroll to protect the original shape or color.
Second, parallel composition with a simple form of ‘the Painting of Five Buddhist Saints’ and UIgyeom’s original drawing lines have power, softness, and elasticity and names of Buddha and Buddhist saints are manly and imposing.
Third, this paper aimed to make a description focusing on baejeop(attaching), but the description was based on the findings that I discovered while creating Buddhist paintings 35 years ago because there were few researches and papers on grafting and so it was difficult to compare and analyze.
Fourth, baejeop can be divided into jaengtl(frame) baejeop and Ondol baejeop. Jaengtl baejeop means the process of attaching background paper to the jaengtl, applying glue and alum, drying it, and underdrawing and attaching, whereas Ondol baejeop is an attaching method done by his teacher, monk Seokjeong, indicating baejeop that is done by weaving a board on the lumber, that is, the process of flipping the original paper, attaching the backing paper on it, drying it, flipping it again, attaching the background paper, and applying glue and alum.
Fifth, the flour used for baejeop should be fermented for about 2~3 years and the background paper should be cleaned in the traditional way to remove impurities in the weaving process, dried, and ironed before use.
Sixth, painting is conducted with Seokchae in order of first coating, second coating, shading off, patterning, gihwa(drawing an outer circumference line), sibun(drawing an inner circumference line), hwangseon, geumseon, and painting and the coloring ends with an eye-opening ceremony. It is later enshrined into the platform as an object of worship by holding a Buddhist ceremony of drawing eyes.
This paper tried to understand the world of artworks created by monk Uigyeom in making Hanging Scroll in Eungjindang Hall, Songgwang Temple. The Buddhist paintings inherited from the epoch of the three Kingdoms have changed with the times and the Buddhist paintings wanted by people prevailed. During the Japanese occupation, the Buddhist paintings regressed and the terms used together discontinued, but later many mothers of Buddha were trying to revive the tradition.
The legacy of Buddhist paintings has been carried from Geumho Yakhyo (1846~1928), my teacher Haebong Seokjeong (1928~2012), even to me. It is hoped that the Buddhist paintings as required by this time can be created.