The Patronage of Yŏm Sŭngik: Buddhist Art and Ritual Efficacy in Late Koryŏ

Abstract

This article examines the Buddhist artworks commissioned by Yŏm Sŭngik (廉承益, ?–1302), a powerful court official and ritual specialist active during the reign of King Ch’ungnyŏl in late Koryŏ. Focusing on three surviving works—a copied Lotus Sutra manuscript (1283), an Amitābha Tathāgata painting (1286), and a woodblock-printed Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī (1292)—the study explores how Buddhist art functioned as a material expression of repentance, ritual healing, karmic eradication, and aspirations for Pure Land rebirth. Through analysis of votive inscriptions, painting inscriptions, and dhāraṇī texts, the article argues that the repeated four-line gāthā appearing in both the sutra manuscript and Amitābha painting is most plausibly understood within the devotional and ritual framework of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp, rather than primarily through Huayan doctrinal interpretation, as previous scholarship has suggested. The article further situates Yŏm Sŭngik’s patronage within broader political and familial networks linking elite officials, Buddhist monks, and the religious culture of the Koryŏ and Yuan courts. Ultimately, it argues that Buddhist art in late Koryŏ operated not merely as devotional imagery, but as an active medium of ritual practice through which repentance, healing, and hopes for Pure Land rebirth were materially enacted.

1. Introduction

[Yŏm Sŭngik] at one time was afflicted with a grave illness. While reciting Buddhist incantations [chumun 呪文], he undertook an ascetic ordeal, piercing his palm and threading it with a cord of straw. Consequently, he recovered from his illness and thereafter made the treatment of others and their maladies his vocation.1

Yŏm Sŭngik (廉承益, ?–1302) was renowned for his mastery of Buddhist thaumaturgical practices. Although the precise date of the episode discussed above remains uncertain, it appears that his abilities first became widely known after he successfully cured his own illness through esoteric ritual techniques. According to the Koryŏsa chŏryo (Essentials of Koryŏ History; 高麗史節要), Yŏm gained the confidence of King Ch’ungnyŏl (忠烈王, 1236–1308; r. 1274–1308) in 1277 on account of his expertise in Buddhist incantory rites and eventually rose to the position of chief councilor.2 At the time when he first secured the king’s favor by curing the monarch’s illness, Yŏm held the office of chŏngnang (正郞), a senior fifth-rank post.3 This occurred in 1277, only four years after King Ch’ungnyŏl’s accession to the throne. Thereafter, Yŏm Sŭngik experienced an extraordinarily rapid ascent through the bureaucratic hierarchy, attaining the office of ch’ansŏngsa (贊成事), a senior second-rank position, within little more than a decade.4 King Ch’ungnyŏl ascended the throne at the age of thirty-eight and died at seventy-two after a reign spanning thirty-four years. Although Yŏm’s age at the time of their first encounter remains unknown, the king was then forty-two years old. From that moment onward, Yŏm remained in close attendance upon the king for eighteen years, until his formal resignation in 1295. Even after his retirement, however, the relationship between the two men appears to have continued until shortly before Yŏm’s death in 1302. Their association thus endured for more than two decades.

This article examines the distinctive characteristics of the Buddhist works associated with the patronage of Yŏm Sŭngik, who emerged as one of the most powerful political figures in the late Koryŏ period. Regrettably, the corpus that can be securely connected to his sponsorship remains relatively limited. Acting under the orders of King Ch’ungnyŏl, Yŏm supervised the construction of a Dharma Hall at the royal temple Hyŏnhwasa (玄化寺) in 1280 and later oversaw the restoration of the Seven-Story Stone Pagoda (七層石塔) at the Namgyewŏn site (南溪院址) in Kaesŏng, now designated a National Treasure.5 These undertakings, however, were executed under royal command and therefore differ in character from the surviving works personally commissioned by Yŏm himself. Although Yŏm Sŭngik almost certainly sponsored a far wider range of Buddhist works, only a limited corpus directly associated with his patronage survives today: a sutra manuscript (sagyŏng 寫經) dated 1283, an Amitābha Tathāgata painting of 1286, and surviving impressions of a dhāraṇī print produced in 1292 from a now-lost woodblock.6 Although few in number, the works connected to Yŏm’s patronage that survive today nevertheless represent some of the most accomplished achievements of late Koryŏ Buddhist art and exerted a profound influence upon the subsequent development of Korean Buddhist visual culture.

Through an analysis of the gāthā (偈頌) inscribed upon the copied sutra manuscript and Buddhist painting associated with Yŏm Sŭngik’s patronage, this article offers a new interpretive framework that differs from previous scholarship. Rather than identifying a definitive textual source for the verse, it argues that the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp provides the most plausible devotional and ritual context through which Yŏm Sŭngik encountered and employed it. It further draws attention to Yŏm’s well-documented expertise in esoteric and incantory ritual practices, suggesting that such proclivities formed an important context for the remarkable flourishing of dhāraṇī culture from the late Koryŏ into the Chosŏn period. Indeed, among the major Buddhist cultures of East Asia, the Korean peninsula has yielded the greatest number of dhāraṇī texts discovered within Buddhist images. This phenomenon emerged during the late Koryŏ period and remained a prominent feature of Korean Buddhist practice throughout the Chosŏn dynasty.

Against this broader historical and religious background, the present study turns to the copied sutra manuscript, Buddhist painting, and dhāraṇī prints associated with Yŏm Sŭngik in order to explore the religious concerns that informed this close confidant of King Ch’ungnyŏl’s sustained patronage of Buddhist art. In doing so, it seeks to clarify both the distinctive character of his patronage and its broader significance within the religious and visual culture of late Koryŏ Buddhism.

