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Buddhist paintings: Artworks Filled with Beauty and Hope

from National Museum of Korea: Quarterly Magazine, vol.55

by National Museum of Korea

from National Museum of Korea: Quarterly Magazine, vol.55, page 18

Article from: National Museum of Korea: Quarterly Magazine, vol.55

Experiencing the Past through ...

THEME ESSAY

by YOO SURAN Associate Curator of the Fine Arts Division, National Museum of Korea

Buddhist paintings, called bulhwa, are artworks that portray both Buddhist doctrine and the Buddha’s teachings. Like in Christian religious art, these paintings use a visual medium to convey profound and abstruse principles in a way that is easy for the layperson to understand. The appearance of the Buddha in these scenes as well as the sacred realms depicted draw in the viewers and stimulate their feelings of devotion. Generally, the Korean term bulhwa refers to the paintings that are hung in the Buddha Hall of a Buddhist temple. However, the small paintings that illustrate the Buddhist sutras in condensed form (byeonsangdo), the paintings on the inner and outer walls of the Buddha Hall, the multicolored adornments on the pillars and rafters (dancheong), as well as the artworks used in Buddhist ceremonies all fall into the bulhwa category.

The bulhwa subject matter is diverse. Of course, paintings that convey images of the Buddha (yeoraedo) while preaching are a devotional centerpiece, but this genre also covers paintings with bodhisattvas (bosaldo), arhats (nahando), or Buddha guardian deities (sinjungdo) as the main focus Figs.1 through 3. In addition, paintings that depict important events from stories about the Buddha’s previous incarnations have also been part of the bulhwa tradition from early on.

**Fig.1 Kshitigarbha and the Ten Kings of Hell**

**Fig.3 Shakyamuni Preaching at Vulture Peak**

How far back does the bulhwa tradition go? Buddhism was founded in India, and Jetavana Garden served as the first Buddhist monastery while Shakyamuni was still alive. Murals are said to have adorned the walls of the buildings there, with themes that matched the purpose of specific structures. By the third or second century BCE, bulhwa works were being painted as murals meant for religious glorification. However, several centuries more would pass before the Buddha’s image would appear directly in such artworks. Buddhist texts such as the Diamond Sutra state that forms or voices are illusory and an improper way to pursue the Buddhist faith. On the other hand, the Lotus Sutra, one of the most important of all Buddha’s teachings, tells that one can accumulate merit by “employing pigments to paint Buddha images.” Thus, the devotional act of painting the Buddha’s image stirred controversy for its emphasis on the image of the Buddha rather than focusing on the Buddha himself. Nevertheless, such paintings were perceived to help instill the teachings of the Buddha in the minds of the viewers, suggesting the paintings’ importance devotionally.

On the Korean Peninsula, the production of bulhwa began during the Three Kingdoms Period. The religion made its way onto the peninsula in the fourth century and many temples were subsequently built. The construction was most likely accompanied by the production of bulhwa, but extant paintings from that early period are extremely rare. Murals on Goguryeo tombs and Avatamsaka Sutra Byeonsangdo from Silla offer a glimpse of what those paintings looked like. Buddhism was a state religion in Goryeo 918–1392 and many of the temples constructed in the capital of Gaegyeong (now Gaeseong) were for members of the royal family and nobility to frequent. Numerous Buddhist paintings were also made, centering on those temples. Goryeo bulhwa works became internationally noted for their exquisite gold paint, detailed portrayals, and elaborate patterns. The National Museum of Korea boasts a collection of extant bulhwa pieces from Goryeo, including the Water-moon Avalokiteshvara donated in 2016, that provides a look at the cultural achievements of Goryeo society at its peak, based on the Buddhist tradition Fig.4.

The Joseon Dynasty 1392–1897 generally suppressed Buddhism and promoted Neo-Confucianism, but members of the royal family would commission the production of Buddhist paintings as a form of supplication for salvation in the afterlife. At the same time, the common people grew closer to the religion, giving rise to the development of diverse bulhwa forms Fig.5.

Larger temple halls were built to accommodate the influx of believers, and the functions and uses of these structures diversified, resulting in a greater variety of bulhwa enshrined in these halls. In addition, large-scale Buddhist rites, offerings to bodhisattvas to ferry souls to the Pure Land, were held for the victims of the Imjin War 1592–1598 with Japan, the Manchu invasions, and the widespread famines that accompanied such social upheavals. Thus, from the seventeenth century on, Buddhist hanging scrolls called gwaebul 掛佛 were painted for use at massive outdoor events. The extra-large paintings normally measure 8 or 9 meters tall, some even exceeding 14 meters in height. They are hung from poles in the temple courtyard and inspire feelings among the faithful that the Buddha has descended into their midst. The gwaebul works are characteristically Joseon; large-scale Buddhist paintings are rarely found in China or Japan, where East Asian Buddhist traditions are shared. Joseon’s outdoor Buddhist ceremonies and gwaebul have been handed down from Joseon to the present day Fig.6.

