Did Depictions of Sukhāvatī Exist in Indian Buddhism?: An Examination in Light of the Visuality of Sukhāvatī and Chinese Examples

Rhi, Juhyung

doi:10.29213/crbs..26.201910.9

The question of whether the Amitābha cult ever existed in Indian Buddhism, or in what form it did so, has long remained a mystery for the specialists of Indian Buddhism. Due to the extreme dearth of explicit or tangible evidence, a number of specialists have made efforts to find depictions of Amitābha or Sukhāvatī in visual images. From early on they sought to specifically identify such examples in the region of Gandhāra, which has long been considered to be the origin of major texts of the Amitābha cult. This study attempts to explore whether the so-called Gandhāran examples can be identified as such, by examining the following two problems. First, the fact that depictions of Sukhāvatīgreatly flourished in East Asia prompted many scholars to believe that the visuality of Sukhāvatī presented in the Sukhāvatīvyūha texts was special enough to easily generate its visual depictions. However, a careful examination of textual accounts reveals that this was not necessarily the case. Most of the visual features of Sukhāvatī are also commonly found in descriptions of other paradisiacal places in Indian religious tradition, and there is nothing original or specific in the descriptions of Sukhāvatī. Second, though remarkable affinities may be observed between East Asian depictions of Sukhāvatī and the so-called Gandhāran parallels, the former seems more likely to have been the original creation as an iconographic type by Chinese Buddhists rather than the adoption of the earlier Gandhāran type along with its associated Indian identity. Therefore, the affinities of the so-called Gandhāran examples do not support allegations that they are also the depictions of Sukhāvatī. By focusing on these two problems, this study attempts to assess the extent and nature of the existence of the Amitābha cult in early Indian Buddhism.

Citation status

KCI Citation Counts (0)
REFERENCES (72)
열림/닫힘 버튼
* 2021년 이후 발행 논문의 참고문헌은 현재 구축 중입니다.

[book] T. W. Rhys Davids / 1911 / The Dīgha Nikāya / Pali Text Society

[book] 敦煌文物硏究所 / 1987 / 中國石窟敦煌莫高窟全5卷 / 文物出版社

[book] 天水麦积山石窟藝術硏究所 / 1998 / 中國石窟天水麦积山 / 文物出版社

[book] 甘肃省文物工作队炳靈寺文物保管所 / 1989 / 中國石窟永靖炳靈寺 / 文物出版社

[journal] 김혜원 / 2003 / Purifying Conducts and Purified Lands -Two Types of Pure Land Images in Chengdu Buddhist Art- / 미술사연구 / 미술사연구회 (17) : 3~29

[journal] 이주형 / 2011 / Does Iconography Really Matter? :The Iconographic Specification of Buddha Images in Pre-Esoteric Buddhist Art / 미술사와 시각문화 / 미술사와 시각문화학회 (10) : 220~263

[journal] 최선아 / 2004 / Seated Buddha Images with Dharmacakra-mudra from the 7th-8th Centuries in East Asia / 미술사학연구 / 한국미술사학회 (244) : 33~63

[book] 劉志遠(류지위안) / 1958 / 成都万佛寺石刻藝術 / 中國古典藝術出版社

[book] 李其瓊(리치츙) / 1984 / 中國石窟敦煌莫高窟 2 / 文物出版社 : 161~170

[journal] 岩松浅夫(이와마쓰 야스오) / 1994 / ガンダ–ラ彫刻の阿彌陀佛 / 東洋文化硏究所紀要 23 : 209~246

[journal] 岡田健(오카다 켄) / 2000 / 初唐期の轉法輪印阿彌陀圖像についての硏究 / 美術硏究 373 : 159~205

[journal] 源豊宗(미나모토 토요무네) / 1926 / 淨土變の形式 / 佛敎美術 7 : 60~73

[book] 香川孝雄(카가와 타카오) / 1984 / 無量壽經の諸本對照硏究 / 永田文昌堂

[book] 香川孝雄(카가와 타카오) / 1993 / 淨土敎の成立史的硏究 / 山喜房佛書林

[journal] 勝木言一郞(카쓰키 겐이치로) / 1992 / 敦煌莫高窟第220窟阿彌陀淨土變相圖考 / 佛敎藝術 202 : 67~92

[journal] 勝木言一郞(카쓰키 겐이치로) / 1994 / 中國における阿彌陀三尊五十菩薩圖の圖像について : 臥龍山千佛巖の作例紹介とその意義 / 佛敎藝術 214 : 61~73