2. Yŏm Sŭngik (廉承益, ?–1302) and the Political-Buddhist Networks of Late Koryŏ

The year of Yŏm Sŭngik’s birth remains unknown. Although his precise age at the time of this episode cannot be determined, historical sources record that, when afflicted by a severe and apparently incurable illness, Yŏm undertook extreme ascetic practices that involved chanting incantations, piercing his palms, and threading cords through them. Such extraordinary acts would have attracted considerable attention. It was likely through this episode that Yŏm first acquired renown as a ritual specialist, eventually devoting himself to the treatment of illness through thaumaturgical practices.7 Thereafter, reports of his abilities appear to have reached King Ch’ungnyŏl, who, beginning in 1277—the fourth year of his reign—kept Yŏm in close attendance while suffering from illness himself. As the king’s condition improved, he gradually came to place deep trust in Yŏm Sŭngik.8 At the time, Yŏm held the office of chŏngnang, a senior fifth-rank post. This suggests that, even under unusually rapid circumstances of promotion, Yŏm was likely already at least in his thirties. On this basis, his birth may tentatively be placed sometime in the 1230s or 1240s.9

Yŏm Sŭngik’s political ascent thereafter proceeded with remarkable rapidity. Only three years after his initial encounter with King Ch’ungnyŏl, he attained the post of sŭngji (royal secretary 承旨), a position of the senior third rank.10 At the time, the office of sŭngji played a crucial role as an intermediary between the king and his chief councilors, conveying royal commands and managing affairs at court. On the fourth day of the seventh month in 1280, King Ch’ungnyŏl even transferred his residence to Yŏm Sŭngik’s home.11 Although the Koryŏsa (History of Koryŏ; 高麗史) does not specify either the reasons for or duration of the king’s stay, the episode nevertheless attests to the extraordinary degree of trust the king placed in Yŏm Sŭngik.

Yŏm Sŭngik’s growing authority at court was reinforced not only through royal favor, but also through an intricate network of politically advantageous marriage alliances. During the reign of King Ch’ungnyŏl, three figures dominated the political landscape in late Koryŏ: Yŏm Sŭngik, Cho Ingyu (趙仁規, 1237–1308), and Hŏ Kong (許珙, 1233–1291). Historical sources state that, as these three men successively assumed control of the government, no one could oppose them.12 The three families were bound together through an intricate nexus of familial alliance and political patronage, relationships that appear to have been cultivated deliberately to consolidate and preserve power. Yŏm Sŭngik’s son, Yŏm Sech’ung (廉世忠, dates unknown), married the fourth daughter of Cho Ingyu.13 Yŏm Sech’ung himself rose only to the office of hobu sirang (Vice Minister of Revenue 戶部侍郞) before dying relatively young.14 His son, however, Yŏm Chesin (廉悌臣, 1304–1382), achieved remarkable political prominence, serving as chief councilor for twenty-nine years from the reign of King Kongmin (恭愍王, 1330–1374; r. 1351–1374) through that of King U (禑王, 1365–1389; 1374–1388).15 One of the most powerful figures of the late Koryŏ period, Yŏm Chesin was thus both the direct grandson of Yŏm Sŭngik and the maternal grandson of Cho Ingyu (Figure 1).

Yŏm Sŭngik’s daughter married Hŏ P’yŏng (許評), the second son of Hŏ Kong. Hŏ P’yŏng and his wife, Lady Yŏm (廉氏), even sponsored the printing of the Tripiṭaka. According to the Koryŏguk taejanggyŏng ian’gi (Record of the Relocation and Enshrinement of the Koryŏ Tripiṭaka; 高麗國大藏移安記), “In 1306 [the thirty-second year of King Ch’ungnyŏl’s reign], there were three sets of the Tripiṭaka at Pomunsa [普門社] on Kanghwa Island. Of these, two sets were enshrined by the ruler and his officials [君臣], while the remaining set was printed and enshrined by Hŏ P’yŏng [許評] and his wife, Lady Yŏm.”16 The fact that the printing of the Tripiṭaka was undertaken privately by single aristocratic household, rather than by the state itself attests to the immense influence exercised by Hŏ P’yŏng and Lady Yŏm. Hŏ Kong established marital ties not only with Yŏm Sŭngik but also with Cho Ingyu. Cho Yŏn (趙璉), the second son of Cho Ingyu, married Hŏ Kong’s daughter.17

In this way, the three most powerful political figures of late Koryŏ—Yŏm Sŭngik, Cho Ingyu, and Hŏ Kong—were closely interconnected through familial and political alliances. As will be discussed further below, the relationship between Yŏm and Cho appears to have been particularly close. Cho Ingyu traveled to the Yuan court dozens of times.18 On at least two occasions, in 1289 and 1293, he journeyed together with Yŏm Sŭngik.19 On both trips, Yŏm and Cho accompanied King Ch’ungnyŏl and Princess Cheguk Taejang (齊國大長公主, 1259–1297). Although Cho Ingyu was originally of commoner origin, he rose to the position of chief councilor through his exceptional skill as a Mongolian interpreter and even became the father-in-law of King Ch’ungnyŏl himself. Previously, Koryŏ envoys traveling to the Yuan court had relied upon interpreters stationed there, but Cho’s command of the Mongolian language was so outstanding that he effectively came to oversee interpretation between Koryŏ and Yuan personally.20 His importance increased even further after King Ch’ungnyŏl took the Yuan princess Cheguk Taejang as his consort, and contemporary sources report that Cho’s linguistic ability was recognized even by the Yuan emperor.21