**Fig.6 Buddhist Hanging Scroll at Mihwangsa Temple**

When not in use, the gwaebul paintings are rolled up and kept in a special box inside the Buddha Hall, so ordinary people have little opportunity to see them. Therefore the Buddhist Painting Gallery at the National Museum of Korea has been introducing selected examples of these giant paintings, the essence of Joseon Buddhist art, to the public since 2006. Around 110 Joseon gwaebul are known to survive, and the museum’s sixteenth annual gwaebul exhibition, which opens in April 2021, will feature National Treasure No. 299, Buddhist Hanging Scroll from Sinwonsa Temple Fig.7.

**Fig.7 Buddhist Hanging Scroll from Sinwonsa Temple**

Sinwonsa Temple is situated at the foot of Gyeryongsan Mountain, one of Korea’s most famous mountains, near Gongju in Chungcheongnam-do. The monk painters there completed an 10-meterhigh gwaebul in 1664, over 350 years ago. Large crowds would have assembled to view this colossal hanging scroll, a scene reminiscent of bodhisattvas and celestial beings gathered on Vulture Peak to hear the Buddha preaching. The crowds would have encountered the image of the Buddha basking fully in the radiance of variegated colors as well as hordes of people who have congregated within the Buddha’s glow.

The Buddhist Hanging Scroll from Sinwonsa Temple depicts a full length image of the standing Buddha with a crown gracing his head, beaded necklaces adorning his body, and bodily halo illuminating the entire scene. A green nimbus is cast by the bejeweled crown, which is decked out in bright gems. The honorific name “Perfect Reward Body (Sambhogakaya) of the Rochana Buddha 圓滿報身盧舍那佛 ” is written in gold around the outer edge of the nimbus. Rochana refers to the being obtained through karma after eons of Buddhist practice. Bodhisattvas, who are on the way to Buddhahood are often portrayed wearing beaded necklaces. The Buddha in the Buddhist Hanging Scroll from Sinwonsa Temple is most likely wearing these necklaces to underscore the immeasurable length of time one must spend cultivating his or her heart in order to become a Buddha. Surrounding the Buddha in this painting are the four heavenly kings, who are guardians of the Dharma in the four directions; Ksitigarbha, the bodhisattva who saves all beings from hell; Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva who embodies compassion for all sentient beings; and various disciples who follow the Buddha’s teachings. The true beauty emanating from the Josoenera gwaebul is all the more remarkable when one considers that those paintings were produced to bring together the hearts of the Buddhist faithful at a time when they were faced with economic hardships and government suppression of the religion.

The monks who painted Buddhist artworks in Joseon were both clergy members and artisans, and they worked within a collective production system. These monk painters were well versed in the rituals for making relics and votive objects out of paper and placing them either behind the paintings or inside a special pouch hung over the paintings as well as the eye-dotting rites that consecrated new statues or paintings, thereby imbuing them with spiritual or miraculous power. They turned the spaces where the Buddhist paintings were enshrined into sacred places where the Buddha was incarnated. The beautiful feast of colors and lines arrayed on the massive canvas were made possible by the religious devotion of the faithful who offered prayers and the artists who produced the works.

So, what is the best way to look at these Buddhist paintings, which are both sacred articles and artworks filled with beauty through the selective application of colors? Such works function as objects of worship and serve as cultural products that reflect the characteristics of their respective time periods. Thus, they are important cultural heritage for both religious and cultural reasons, but their artistic value has remained constant to the present day. Rather than viewing these works from how people saw them long time ago or from how the religious faithful felt back then, why not, from the modern perspective, appreciating the beauty they express and trying to understand the intentions of those who worked so hard to bring them about? Contemporary artistry and the desire of the faithful to be with the Buddha are evident in the Buddhist paintings from Goryeo, with their exquisite and detailed expressions of beauty, and from Joseon, which strove to simulate the Buddha’s descent into the human realm. You are cordially invited to visit the Buddhist Painting Gallery at the National Museum of Korea, where you can witness for yourself the beauty and vividness of diverse examples of religious painting possess.

The schedule (April 28–September 26, 2021) for the exhibition of The Buddha Illuminates the World: Buddhist Hanging Scroll from Sinwonsa Temple could change, depending on the COVID-19 situation.

This article is from:

National Museum of Korea: Quarterly Magazine, vol.55

by National Museum of Korea