東國大學校 博物館 소장 龜龍寺 水陸會圖 考察

A Study on the Painting of the The Water-Land Retreat[Suryukhoedo] of Guryongsa Temple in the Dongguk University Museum Collection

The Painting of the The Water-Land Retreat[Suryukhoedo] of Guryongsa Temple, currently in the Dongguk University Museum collection, was produced in 1727 by a group of artists led by Chejun, with the prayers and donations of a group of lay people including Gwon Deuk-bo and his wife, and a group of Buddhist monks including Jieom. Although the painting (color on silk, 160.5cm wide and 221.0cm long) is discolored in places and its paint is peeling away, most of its original features have been preserved comparatively well. The painting of Guryongsa Temple displays many of the characteristic elements, including the composition, shared by most of the paintings of the water-land dharma function produced during the Joseon Period, as well as some differences. In the scene of “A Child Starving to Death due to a Lack of Milk”, for instance, the painting includes features that were commonly used before changes occurred in the paintings of the earlier period, in which images focusing on different themes were combined with each other. The painting is also characterized by the repeated use of images depicting creatures in pain and distress, which are rarely seen in the other paintings of the The Water-Land Retreat[Suryukhoedo]. Chejun, the abovementioned leader of the group of monk-artists who produced this painting, is known to have been a member of the Uigyun School, whose members were active around Palgongsan Mountain in Daegu, and whose influence can be seen in the painting’s wood grain pattern and using various pattern. A comparison with the Painting of Three Bodhisattvas, which was produced together with this painting, is expected to provide important knowledge about the historical significance of the Guryongsa painting and other Buddhist paintings produced in the 18th century.