These extensive diplomatic and familial connections to the Yuan court also appear to have shaped the patterns of Buddhist patronage cultivated within Cho Ingyu’s circle. Cho had five sons and four daughters in his direct line. As noted earlier, one son married Hŏ Kong’s daughter, while another entered the Buddhist order.22 Cho’s fourth son became the renowned Ch’ŏnt’ae monk Sunam Ŭisŏn (順庵義璇, 1284?–1355), who will be discussed further below.23 Among Cho’s four daughters, one became crown princess during the reign of King Ch’ungnyŏl, while another married the son of Yŏm Sŭngik. In 1292, King Ch’ungnyŏl accepted Cho Ingyu’s daughter as crown princess, thereby making Cho Ingyu the king’s father-in-law.24

Yŏm Sŭngik and Cho Ingyu were active during the same period, and it is likely that they shared a deep devotion to Buddhism as well as a strong interest in Buddhist art. Although none of the Buddhist works commissioned by Cho Ingyu survive today, historical records concerning his patronage activities are particularly revealing: “Cho Ingyu was deeply devoted to Buddhism. When he established the Ch’ŏnggye Buddhist Temple [淸溪佛寺] and prayed for blessings on behalf of the king, the number of myojŏn [copied sutras 妙典] executed in gold, sets of the haejang [Tripiṭaka 海藏] printed in ink, and Buddhist images [梵像] rendered in paintings was too great to record fully.”25 These accounts indicate that Cho Ingyu commissioned gold-script sutras, sponsored the printing of the Tripiṭaka, and patronized the production of numerous Buddhist paintings. A further anecdote concerning Cho Ingyu was recorded shortly before his death: “At first, the lord [Cho Ingyu] dreamt of the Avalokiteśvara bodhisattva standing so tall as to reach the heavens. Wishing to create a painting in that very likeness, he personally leaned against a wall and marked dots [for the composition] despite the severity of his illness, then immediately summoned a painter to prepare the preliminary sketch. Even while gravely ill, he remained cheerful and untroubled.”26 Cho’s devotional activities are further elaborated in another source: “In the evening, he knelt facing west, held up an incense burner, praised the Buddha (讚佛), and recited kesong [Buddhist verses 揭頌]. Then, seated upright, he passed away at the age of seventy-two.”27

Meanwhile, although Yŏm Sŭngik rose to the rank of chief councilor, contemporaries nevertheless continued to regard him primarily as a ritual specialist and thaumaturge. As one historical record states, “When the Yuan court sought a practitioner of esoteric arts [sulsa 術士], the king recommended Yŏm Sŭngik.”28 Similarly, following Yŏm’s retirement from office, another account records that, “when the princess fell ill, he entered the palace, prepared a ritual altar [pŏpsŏk 法席], pierced the palm of his hand, and performed prayers.”29 Even after his formal resignation, therefore, Yŏm Sŭngik continued to be summoned to the royal palace in order to cure illness through ritual and thaumaturgic practices. Renowned for such ritual expertise, Yŏm also appears to have possessed a particular interest in dhāraṇī literature. Accompanying King Ch’ungnyŏl, Princess Cheguk Taejang, and Cho Ingyu on diplomatic missions to the Yuan court, Yŏm would almost certainly have encountered the diverse scriptures and ritual texts circulating within Yuan religious culture, where texts already known in Koryŏ, including the Baoqieyin tuoluoni jing (寶篋印陀羅尼經; hereafter, Baoqieyin jing 寶篋印經), continued to enjoy widespread ritual use and popularity.30 Repeated exposure to the religious culture of the Yuan court likely reinforced Yŏm Sŭngik’s growing interest in dhāraṇī practice and Buddhist print culture. The most tangible surviving expression of these encounters is the woodblock-printed Baoqieyin jing examined in the following chapter.

3. Materializing Devotion: Buddhist Art Commissioned by Yŏm Sŭngik

The surviving corpus associated with the patronage of Yŏm Sŭngik consists of a copied Lotus Sutra manuscript produced circa 1283, an Amitābha Tathāgata painting completed in 1286, and extant printed impressions of the Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī produced in 1292 from a now-lost woodblock. The Lotus Sutra manuscript is presently housed in the National Museum of Korea, while the Amitābha Tathāgata painting remains in a private Japanese collection and is currently on loan to the Tokyo National Museum.31 Although the original woodblocks used to print the Baoqieyin jing no longer survive, numerous impressions on paper have been discovered within the consecratory deposits (pokchang 腹藏) of Buddhist sculptures.32 Although relatively few works associated with Yŏm Sŭngik’s patronage survive today, each represents a highly refined example of late Koryŏ Buddhist art. The following discussion examines these works in chronological order.

