Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

The Chucheonjae(追薦儀禮) are based on the metempsychosis and the thought of merit, based on the theory of causality and fatality. Among Chucheonjae, there is aritual called Suryukjae(水陸齋, ritual for water -and-land), which takes place when there are no descendants, sisters or brothers and relatives who can hold the ritual of the deceased. The Buddhist paintings that are used in Suryuk rituals are called Suryuk paintings(水陸畵, paintings for water -and-land) in China and Amrita paintings(甘露幀畵) in Korea. The two kinds of paintings - Chinese and Korean Buddhist paintings - have some differences in their structural patterns and contents. The purpose of this paper is to identify the distinctiveness of the two kinds of paintings by comparing the contents of those paintings. Korean Suryukjae originated from China, but it has some differences in ritual forms. In China, when calling the subject of the ritual, it is practiced by the pattern of the upper section and the bottom section. But in Korea, it is practiced by the pattern of upper part, middle part, and lower part. Suryuk paintings presented in Buddhist paintings, show various gods including the Buddha and Bodhisattva which is the symbol of water, and mankind that transmigrate the Six Realms which represent land. On the other hand, Amrita paintings express the Buddha and Bodhisattva including Gamrowangbha in the upper section, the scenes of ritual in the center section, and mankind that transmigrate the Six Realms as the subject of the Chucheon in the bottom section. In Amrita paintings, the altar is painted, which doesn't appear in Suryuk paintings. The character of Amrita comes out by showing various offering food to Buddha on the altar, Buddist monks to perform the ceremony, books and ornament used for the ceremony. This is enough to become a standard of distinction between Suryuk paintings in China and Amrita paintings in Korea.