사찰창호에 나타난 꽃살문양에 관한 연구

Abstract

Culture and arts in a region or a country is closely related to its environmental parts such as climate, history, and ethnicity. Architecture is also the outcome of cultural interactions between factors related to ecology and humanities. Korean culture has developed into a unique one by adopting Chinese cultures and Buddhism that originally came from India. Against this backdrop, Yin-Yang theory, Feng-sui theory, oriental horoscope, Confucianism, and Daoism have influenced on Korean architecture both directly and indirectly. The inflow, growth and decline of Buddhism have followed the same course as Korean architecture. In each period of history, structures were erected praising the grace of Buddha and comprising most of Korea’s historical monuments. Unfortunately, frequent invasions from other countries and local uprisings partially damaged or completely destroyed many valuable items of Korean heritage. Through the course of time, attempts were made to reinforce or rebuild those buildings, but few records of them have remained intact. Studies so far on the Korean traditional architecture have mainly been on its structural features, flow designs, and the meaning of space in each building. Each part of the whole structure needs examination, and the intentions of each design seems to require further analysis. Against this backdrop, this thesis is aimed at examining flower patterns on paper sliding doors of the main building in a monastery, which apparently intend to create the feeling of being grandiose and solemn among viewers, and at trying to understand the artistic and symbolic meanings of those patterns. The reason why the flower patterns on paper doors in a monastery are chosen for scrutiny is that they have relatively been well preserved, and they are more splendidly and delicately crafted than the ones in palaces and other buildings for lay people. On top of that, they appear to contain our ancestors’ genuine wishes for the realization of ideal virtues. Further study is needed to distinguish what kinds of flower patterns were in fashion in each period of time. But as the structure of monastery buildings became more elaborate, using such styles as Jusimpo, Ickgong and Dapo, and more grandiose, and decorative designs evolved along with the philosophical and artistic changes of each time. Each decorative design usually contains ideas and emotions of human beings. In that light, they are like living creatures. As a medium of delivering messages, flower patterns have been expressed in diverse variations. Flowers on monastery paper doors were also the expression of religious ideas. Buddhist ancestors believed that the doors represented the border between this life and eternal life, before which people should repent their sins to prepare to enter the world of Buddha. As a result, the flowers express the extreme joys of believers and have been used as beautiful settings for the great moment of their entry. They have been used to symbolize the after-life or immortal life. Accordingly, we can conjecture the lifestyles, faith, customs, and ideas of our ancestors by examining various designs of flowers on doors. Buildings in a monastery are designed to be aligned with the natural principles of the universe as well as faithful to its raison d’etre: to save the general public in their spiritual life. Each building was placed in harmony with one another and its surroundings from the long-term perspective and artistic point of view. Among their designs are the flower patterns that express national sentiments and feminine tastes. Those flowers serve a greater purpose than the simple function of decorating the physical space for worshipping. They are regarded to contain the meaning of the ideal Buddhist paradise beyond this world. These flowers are splendidly designed and show the beauty of controlled patterns. On a larger scale, they look exuberant, while within arm’s length, they feel tense in each touch. This study aims to examine each part of flower designs on monastery sliding paper doors, measure the frequency of those parts, and identify the meanings of the designs. This thesis proceeds with a general overview of paper doors and their lattice works, designs and implied meanings of each flower pattern, shapes of each flower, and relationships between flower patterns and other traditional decorative designs, followed by an examination and classifications of patterns after field trips and a consideration of the meanings of flower patterns in modern arts, and ends with a conclusion.