The Lotus Sutra manuscript produced around 1283 was discovered within a seven-story stone pagoda formerly located at the Namgyewŏn site in Kaesŏng (Figure 2).33 The Namgyewŏn pagoda is currently installed in the outdoor exhibition grounds of the National Museum of Korea (Figure 3).34 In 1915, the body of the pagoda was separated from its base and transferred to Kyŏngbok Palace in Seoul. The base was later relocated as well, thereby restoring the monument to its present complete form.35 It was during this process of relocation that seven scrolls of the copied Lotus Sutra were discovered within the structure (Figure 4). Although the exact date of the pagoda’s original construction remains unknown, one point nevertheless remains clear: in 1283 King Ch’ungnyŏl ordered Yŏm Sŭngik to undertake repairs to the Namgyewŏn pagoda, and upon completion of the restoration Yŏm immediately enshrined the copied sutra within it.36 From 1277 onward, King Ch’ungnyŏl had retained Yŏm at his side primarily for the treatment of illness. Beginning in 1280, however, the king also entrusted Yŏm with the construction of Buddhist halls and the repair of pagodas. The restoration of the Namgyewŏn pagoda formed part of this broader expansion of Yŏm’s responsibilities. At the conclusion of the seventh fascicle survives a votive inscription (parwŏnmun 發願) composed by Yŏm Sŭngik. The full text reads as follows (Figure 5).37

This is especially dedicated to ensuring that the king and the royal consort are free from all calamities, that warfare is quelled, and that the realm attains peace. It is further vowed that the supplicant may encounter none of the Nine Untimely Deaths [jiuheng 九橫], swiftly transcend the Three Realms [sanjie 三界], and, throughout future kalpas, perform great Buddhist acts. It is also vowed that all members of the household and kin be free from illness and suffering, and that, throughout the boundless dharma-realm, both the living and the deceased alike may attain bodhi (Figure 6).38

I vow that, at the moment of death, all hindrances be completely removed; that I may behold Amitābha Buddha face to face; and that I may immediately be reborn in the Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī) (Figure 7).39

Extending also to the wife, Lady No [魯氏], Lady of Yŏngnyŏng-gun [永寧郡夫人], together with all those belonging to her person; it is prayed that the calamitous encounters affecting daughters, young sons, and others be eliminated, and that their lifespans be prolonged; that the vows harbored within their hearts be brought to fulfillment; and that all bodhisattvas of the ten directions clearly illumine and bear witness (Figure 7).40

In the opening portion of the inscription, Yŏm prays for the well-being of King Ch’ungnyŏl and the Imperial Princess Cheguk Taejang, as well as for the peace and stability of the state. He further petitions that both he himself and the members of his household may be liberated from illness and suffering to ultimately attain rebirth in the Pure Land. He then lists his official titles and inserts a four-line gāthā (四句偈) expressing his aspiration for the eradication of calamity and the prolongation of life for himself and his family. The inscription explicitly includes his wife Lady No, who bore the title Yŏngnyŏng-gun puin (永寧郡夫人), together with his beloved daughter and young son, who are described as being like parts of his own body (Figure 7).41

Significantly, whereas the Amitābha Tathāgata painting discussed below places greater emphasis upon the welfare of the king and the princess, the copied Lotus Sutra includes prayers directed explicitly toward Yŏm Sŭngik himself and the members of his household. As is well known, prefatory formulas invoking the welfare of the sovereign and royal consort appear with great regularity in contemporaneous votive texts and often functioned as conventional rhetorical gestures. In this respect, the manuscript may be understood as a devotional undertaking deeply shaped by Yŏm Sŭngik’s own personal concerns and aspirations.

Although the votive inscription reflects Yŏm’s private devotional aspirations, the manuscript itself closely adhered to formal conventions associated with royal commissions. The copied sutra was executed on indigo paper (kamji 紺紙) with the frontispiece imagery and ruling lines rendered in gold, while the text itself was inscribed in silver.42 Moreover, whereas privately commissioned manuscripts of the late Koryŏ period generally employ a format of seventeen characters per line, the manuscript sponsored by Yŏm follows the royal convention of fourteen characters per line. Indeed, among surviving examples of privately commissioned sutras, Yŏm Sŭngik’s Lotus Sutra appears unique in adopting a layout otherwise reserved for royal scriptorial production (Kwŏn 2003, p. 11). Thus, although fundamentally intended as a private devotional undertaking, the manuscript nevertheless appropriated in full the visual and codicological conventions of royal manuscript culture.

The question remains where such an unusually sumptuous manuscript was produced. Two years prior to its completion, Yŏm Sŭngik donated his own residence for use as a Taejanggyŏng sagyŏngso (大藏經寫經所), also referred to as a Kŭmja sagyŏngso (金字寫經所), a scriptorium dedicated to the copying of Buddhist scriptures and the production of gold-script sutras.43 This copy of the Lotus Sutra was most likely produced within Yŏm’s private workshop. As noted above, the manuscript was fundamentally intended for Yŏm’s personal devotional purposes, yet its format adhered remarkably closely to those employed in contemporary royal productions. Such an appropriation of royal manuscript conventions was likely possible only because its patron was Yŏm Sŭngik himself. The manuscript therefore stands as one of the most sophisticated surviving examples of late Koryŏ Buddhist manuscript culture: a work produced in a privately maintained scriptorium yet scarcely distinguishable from sutras commissioned directly by the royal court.

The manuscript further conforms to royal conventions in its inclusion of a single guardian deity painted upon the front cover (Kwŏn 2003, pp. 11–13; Chongmin Kim 2019, pp. 350–51). At the beginning of the first among the seven scrolls appears a Vajra guardian rendered in gold. This image closely resembles the guardian figure depicted in the manuscript of the Bukong juansuo shenbian zhenyan jing (Amoghapāśa Dhāraṇī Sutra; 不空羂索神變眞言經) commissioned by King Ch’ungnyŏl in 1275 (Figure 8, Figure 9 and Figure 10).44 The image of the Vajra Guardian can also be found on the doors of gilt-bronze Buddhist shrines produced during the same period (Figure 11 and Figure 12).

