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KOREAN KANHWA SŎN BUDDHISM -- SPECIAL REPORT
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Top Menu
Introduction
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Architecture
25 Photos
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Creatures
42 Photos
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Deities
59 Photos
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Doors
13 Photos
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Paintings
64 Photos
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People
32 Photos
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Votive Icons
 21 Photos
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Also See
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Korean Influence on Early Japanese Buddhism. Not a systematic study, but rather a "sketch" of the key contributions of Korean monks, artisans, and specialists to early Japanese Buddhist doctrine, art, and architecture. 30 Photos.
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VOTIVE ICONS & STONES IN KOREA. In all Buddhist nations, the replication (the copying) of icons is thought to accrue great merit not only for oneself but also for ones ancestors. Indeed, at the very heart of Buddhism is the "duplicating impulse." Says Daniel J. Boorstin in The Discovers: "Just as the faithful themselves were to become replications of the Buddha, so too the devout Buddhist attained 'merit' by multiplying images of Buddha and of the sacred texts. Buddhist monks carved images in stone and then took rubbings from them, they made seals, they tried stencils on paper, on silk, and on plastered walls. They made small wooden stamps with handles from which they made primitive woodcuts. In Japan commercial publishing grew out of temple publishing." <end quote> Even today devotees in Korea and Japan purchase countless votive stamps, statues, lanterns, talismans, indeed all manner of votive objects, to build merit and erase bad karma. Piling stones into the shape of a pagoda or simply placing a rock atop a statue or graveyard memorial is another form of widespread votive worship (see details below).
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PHOTO CREDITS. All photos by Mark Schumacher (unless stated otherwise). Taken during a conference, meditation retreat, and tour related to Kanhwa Sŏn 看話禪 and Hwadu 話頭 meditative techniques (the Korean counterpart of Zen Kōan meditation). The event took place in Korea between June 23 and July 3, 2012. It was organized by the Center for the Study of the Chogye Order (Chonghak Yŏn'guwŏn) at Dongguk University. Participants included advanced graduate students, professors, and independent scholars in Korean Religions and Buddhist Studies. The retreat was held at Magoksa Temple, a few hours south of Seoul. If you would like to submit your own photo(s) for inclusion here (with credits to you), please contact me. If you have a Facebook account, you can also post your photos at the Korea Kanhwa Sŏn Facebook Group Page.
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Votive Lanterns and Lights
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Decorative votive lanterns, electric lamps, and all manner of talismans and votive objects are sold by the temples as a way to make money and to respond to a widespread demand for such religious goods among the populace. The photos at right depict votive lanterns sold at Dongguk University (Seoul). They were installed for the celebration of the Buddha's birthday in late May, but left hanging well into late June (when we attended the two-day conference). The laterns depict the Buddha following his birth. Like Mary's immaculate conception of Jesus Christ, the birth of the Historical Buddha was not ordinary. According to legend, the Buddha's mother (Lady Māyā, aka Mahāmāyā or Māyādevī) dreamt of a divine being atop a white elephant descending from heaven, touching her side, and entering her womb. The elephant imagery indicates that her child came from the pure land known as Tuṣita, home of Bodhisattva Maitreya (Jp. = Miroku). The child was born near Kapilavatthu (in current-day Nepal), emerging from his mother's side, which emitted a seven-colored light that brought forth the infant, who then took seven steps forward while pointing his right hand to the heavens and left hand to earth (see image here), saying: "I alone am honored in heaven and on earth (tenjō tenga yuiga dokuson 天上天下唯我独尊)." Statues depicting the infant in this pose are used in the Kanbutsu-e 潅仏会 ceremony, held annually throughout Asia to commemorate Buddha's birthday.
Votive lanterns are typically hung inside Korean temples (the devotee does not take the lantern home). In Japan, such votive objects are burned each year in a bonfire around New Year time. I do not know how Korean Buddhist temples deal with old votive lanterns and other votive objects.
LEARN MORE: Buddha's Birthday Image || Kanbutsu-e・Tanjōbutsu |
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Votive Icons for Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva
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Kṣitigarbha (C = Dìzàng 地蔵, K = Jijang 지장, J = Jizō) works to ease the suffering and shorten the sentence of those serving time in hell, to deliver the faithful into Amida's western paradise (where inhabitants are no longer trapped in the six states of desire and karmic rebirth), and to answer the prayers of the living for health, success, children, and all manner of mundane petitions. More popular in Japan than in China or Korea, but the many images I saw of Kṣitigarbh during this trip suggest that his cult is quite strong in Korea. Kṣitigarbha came to prominence in 7th-to-9th century China, then spread to Korea and Japan. From the beginning, he was associated with souls suffering in the underworld, thus his imagery in Korea and Japan is also closely associated with the afterlife. Yet, in Japan, Kṣitigarbha (J = Jizō) was conflated-integrated with local kami cults and is perhaps today one of Japan's most beloved deities. In modern Japan, Jizō is popularly venerated as the guardian of unborn, aborted, miscarried, and stillborn babies (Mizuko Jizō). These roles were not assigned to Jizō in earlier Buddhist traditions from mainland Asia; they are instead modern adaptations unique to Japan. At the same time, Jizō serves his/her customary and traditional roles as patron saint of expectant mothers, women in labor, children, firemen, travelers, pilgrims, and the protector of all beings caught in the six realms of transmigration. In the photo at right, the icons are dedicated to Kṣitigarbha as the deity of children.
LEARN: Jizō (A-to-Z) || Jizō Rocks (Green Shinto) || Face of Jizō |
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Votive Stones for Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva
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Piling stones into the shape of a pagoda, or stacking them together in no shape whatsoever, or simply placing a rock atop a statue or graveyard memorial is one form of widespread votive worship. In Japan, offering stones as prayers is an ancient custom, but the folk practice of offering stones for lost children emerged later, around the 14th and 15th centuries. In some cases, gravestones or religious icons in Japan are literally covered in stones -- a tradition intimately associated with Amida Pure Land faith and Jizō Bosatsu (C = Dìzàng 地蔵, K = Jijang 지장, S = Kṣitigarbha), for Jizō acts as the savior of all sentient beings in "transitional" states. In the Jewish faith, stones are also used as prayers for deceased souls. In Korea, however, Professor Robert Buswell (UCLA) told me that the Korean "custom" of piling stones is "very new," something that has occurred only in the past two decades.
LEARN MORE: Jizō (A-to-Z) || Sai no Kawara Legend || Jizō Rocks (Green Shinto) || Face of Jizō |
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1000 Statues of Kṣitigarbha 千躰地蔵
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1000 Kṣitigarbha 千躰地蔵 (Jp. = Sentai Jizō). At many location in Korea and Japan, one will find hundreds of tiny images surrounding Kṣitigarbha. These tiny votice images are purchased by devotees and then installed in a niche behind the main Kṣitigarbha statue. The term "1000" is perhaps misleading, for any large grouping of such statues around a Kṣitigarbha image is given this name. The idea is simple. To increase the deity's effectiveness, tiny statues of the deity are grouped together in large numbers around the central image. This no doubt reflects the pronounced "duplicating impulse" of Buddhist devotees, who believe that the replication (the copying) of icons and sutras is thought to accrue great merit not only for themselves but also for their ancestors.
LEARN MORE: Sentai Jizō (A-to-Z Dictionary) |
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