[journal] 勝木言一郞(카쓰키 겐이치로) / 1996 / 小南海石窟中窟の三佛造像と九品往生圖淨彫に關する一考察 / 美術史 139 : 68~86

[journal] 河原由雄(카와하라 요시오) / 1968 / 敦煌淨土變相の成立と展開 / 佛敎藝術 68 : 85~107

[journal] 久野美樹(쿠노 타케시) / 1989 / 造像背景としての生天, 託生西方願望 : 中國南北朝期を中心として / 佛敎藝術 187 : 25~59

[journal] 肖越(샤오웨) / 2013 / 『大阿彌陀經』の本願文における｢女人｣と｢淫泆之心｣─本願文の成立を中心に / 印度學佛敎學硏究 61(1) : 987~990 / :987─990.

[book] / 1968 / 金堂壁畵再現記念法隆寺展 / 朝日新聞社

[book] 東京國立博物館 / 2000 / 中國國寶展 / 朝日新聞社

[journal] 塚本啓祥(쓰카모토 케이쇼) / 1979 / 蓮華生と蓮華座 / 印度學佛敎學硏究 28(1) : 1~9

[book] 塚本啓祥(쓰카모토 케이쇼) / 2003 / インド佛敎碑銘の硏究全3卷 / 平樂寺書店

[journal] 鄧健吾(토 켄고) / 1980 / 敦煌莫高窟第220窟試論 / 佛敎藝術 133 : 11~33

[book] 內藤藤一郞(나이토 후지이치로) / 1931 / 法隆寺壁畵の硏究 / 東京美術硏究會大阪支部

[journal] 中村元(나카무라 하지메) / 1963 / 極樂淨土の觀念のインド學的解明とチベト的變容 / 印度學佛敎學硏究 11(2) : 509~531 / :509─531.

[journal] 樋口隆康(히구치 타카야스) / 1950 / 阿彌陀三尊佛の源流 / 佛敎藝術 7 : 108~113

[journal] 肥田路美(히다 로미) / 1997 / 法隆寺金堂壁畵に畵かれた山岳景の意義 / 佛敎藝術 230 : 91~114

[book] 藤田宏達(후지타 코타쓰) / 1970 / 原始淨土思想の硏究 / 岩波書店

[book] 藤田宏達(후지타 코타쓰) / 2007 / 淨土三部經の硏究 / 岩波書店

[book] 望月信亨(모치즈키 신코) / 1977 / 淨土敎の起源及び發達 / 山喜房佛書林

[book] 松原三郞(마쓰바라 사부로) / 1995 / 中國佛敎彫刻史論 / 吉川弘文館

[book] 松本文三郞(마쓰모토 분자부로) / 2006 / 彌勒淨土論極樂淨土論 / 平凡社 : 211~364

[journal] 吉村怜(요시무라 레이) / 1985 / 南朝の法華經普門品變相 : 劉宋元嘉二年銘石刻畵像の內容 / 佛敎藝術 162 : 11~27

[book] Anālayo / 2008 / Encyclopaedia of Buddhism / Government of Ceylon : 460~461

[book] Ashikaga, Atuuji / 1965 / Sukhāvatīvyūha / Librairie Hōzōkan

[book] Bagchi, S. / 1967 / Suvarṇaprabhāṣasūtra. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, no. 8 / The Mithila Institute of Post-graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning

[journal] Bhattacharya, Ramkrishna / 2000 / Uttarakuru: the (E)utopia of Ancient India / Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 81(1/4) : 191~201 / /4:191─201.

[journal] Brough, John / 1982 / Amitābha and Avalokiteśvara in an Inscribed Gandhāran Sculpture / Indologica Taurinensia 10 : 65~70

[book] Elisseeff, Vadime / 1985 / Art of Japan / Harry N. Abrams Inc

[book] Gómez, Luis O. / 1996 / The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light / University of Hawai‘i Press and Higashi Honganji Shinshū Ōtaniha

[journal] Harrison, Paul / 1998 / Women in the Pure Land: Some Reflections on the Textual Sources / Journal of Indian Philosophy 26(6) : 553~572

[confproc] Harrison, Paul / 1999 / On the Authorship of the Oldest Chinese Translation of the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra / Paper given at the conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies

[confproc] Harrison, Paul / 2012 / New Light on (and from) the Muhammad Nari Stele / 2011年度第一回國際シンポシウム proceeding: 淨土敎に關する特別國際シンポシウム / Ryukoku University Research Center for Buddhist Cultures in Asia : 69~194

[book] Howard, Angela Falco / 1986 / The Imagery of the Cosmological Buddha / E.J. Brill

[journal] Huntington, John C. / 1980 / A Gandhāran image of Amitāyus’s Sukhāvatī / Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 40(30) : 652~672 / ):652─672.