The copied Lotus Sutra was thus likely commissioned privately by Yŏm Sŭngik, produced within his own scriptorium, and subsequently enshrined within the Namgyewŏn pagoda. King Ch’ungnyŏl issued the order directing Yŏm to repair the pagoda on the sixth day of the seventh month of 1283. Yet the votive inscription records only “the second month,” without specifying either a reign title or cyclical date notation. The manuscript therefore cannot have been completed before the second month of 1284. Fully aware that once deposited within the pagoda the manuscript would be exceedingly difficult to retrieve and its contents effectively inaccessible to others, Yŏm carefully enshrined within it his own personal devotional aspirations. That he undertook the restoration of the Namgyewŏn pagoda under royal command while simultaneously depositing within it a manuscript containing his own private vows suggests the remarkable confidence and authority Yŏm Sŭngik exercised at court.

The following passage from the votive text is especially significant:

I vow that, at the moment of death, all hindrances be completely removed; that I may behold Amitābha Buddha face to face; and that I may immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī).45

This identical four-line gāthā reappears verbatim in the Amitābha Tathāgata painting examined below. Its significance will be revisited in conjunction with that work.

If the copied Lotus Sutra reveals the deeply personal character of Yŏm Sŭngik’s devotional concerns, these same aspirations emerge even more explicitly in the Amitābha Tathāgata painting completed only a few years later in 1286 (Figure 13 and Figure 14). Executed on silk, the painting is monumental in scale, standing approximately two meters in height. At the center of the composition, an imposing figure of Amitābha Buddha stands upon a great lotus leaf floating atop a pond. This work is regarded not only as one of the finest surviving examples of Koryŏ Buddhist painting, but the presence of dedicatory inscriptions (hwagi 畵記) on both sides of the composition has also attracted enduring scholarly attention.46 On the left side of the painting appears the inscription, “Zhiyuan twenty-third year” (至元二十三年), corresponding to 1286, while the right side bears the following text (Figure 15).47

Especially dedicated for the boundless felicity and longevity of the King and the Princess Consort, and furthermore for the protection of my own person from encountering calamity and misfortune. May it be that, at the moment when my life draws to its end, all obstacles and hindrances are utterly removed, that I may behold Amitābha Buddha face to face, and that I may immediately attain rebirth in the Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī). Pongik taebu Chwa sangsi Yŏm□□.48

In 1286, Yŏm Sŭngik recorded a prayer expressing his wish that the blessings and longevity of the king and the princess consort may endure without limit and, furthermore, that no calamity or misfortune might befall him personally. This is followed immediately by the same four-line gāthā already seen in the copied Lotus Sutra. At the conclusion of the inscription appears Yŏm’s official title along with the partially preserved name “Pongik taebu Chwa sangsi Yŏm□□” (奉翊大夫左常侍廉□□). Although the characters corresponding to “Sŭngik” (丞益) are no longer visible due to damage, it stands that the individual in question is indeed Yŏm Sŭngik, since no other figure is known to have occupied this office at the time.

The same four-line verse thus appears in both the Lotus Sutra of approximately 1283 and the Amitābha Tathāgata painting completed in 1286. Strictly speaking, the two works belong to fundamentally different religious and iconographic contexts. Why, then, did Yŏm Sŭngik choose to inscribe the same gāthā on both? Although previous scholarship has discussed the verse appearing in the Amitābha Tathāgata painting, little attention has been paid to the fact that an identical inscription also appears in the Yŏm’s copy of the Lotus Sutra. It is therefore important to recognize that the same four-line gāthā was deliberately repeated across two distinct works commissioned by Yŏm Sŭngik. The broader significance of this repeated inscription will be explored further below.

The final work associated with Yŏm Sŭngik’s patronage is the Baoqieyin jing print, commissioned and produced under his supervision in 1292 (Figure 16 and Figure 17). This single-sheet printed dhāraṇī was made while Yŏm occupied the office of ch’ansŏngsa.49 At the center of the composition appears the “Mandala of the Thirty-seven Deities and the Eight-Petaled Lotus” (p’aryŏp simnyŏn samsipch’iljon mandara 八葉心蓮三十七尊曼陀羅), composed of thirty-seven Buddhas and bodhisattvas symbolizing the generative principle of life itself together with an eight-petaled lotus evoking the form of the heart. Surrounding the central mandala are four concentric lines of dhāraṇī text containing the final and most essential 253 characters of the scripture. These characters were originally written in Siddhaṃ script, as it was believed that the entirety of the dhāraṇī’s numinous power resided within these sacred characters themselves. The colophon is inscribed separately in the narrow register located in the outermost margin of the print.50 By integrating the Baoqieyin jing text and the mandala within a single circular composition, Yŏm created a composition of impressive structural coherence that maximized both its visual impact and ritual efficacy.

Numerous printed impressions of this single-sheet dhāraṇī have been discovered within the consecratory deposits of Buddhist images, ranging from the Dry-lacquer Seated Amitābha Buddha of Taedunsa in Kumi dated to 1295 to examples from the early Chosŏn period (Figure 18) (Im 2025, p. 66). The Baoqieyin jing itself was translated in 722 by the monk Amoghavajra (不空, 705–774). The scripture proclaims that through the power of its dhāraṇī one may “eradicate all sins [and karmic obstacles] committed by oneself, accumulate merit, attain peace and well-being in the present life, and ultimately achieve rebirth after death”(Baoqieyin jing 寶篋印經, T19 1022A: 710c18–711a4). The central themes of the text are therefore likewise the elimination of sin (myŏljoe 滅罪) and rebirth in the Pure Land (wangsaeng 往生). Simultaneously, the scripture also asserts that, “if this text is placed within a pagoda or Buddhist image, merely gazing upon it even briefly will cure all illnesses,” thereby endowing the printed dhāraṇī with a pronounced dimension of ritual and thaumaturgic healing(Baoqieyin jing 寶篋印經, T19 1022A:0711a-b).

