This paper extrapolates archetypes from the historical context of the Portrait of Great Master Seosan (Seosanjinyeong) and Portrait of Great Master Samyeong (Samyeongjinyeong) produced in the late Joseon dynasty and proceeds to examine the transmissio...
This paper extrapolates archetypes from the historical context of the Portrait of Great Master Seosan (Seosanjinyeong) and Portrait of Great Master Samyeong (Samyeongjinyeong) produced in the late Joseon dynasty and proceeds to examine the transmission, evolution, and proliferation of portraiture techniques from the viewpoint of competition and coexistence according to perceptions of certain monastic clans and the waxing and waning of power among them. To this end, the study focuses on the portraits of Great Master Samyeong housed at the Hongjeam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple and at Pyochungsa Temple to delve into the modes of expression distinct to these portraits. It accordingly finds that the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong at the Hongjeam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple is unique in its archetypal delineation of a lotus position assumed while seated in a chair and in the shape of both hands holding a monk’s duster. This contrast reveals itself in comparison with the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong (late 17th century) at Donghwasa Temple in Daegu; the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong which constitutes part of the Portraits of the Three Great Monks (Samdaesajinyeong) (18th century) at the Hongjeam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple; and the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong (late 18th century) at Bogyeongsa Temple in Pohang. The temples in which are enshrined the portraits of the Hongjeam Hermitage at Haeinsa Temple lineage are all places where the Samyeong monastic clan have resided. In the case of Pyochungsa Temple, it first housed its portrait of Great Master Samyeong before placing it in conjunction with the Portrait of Great Master Seosan and the Portrait of Great Master Giheo (Giheojinyeong) to enshrine the Portraits of the Three Great Monks after 1739. Within the Portraits of the Three Great Monks (1773) at Pyochungsa Temple, all three subjects are seated in chairs with both feet on the f loor, holding in one hand a monk’s duster and placing the other on the armrest of the chair. This distinct composition originates from the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong central to the Portraits of the Three Great Monks. The mode of expression used in the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong at Pyochungsa Temple also crops up in the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong (1768) at Bongjeongsa Temple in Andong, home to the Pyeonyang monastic clan. In addition, it later influenced the Portrait of Great Master Samyeong (1781) at Yongchusa Temple in Hamyang and its (19th century) counterpart at Tongdosa Temple in Yangsan. We therefore see that these portraits at the Hongjeam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple and at Pyochungsa Temple exhibit modes of expression distinct from one another and have been respectively enshrined at the domiciles of the Samyeong and Pyeonyang monastic clans.