[book] Huntington, Susan L. / 1985 / The Art of Ancient India / Weatherhill

[book] Lefeber, Rosalind / 2016 / The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India, vol. IV:Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa / Princeton University Press

[journal] Lincoln, Bruce / 1983 / ‘The Earth Becomes Flat’─ A Study of Apocalyptic Imagery / Comparative Studies in Society and History 25 : 136~153 / ─153.

[journal] Karashima, Seishi / 2017 / On Avalokitasvara and Avalokiteśvara / Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University (for the Academic Year 2016) 20 : 139~165

[journal] Karetzky, Patricia Eichenbaum / 1997 / The Evolution of the Symbolism of the Paradise of the Buddha of Infinite Life and Its Western Origin / Sino-Platonic Papers 76

[book] Kirfel, W. / 1920 / Die Kosmographie der Inder nach den Quellen dargestellt / Kurt Schroeder

[book] Majumdar, N. G. / 1940 / The Monuments of Sāñchī, 1 / Probsthian : 261~396

[book] Muir, J. / 1871 / Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the Peoples of India / Trübner & Co

[journal] Müller, F. Max / 1880 / On Sanskrit Texts Discovered in Japan / Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 12(2) : 153~188 / :153─188.

[journal] Nattier, Jan / 2000 / The Realm of Akṣobhya: A Missing Piece in the History of Pure Land Buddhism / Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 23(1) : 71~102 / :71─102.

[journal] Nattier, Jan / 2003 / The Indian Roots of Pure Land Buddhism: Insights from the Oldest Chinese Versions of the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha / Pacific World 3(5) : 179~201 / :179-201.

[book] Nattier, Jan / 2008 / A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations / The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University

[journal] Quagliotti, Anna Maria / 1996 / Another Look at the Mohammed Nari Stele with the Socalled ‘Miracle of Śrāvastī / Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 56(2) : 274~289 / :274─289.

[thesis] Rhi, Juhyung. / 1991 / Gandhāran Images of the ‘ŚrāvastīMiracle’: An Iconographic Reassessment / Ph.D. / University of California

[journal] Rhi, Juhyung / 2003 / Early Mahāyāna and Gandhāran Buddhism: An Assessment of the Visual Evidence / The Eastern Buddhist 35(1/2) : 152~202 / /2:152─202.

[book] Rhi, Juhyung / 2013 / Art of Merit: Studies in Buddhist Art and Its Conservation / Archetype Publications : 1~26

[book] Rhi, Juhyung / 2018 / Setting Out on the Great Way: Essays on Early Mahāyāna Buddhism / Equinox : 243~274

[book] Rhys Davids, T. W. / 1921 / Dialogues of the Buddha. 3 parts / H. Frowde, Oxford University Press

[journal] Salomon, Richard / 2002 / On an Alleged Reference to Amitābha in a KharoṣṭhīInscription on a Gandhāran Relief / Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 25(1/2) : 3~32 / /2:3─32.

[journal] Schopen, Gregory / 1977 / Sukhāvatīas a Generalized Religious Goal in Sanskrit Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature / Indo-Iranian Journal 19(3/4) : 177~210 / /4:177─210.

[journal] Schopen, Gregory / 1987 / The Inscriptions on the Kuṣān Image of Amitābha and the Character of the Early Mahāyāna in India / Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 10(2) : 99~134 / :99─134.

[book] Shastri, H. P. / 1976 / The Ramayana of Valmiki / Shanti Sadan

[book] Soper, Alexander / 1959 / Literary Evidence for Early Buddhist Art in China / Aritbus Asiae Publishers

[journal] Williams, Joanna G. / 1975 / Sārnāth Gupta Steles of the Buddha’s Life / Ars Orientalis 10 : 171~192 / ─192.

[journal] Wong, Dorothy C. / 1999 / Four Sichuan Buddhist Steles and the Beginning of Pure Land Imagery in China / Archives of Asian Art 51 : 56~79

KJC Korea
Journal Central

Statistics

Tools

Sharing

Issue List

Citation status