As noted earlier, Yŏm Sŭngik was widely renowned for his mastery of esoteric ritual practices. The year 1292, when the Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī was produced under his supervision, was both auspicious and precarious for Yŏm: it marked the selection of the daughter of his in-law Cho Ingyu as Crown Princess Consort, while also coinciding with the sudden death of Hŏ Kong, who was connected to Yŏm Sŭngik through marital alliance.51 Within such a climate marked by political uncertainty, illness, and mortality, the reproducible nature of the printed dhāraṇī assumed particular significance. Unlike the copied Lotus Sutra or the monumental Amitābha Tathāgata painting, the woodblock-printed dhāraṇī could be reproduced and disseminated on a vast scale. Deposited within pagodas or Buddhist sculptures, it was believed not merely to facilitate rebirth in the Pure Land through the simple act of visual encounter, but also to exercise tangible thaumaturgical efficacy in alleviating and curing bodily illness. The individual who conceived and supervised the production of this extraordinarily potent ritual object was none other than Yŏm Sŭngik himself. The same edition of the Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī supervised by Yŏm Sŭngik continued to circulate into the early Chosŏn period (Im 2024; Im 2025, pp. 77–79). Although the large number of surviving impressions attests to the continued circulation and popularity of the text, the limited historical record makes it difficult to assess the extent of its use in the everyday devotional practices of late Koryŏ Buddhists. Taken together, the copied Lotus Sutra manuscript, the Amitābha Tathāgata painting, and the Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī reveal a striking coherence in the religious concerns underlying Yŏm Sŭngik’s patronage. Although differing in medium, function, and audience, all three works articulate a shared preoccupation with repentance, the eradication of karmic transgressions, ritual healing, and rebirth in the Pure Land. The following chapter examines these interconnected devotional themes in greater detail.

4. Ritual Efficacy: Repentance, Karmic Eradication, and Pure Land Rebirth

As the preceding discussion has shown, the four-line gāthā inscribed upon the copied Lotus Sutra manuscript of circa 1283 and the Amitābha Tathāgata painting of 1286 commissioned by Yŏm Sŭngik, together with the Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī prints produced in 1292, ultimately converge upon a shared soteriological objective. Through repentance and the eradication of sins accrued through one’s own actions, the devotee seeks rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Earlier scholarship, however, has focused almost exclusively on the gāthā appearing in the Amitābha Tathāgata painting, giving rise to two principal lines of interpretation. The first associates the verse with Huayan devotionalism.52 As the gāthā appears in the concluding “Puxian xingyuan pin” (Chapter on the Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra; 普賢行願品) of the forty-fascicle Huayan jing (Avataṃsaka Sūtra; 華嚴經) compiled in 798, some scholars have interpreted Yŏm Sŭngik’s Amitābha Tathāgata painting within the broader framework of Huayan belief and ritual practice. The second line of interpretation regards the verse instead as a more generalized and formulaic expression of Buddhist devotion (Chŏnghŭi Kim 2001, p. 146). From this perspective, the text cannot be linked exclusively to, nor understood solely within, the doctrinal confines of Huayan devotionalism. This position derives largely from the appearance of the identical four-line gāthā in the Transformation Tableau of the Sixteen Contemplations (觀經十六觀變相圖) from the Contemplation Sutra (觀無量壽經) dated 1323 and presently housed at Rinshō-ji (隣松寺).53

It is necessary to note, however, that this four-line gāthā appears not only in the Amitābha Tathāgata painting but also in the copied Lotus Sutra manuscript. Moreover, although unrelated to Yŏm Sŭngik, the same verse is likewise found on the Celadon Inlaid Funerary Urn (靑磁象嵌骨壺) preserved in the collection of the Leeum Museum of Art (Figure 19 and Figure 20).54 The gāthā was inscribed upon the funerary vessel intended to contain cremated remains. The verse originally derives from the “Puxian xingyuan pin” of the forty-fascicle Huayan jing.55 Yet this observation immediately raises a more fundamental question: among the sixty-two gāthās contained within the “Puxian xingyuan pin,” why was the fifty-seventh selected in particular? Furthermore, if the verse originated in the Huayan jing, why did it appear not only in the Amitābha Tathāgata painting and the Lotus Sutra manuscript, but even upon funerary urns? Such questions invite closer consideration of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp (Ritual Manual for Repentance and Recollection of Amitābha; 禮念彌陀道場懺法), a liturgical compendium that enjoyed significant popularity during the late Koryŏ period. The text states: “Today, the assembly, following the vows and practices of Samantabhadra, recited the verse of dedication as follows” (今日大衆如普賢行願所發廻向偈曰). Immediately thereafter, it reproduces the very same four-line gāthā without altering a single character (Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp, X.74, 1467:0123c15).

