蘇州 瑞光寺塔 출토 사리목함의 <四天王圖> 연구

Abstract

Previous studies of Chinese paintings from the Tang Dynasty, the Wu Kingdom, and the Northern Song dynasty have usually resorted to attributed works and textual sources because, except for some cave and tomb murals, dated paintings from these periods rarely exist. As this situation has limited further research in various ways, the significance of dated works cannot be exaggerated. The few extant dated paintings from these periods have set standards of period style against which the authenticity and validity of other pictorial works and textural documents were examined. Two well-known examples are Magpies and Hare(1061) by Cui Bai(1050-1080) and Early Spring(1072) by Guo Xi(circa 1023-1085) in the collection of the Taipei National Palace Museum. In 1974, two new paintings the dates of which can be traced to as early as the mid 10th century were discovered from a Liao Dynasty tomb located in the Liaoning Province. All of the four paintings mentioned above, however, are landscape or bird and flower paintings. Therefore, dated figure paintings to represent the figure style of the period is still seriously lacking. It's even more unfortunate considering that figure paintings are believed to have occupied a central place in the field of painting before the Wu kingdom and the Song periods. Particularly problematic is the style of Wu Dao-zi(吳道子, circa 683-759). Because little aspect of the works of the legendary painter and his successors as known, it is extremely difficult to assess and discuss the large body of the textual documents describing their paintings and activities. One work to quench this thirst is Four Heavenly Kings(四天王) represented on the wooden sarira case excavated from Ruiguang Temple(瑞光寺) of Suzhou. The inscription on this sarira case, which is now in the collection of the Suzhou Museum, clearly indicates its earliest limit of the date, 1013. Any full-scale study of the painting has not been conducted, and only fragmentary comments have defined it as an example influenced by the style of Wu Dao-zi. Therefore, it is expected that a comprehensive study of this painting would contribute to understanding the style of Taoist and Buddhist paintings transmitted from the Tang Dynasty, the influence of Wu Dao-zi on those paintings, and aspects of figure paintings of the early Song Dynasty. In April, 1978, Pearl Sarira Case stored in an interior and an exterior wooden case was discovered inside a pagoda at the Ruiguang Temple of Suzhou. The Four Heavenly Kings was located on the surface of the interior wooden case. According to an inscription on the support panel of the external wooden case and a printed version of Saddharama-Pundarika-Sutra discovered with the sarira case, the retrieved artifacts including the painting were offered by the priests and lay people associated with the temple after a ceremony in celebration of the completion of the Three-story Pagoda on September 15, 1017. The iconography of the painting inherits the manner of the High Tang period, rather than following the contemporary style. In the early Tang Dynasty representation of Four Heavenly Kings remaining in the Longmen Grottoes of the Fengxian Temple, one can find iconography and style similar to the current work. A much closer examples, however, are found in High Tang Dynasty works in Mogao Cave of Dun Huang. Specifically, the armors covering the legs, the shoulder armors with lion head decorations, and the figures stepping on evil spirits are equally found in the images of Mogao Cave and those of Ruiguang Sarira Case. The curvy tribangha posture and the hands around the waist of Jigukcheon are also similar. The tribangha posture is also found in Gwangmokcheon, Jeungjangcheon, and Bisamuncheon, which reflects a typical characteristic of Buddhist art in the High Tang period. Thus, the painting of Four Heavenly King(四天王圖) of Ruiguang Temple appears as a rare example of Four Heavenly Kings produced in the early Song period, which displays stylistic features that can be traced back to the early and the High Tang periods. The style of the Four Heavenly Kings from Ruiguang Temple is related to Procession of Immortals Paying Homage to the Primus by Wu Zong-yuan(?-1050), a work that has been considered to be inheriting the style of Wu Dao-zi. Similarities between this work and Four Heavenly Kings of Ruiguang Temple include fluctuating lines of figure drawing with great variation of thickness, the use of thick, dark lines for accents, and the drapery flying in wind. Some marked differences, however, are found in the more liberal brushwork of Four Heavenly Kings, which resembles that of grass script. According to Tuhua Jianwen Zhi, Wu Zong-yuan followed the styles of Cao Zhong-da as well as Wu Dao-zi. This implies that Wu Zong-yuan modified Wu Dao-zi's style by incorporating the styles of other artists. And there is a possibility that the dynamic and irregular style of Four Heavenly Kings of Ruiguang Temple is closer to the original style of Wu Dao-zi than Procession of Immortals Paying Homage to the Primus, an early Northern Song interpretation of Wu Dao-zi's by Wu Zong-yuan. Although there is no extant painting of Wu Dao-zi, a relatively detailed description about his works and styles is provided by Li Tai Ming Hua Ji, Tang Chao Ming Hua Lu, and Tu hua Jianwen Zhi. Those books imply that his paintings were mostly drawn in brush strokes widely varied in thickness and executed in great speed, and were exceptionally expressive. In fact, the style of Four Heavenly King of Ruiguang Temple shows a great affinity to Wu Dao-zi's painting style described in above documents, which calls for the need to reconsider the trend of painting in this period. Huge stylistic changes are observed in ancient tomb murals and Dun Huang murals since around the High Tang period. While detailed and precise representation dominated early Tang Dynasty images, the high Tang period saw a new popularity of expressive brush works and linear depiction, which accompanied a decrease in the use of colors. It is highly likely that those changes observed in the Dun Huang murals and the murals in burial chambers are related to the popularity of Wu Dao-zi's style after the High Tang period. It is worth considering the fact that the stylistic characteristics of Four Heavenly Kings of Ruiguang Temple are related to the change of mural style after the High Tang period, which in turn can establish a connection between Four Heavenly Kings of Ruiguang Temple and Wu Dao-zi. In conclusion, the style of Four Heavenly Kings of Ruiguang Temple displays a greater similarity to the painting style developed after the High Tang period, and particularly the original painting style of Wu Dao-zi as understood through later sources, than to such contemporary works as Procession of Immortals Paying Homage to the Primus by Wu Zong-yuan. Four Heavenly Kings of Ruiguang Temple in this sense is closely related to the murals during the High Tang period, which is believed to reflect the influence of Wu Dao-zi. These connections appear more persuasive when taking its iconography into account, because it also more closely follows that of High Tang Dynasty works than of contemporary examples.