투고논문
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The Lotus Sutra , one of the early Mahayana Buddhist scriptures addressing the possibility of women’s enlightenment, exerted significant influence across East Asia and was highly valued, constituting the majority of surviving late Koryŏ sutra transcriptions. The “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sutra declares that women’s bodies are inherently obstructed by the five hindrances and therefore cannot attain Buddhahood, yet the Dragon Girl transforms into a male and quickly achieves enlightenment. Since the 1980s, Buddhist studies and feminist scholarship have critically examined the doctrine of women’s enlightenment in the Lotus Sutra and its unfolding within Korean Buddhist tradition. In contrast, art historical scholarship has largely evaluated late Koryŏ Lotus Sutra transcriptions as masterpieces of Buddhist art, emphasizing the devotee’s piety and the artisan’s skill.
This article approaches the sutra manuscript as a complex image-text in which scripture, frontispieces, and dedicatory inscriptions coexist on a single plane, reflecting religious and cultural practices shaped by a gendered social structure. Focusing on the illuminatedLotus Sutra in seven volumes held at the Leeum Museum of Art, the study analyzes how late Koryŏ women internalized gendered doctrines. As a complete set with a frontispiece in each volume and a dedicatory inscription by a female patron in the seventh, the Leeum Lotus Sutra provides a unique opportunity to examine how visual and textual representations of women’s enlightenment may have shaped lay women’s perceptions of Buddhahood. Finally, the inscription expressing the wish to be reborn as a male is reinterpreted in light of the social trauma and historical reality of Koryŏ women sent as tribute brides during the Yuan Interregnum. In this way, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of female agency in premodern Korean art history and Buddhist art studies.
This article approaches the sutra manuscript as a complex image-text in which scripture, frontispieces, and dedicatory inscriptions coexist on a single plane, reflecting religious and cultural practices shaped by a gendered social structure. Focusing on the illuminated
이 논문은 고려 후기 『법화경(法華經)』 사경(寫經)을 젠더 관점에서 다시 읽는 연구이다. 『법화경』은 여성의 성불(成佛) 가능성에 대해 논한 여러 불교 경전 중 동아시아에 크게 영향을 끼쳤던 경전으로, 현존하는 고려 후기 사경의 대다수를 차지할 만큼 중시되었다. 『법화경』 제12품 「제바달다품(提婆達多品)」에서는 여성의 몸에는 오장(五障)이 있어 부처가 될 수 없다고 하면서도, 용왕의 딸인 용녀는 남성으로 변신해 빨리 불도를 이루었다고 설한다. 1980년대 이래 불교학계와 여성학계에서는 여성주의적인 관점에서 『법화경』의 여성성불론과 그 한국적 전개상을 비판적으로 고찰해 왔다. 반면, 미술사학 분야의 선행 연구에서 고려 후기 『법화경』 사경은 발원자의 지극한 신앙심과 장인의 공교한 역량이 빚어낸 불교미술의 정수로 주로 평가되었다. 이 연구는 사경을 경문, 변상도(變相圖), 발원문(發願文)이 하나의 평면에 공존하는 복합적인 텍스트이자, 젠더화된 사회 구조 속에서 탄생한 종교문화적 산물로서 접근한다. 특히 신자료인 리움미술관 소장 감지금자 『묘법연화경』 7권본을 중심으로 고려 후기 여성들이 젠더 차별적인 교리를 이해하고, 내면화한 양상을 분석한다. 이 사경은 전체 7권이 모두 전하는 완본이자, 권마다 변상도가 있으며, 권7 말미에 여성 공덕주(功德主)가 남긴 발원문이 있어 매우 중요하다. 본고에서 시도하는 변상도와 발원문의 종합적인 고찰은 경전의 교리와 시각적 재현이 균열하고, 여성 성불의 도상이 현실 속 고려의 여성 재가 신자들의 성불관에 영향을 미쳤을 가능성을 제시한다. 마지막으로 남자로 변성하길 희구한 여성의 발원문에 담긴 함의를 원나라가 고려에 공녀(貢女)를 요구했던 시대적 상황과 사회적 트라우마에 비추어 재해석한다. 이러한 작업은 전근대 한국미술사와 불교미술사 서술에서 간과된 여성 주체에 관한 논의를 한 차원 끌어올릴 것으로 기대된다.
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◆ 약호 및 일차 문헌 Abbreviations and Primary Sources
◆ 이차 문헌 Secondary Literature
- Publisher :Korean Association of Buddhist Studies
- Publisher(Ko) :불교학연구회
- Journal Title :Korean Journal of Buddhist Studies
- Journal Title(Ko) :불교학연구
- Volume : 84
- Pages :259∼297
- DOI :https://doi.org/10.21482/jbs.84..202509.259
Korean Journal of Buddhist Studies