The four-line gāthā appearing in Yŏm Sŭngik’s sutra manuscript and Buddhist painting may therefore be understood as having circulated through the ritual framework of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp. Although the verse ultimately originates in the forty-fascicle Huayan jing, the text most immediately relevant to Yŏm Sŭngik’s devotional world was not the Huayan jing per se, but the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp, a ritual compendium of far greater practical and liturgical significance within the religious culture of late Koryŏ Buddhism. The term ch’ambŏp (懺法) refers to penitential rites through which accumulated karmic transgressions are expunged so that rebirth in the Pure Land may ultimately be attained. Compiled in 1213 by Wangzi Cheng (王子成), a Pure Land devotee of the Jin dynasty (金, 1115–1234) known by the sobriquet Jile jushi (極樂居士, Layman of Ultimate Bliss), the ten-fascicle Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp sets forth ritual procedures through which practitioners confess and repent before Amitābha Buddha for the karmic transgressions (choeŏp 罪業) they have committed, thereby seeking rebirth within Amitābha’s Pure Land.56

As is well known, the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp was recarved in woodblock form in 1332 at Datian Yuanyangsheng si (大天源延聖寺) in the Yuan capital of Dadu (大都, present-day Beijing) by the Koryŏ monk Ŭisŏn.57 Upon assuming the abbacy of the monastery, Ŭisŏn sponsored the woodblock recarving and large-scale propagation of the text throughout both Yuan and Koryŏ territories. In recognition of this accomplishment, Ŭisŏn became the only Korean monk to receive the prestigious title of “Tripiṭaka Master” (三藏法師) (Kye 2022, pp. 221–50). The recarved edition of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp subsequently entered the Koryŏ Tripiṭaka and became one of the most widely read and circulated repentance rituals from the late Koryŏ through the Chosŏn periods.58

Especially suggestive in this regard is the intricate network linking the monk Ŭisŏn to Yŏm Sŭngik himself. Ŭisŏn was none other than the fourth son of Cho Ingyu, Yŏm’s affinal kinsman and one of the most formidable political figures of the late Koryŏ court. Admittedly, Ŭisŏn’s recarving and dissemination of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp took place in 1332, more than four decades after the production of the works commissioned by Yŏm Sŭngik bearing the four-line gāthā examined above. Yet the chronological interval separating these materials should not obscure the deeper continuity of devotional culture and ritual transmission that bound them together. By the early thirteenth century, following its compilation by Wangzi Cheng, the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp had already achieved remarkable currency within Chinese Buddhist circles. It is therefore plausible that figures such as Yŏm Sŭngik and Cho Ingyu—both deeply committed Buddhist patrons whose political and diplomatic careers required frequent engagement with Yuan religious networks—were almost certainly familiar with the text and the salvific ritual culture surrounding it. From this perspective, Ŭisŏn’s later decision to recarve and proliferate the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp may reasonably be viewed not simply as an isolated act of personal piety, but also as reflecting the continuation of a devotional orientation already cultivated within the broader familial and political networks linking Cho Ingyu and Yŏm Sŭngik. Among the innumerable scriptures circulating within the Buddhist ecumene of the fourteenth century, it was precisely this ritual compendium that Ŭisŏn selected for renewed publication and dissemination. Such a decision was unlikely to have been accidental. Rather, it signals the exceptional ritual authority and soteriological prestige the text had already acquired within elite Koryŏ Buddhist circles. That Ŭisŏn subsequently received in Yuan China the title of “Tripiṭaka Master” in recognition of this undertaking only further underscores the transregional religious significance attributed to the project.

Ŭisŏn’s father, Cho Ingyu, enjoyed the favor of the Yuan imperial court, while Ŭisŏn’s younger sister became a consort of King Ch’ungsŏn (忠宣王, 1275–1325; r. 1298, 1308–1313) in 1292 and was said to have received the king’s particular affection.59 As is well known, King Ch’ungsŏn’s own mother, Princess Cheguk Taejang was herself a woman of Yuan imperial lineage. Ŭisŏn’s later rise within transregional Buddhist networks can therefore be situated within this dense constellation of political privilege, aristocratic alliance, and Buddhist patronage. Against this broader historical background, it is plausible that Ŭisŏn’s recarving of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp was shaped not only by personal religious commitment but also by broader familial and devotional traditions. Although direct evidence is lacking, the close relationship between Ŭisŏn, Cho Ingyu, and Yŏm Sŭngik suggests that their shared engagement with repentance ritual and Pure Land devotion may have influenced Ŭisŏn’s later decision to sponsor the recarving of this particular text from among the vast body of Buddhist scriptures then in circulation.

Since Ŭisŏn is said to have entered the monastic order at Myoryŏnsa (妙蓮寺) in his early childhood, he likely took tonsure before the age of ten.60 Although Yŏm Sŭngik died when Ŭisŏn was still only nineteen years old, by his early twenties Ŭisŏn had already attained the rank of sŏnsa (禪師), a distinction approaching the highest levels of the Buddhist ecclesiastical hierarchy.61 Within such a milieu of tightly interwoven aristocratic, monastic, and devotional networks, it is difficult to imagine that Ŭisŏn was unfamiliar with Yŏm Sŭngik, who was at once an affinal relation of the Cho lineage and one of the most conspicuous lay Buddhist patrons of the late Koryŏ court. It is further plausible that the verse reportedly recited by Cho Ingyu on his deathbed in 1308 was none other than this same four-line gāthā. At the time of his father’s passing, Ŭisŏn was twenty-five years old and had already risen to an eminent clerical position.62 Significantly, Ŭisŏn appears to have remained in Koryŏ until the deaths of both Yŏm Sŭngik and Cho Ingyu. Seen in this light, Ŭisŏn’s later recarving and dissemination of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp after his departure to the Yuan may be understood not merely as an act of doctrinal propagation, but as a deeply charged ritual enterprise shaped by networks of familial memory, devotional obligation, and soteriological aspiration. Through the reproduction and circulation of this repentance liturgy, Ŭisŏn may well have sought to secure the posthumous salvation and rebirth in the Pure Land of both Yŏm Sŭngik and Cho Ingyu, figures whose religious sensibilities and patronage practices had helped shape the Buddhist culture from which he himself emerged.63

By contrast, the Baoqieyin jing dhāraṇī supervised by Yŏm Sŭngik operated on a far more immediate and pragmatic register. Precisely because it took the form of a woodblock print, it could be produced in large quantities at relatively low cost and thereby circulate widely among devotees of differing social strata. Its ritual efficacy, moreover, was understood to manifest itself with exceptional immediacy. The Baoqieyin jing promised the swift realization of miraculous benefits, particularly in the realm of ritual healing and the alleviation of bodily affliction. At the same time, possession of the printed dhāraṇī itself appears to have functioned as a material assurance of eventual rebirth in the Pure Land. In this sense, the printed object operated simultaneously as a portable ritual medium, a salvific object, and an instrument of thaumaturgical power.

