고려시기(高麗時期) 사원(寺院)의 금은(金銀) 소비(消費) = Consumption of Gold and Silver by Buddhist Temples in Goryeo

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Both gold and silver was part of the most valuable matters whose possession was allowed only for the extremely high class rather than ordinary people. Gold and silver was used for foreign trade, coinage(especially Eunbyeong), luxury items at the royal palace, and bestowal to the subjects. Gold and silver was also used to make Buddhist works of art. It was even pointed out that temples consumed much more gold and silver than the state. There were rivalry relations between the state and temples even in the use of gold and silver as well as copper.
It was a common practice to use gold and silver to make Buddhist statues in Goryeo. It is estimated that approximately 500g of gold was used to plate a Buddhist statue with gold. Buddhist statues made of 100% gold or silver were small, consuming hundreds of grams of gold or silver.
Gold and silver was widely consumed to make Sagyeong, which had long been made. Its making was the most active during Yuan’s intervention. When Sagyeong was for an entire set of scriptures, a couple of kilograms of gold and silver were used.
Gold and silver was also broadly used to make all kinds of Buddhist craftwork and install ornaments. It is not easy to estimate accurately the amount of gold and silver used to make Buddhist works of art. Given the number of Buddhist temples around the nation, the total amounts of gold and silver used by the Buddhist community must have been enormous at thousands of kilograms.
During the reign of King Woo at the end of Goryeo, the country had considerable hardship to meet the massive demand of gold and silver from Ming. The shortage of gold and silver was mainly attributed to the outflow of gold and silver to Yuan and the paralysis of production. In addition, the large consumption of gold and silver to make Buddhists works of art was another important factor.
Trying to prepare gold and silver to present to Ming, the government worked hard on the production of gold and silver, put the old items made of gold and silver in requisition, and prohibited the use of gold and silver in the creation of Buddhist art. There were measures to prohibit strictly the consumption of gold and silver in the making of Buddhist statues and Sagyeong from the end of Goryeo to the beginning of Joseon. As a result, it was rare to us e gold and silver to make Buddhist works of art in early Joseon.