1295년 〈구미 대둔사 건칠아미타여래좌상〉의 조성과 중수, 그 의미

초록

The Daeungjeon Hall of Daedunsa Temple houses a dry-lacquered statue of Amitābha Buddha designated as a National Treasure of Korea. Until recently, scholarly opinions on the date of its production varied widely, ranging from the late Goryeo period to the early Joseon period, or a transitional phase between the two. A 2022 examination of the statue’s bokjang (internal consecration deposits), however, revealed that it was created in the eighth month of the first year of Yuanzhen (元貞元年, 1295) for the enshrinement at Deugiksa (得益社). This finding identifies the Daedunsa Amitābha Buddha as the earliest extant example of a dry-lacquered Buddhist sculpture with a precisely documented production date. It is also the first known instance, across the Three Kingdoms, Unified Silla, and Goryeo periods, in which a joseong barwonmun (votive inscription) has been discovered within a Buddhist image. A Jungsumun (重修文, Record of Restoration) dated 1690, found together with the statue, further records that more than four centuries after its creation, the work was restored by the eminent monk-sculptor Daneung (端應). The scope of this restoration has been underestimated in previous scholarship. This study demonstrates that Daneung not only replaced the original central topknot jewel with a semicircular form, but also added a new upper cranial jewel, both hands, and the pedestal. These substantial alterations help explain why, despite its original production in 1295 during the late Goryeo period, the statue has at times been misidentified by scholars as a work of the Joseon period.

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