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The research investigates the distinct enshrinement practices for Koryŏ Buddhist paintings and their implications in art.

June 9, 2026Open Access

The Formation of the “Painted Buddha”: Reverse Side and Enshrinement Practices in Koryŏ Buddhist Paintings

Key Points

The research investigates the distinct enshrinement practices for Koryŏ Buddhist paintings and their implications in art.
Analyzing the prints of a mandala-dharani composition on the reverse of the Myōman-ji painting.
Comparing Koryŏ enshrinement rituals with the pratiṣṭhā tradition and related iconographies from Indo-Tibetan and Song Dynasty sources.
Examining historical records and ritual elements collected from various Koryŏ art forms.
Identified unique cases of mandala-dharani prints on the reverse of Koryŏ paintings as forms of enshrinement.
Demonstrated that enshrinement logic for sculptures and paintings was structurally similar in Koryŏ art.
Provided evidence that Koryŏ artistic practices reflect a broader tradition of sacred manifestation in Buddhist art.

Abstract

During the Koryŏ Dynasty, enshrinement rituals were conducted following the creation of Buddhist statues and paintings to bestow life upon the images by inviting the sacred to reside within them. These rituals consisted of two stages: the insertion of consecration deposits into the interior (pokchang) and the “dotting of the eyes” (chŏm'an). While Koryŏ-era historical records confirm the practice of ritualized eye-dotting for paintings, there is scant mention of the enshrinement of consecration deposits within them. However, two significant cases of Koryŏ Buddhist paintings have been identified featuring prints of a maṇḍala–dhāraṇī composition affixed to their reverse sides: the late Koryŏ Amitābha Buddha (Shōbō-ji collection) and the 1294 Transformation Tableau of Maitreya's Decent (Myōman-ji collection). Given that eye-dotting is a ritual performed on the front of a painting after its mounting is complete, the prints of a maṇḍala–dhāraṇī composition affixed to the back suggest a distinct stage of sanctification—namely, the possibility of a unique form of pokchang enshrinement devised specifically for paintings. Focusing on the prints of a maṇḍala–dhāraṇī composition recently discovered on the reverse side of the Myōman-ji painting, this study examines these elements as material evidence of enshrinement rituals for Buddhist paintings. To this end, the study recontextualizes Koryŏ enshrinement rituals by comparing them with the pratiṣṭhā tradition of the Indic Buddhist world, Indo-Tibetan Buddhist paintings, and Song Dynasty Chinese treatises on painting. Furthermore, it analyzes the iconography of the Myōman-ji maṇḍala–dhāraṇī prints within the framework of enshrinement rituals. Through this analysis, this paper demonstrates that despite being different media, Buddhist statues and paintings were understood through the same structural logic of enshrinement during the Koryŏ Dynasty. Ultimately, this study aims to elucidate the ritual ideas surrounding the formation and manifestation of the sacred in Koryŏ Buddhist art.

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