5. Conclusions

Koryŏsa, the preeminent dynastic history of the Koryŏ dynasty, records that Yŏm Sŭngik wielded such overwhelming political influence that his power was said to “tilt the entire state” (權傾一國).64 Renowned for his mastery of ritual and thaumaturgical practices, Yŏm occupied a uniquely favored position within the court of King Ch’ungnyŏl. Although the surviving corpus associated with his patronage is comparatively limited, the works that remain constitute some of the most refined achievements of late Koryŏ Buddhist art. The seven scrolls of the copied Lotus Sutra manuscript produced circa 1283, though privately commissioned, are virtually indistinguishable in format and codicological refinement from manuscripts produced for the royal court itself. The same may be said of the Amitābha Tathāgata painting executed in 1286, a work notable for both its monumental scale and pictorial sophistication, and which stands among the supreme achievements of Koryŏ Buddhist painting. Significantly, Yŏm Sŭngik inscribed the same four-line gāthā upon both works. While the ultimate textual source of the verse lies in the forty-fascicle Huayan jing compiled in 798, it is plausible that Yŏm Sŭngik encountered and employed the verse primarily within the devotional framework of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp, rather than through direct engagement with the Huayan jing itself. This interpretation should not be understood as identifying a definitive textual source, for the four-line gāthā enjoyed widespread circulation, continuing to be quoted in more than sixty Buddhist texts through the mid-twentieth century.65 Nevertheless, among the works preserving the verse, only two—the forty-fascicle Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp—were incorporated into the Koryŏ Tripiṭaka.66 Although this evidence cannot determine with certainty the textual source from which Yŏm adopted the gāthā, it lends additional plausibility to the interpretation that the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp provided a particularly immediate devotional and ritual context through which he encountered and employed it.

In late Koryŏ Buddhism, ch’ambŏp (repentance rituals) occupied a position of central importance that transcended sectarian boundaries. This was, above all, a period in which practical and performative forms of Buddhist devotion intensified under the influence of kyŏlsa (結社), or Buddhist devotional societies. Within such a religious climate, repentance rituals assumed a central role, their ultimate purpose being the eradication of karmic transgressions through confession and penitential practice, culminating in rebirth within the Pure Land. Repentance (懺悔) thus emerged as one of the most pervasive religious concerns of late Koryŏ Buddhism across doctrinal affiliations. It is within this broader ritual and devotional milieu that the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp had already achieved widespread circulation by the thirteenth century. Yŏm Sŭngik, it may be argued, selected from the text what he regarded as its most essential and soteriologically potent and ritually efficacious four-line gāthā, employing it as the conceptual and devotional core of the works he commissioned.

Remembered in historical sources as a powerful royal favorite (p’yehaeng 嬖幸) at the court of King Ch’ungnyŏl, Yŏm Sŭngik invoked the concluding gāthā of the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp in the hope that repentance would absolve him of any transgressions and ultimately grant rebirth in the Pure Land.67 Through the recitation of repentance liturgies, ritual confession according to prescribed ceremonial procedures, the chanting of Buddha’s name, sutra copying, and the production and circulation of dhāraṇī prints, devotees sought release from suffering and liberation from karmic burden. Faced with illness, bereavement, and the persistent realities of human fragility, practitioners prayed that sins might be extinguished so that disease could be cured, health restored and, should death ultimately occur, rebirth in the Pure Land nevertheless attained. For Yŏm Sŭngik, who sought to employ ritual efficacy as a means to heal, protect, and intervene within the uncertainties of worldly existence, few texts or ritual objects could have possessed greater practical and spiritual utility than the Yenyŏm mit’a toryang ch’ambŏp and Baoqieyin jing. Among the figures of late Koryŏ Buddhism, it was Yŏm Sŭngik who most effectively mobilized and materialized their salvific and thaumaturgical potential.

Although the surviving evidence does not permit a comprehensive assessment of Yŏm Sŭngik’s long-term influence on the subsequent development of Koryŏ Buddhism or Korean Buddhist art, his patronage nevertheless illustrates the important role that elite officials could play in shaping the production, circulation, and ritual use of Buddhist material culture. His decision to dedicate his own residence for use as the Taejanggyŏng sagyŏngso further underscores the breadth of his patronage, suggesting that his commitment extended beyond the sponsorship of individual works to supporting the institutional conditions under which Buddhist manuscripts and ritual objects could be produced.

Ultimately, the copied sutras, paintings, and dhāraṇī prints associated with Yŏm Sŭngik’s patronage should not be understood as isolated commissions, but rather as components of a coherent ritual and soteriological program centered on repentance, karmic eradication, ritual healing, and aspirations for Pure Land rebirth. Viewed in this broader context, they reveal how Buddhist art in late Koryŏ functioned not merely as objects of devotion or aesthetic contemplation, but as active ritual media through which repentance, karmic eradication, healing, and Pure Land rebirth were materially enacted and ritually realized.