Forgotten Traces of the Buddhist Incantation Spell Practice from Early Korea: Amulet Sheets of the <i>Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment</i> (<i>Mahāpratisarā</i>) from Silla

oleh: Joung Ho Han, Youn-mi Kim

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2023-03-01

Deskripsi

Through an investigation of two recently discovered paper sheets of the <i>Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment</i> from the Silla kingdom, this paper reveals that early Korea had more diverse forms of <i>dhāraṇī</i> practices than previously assumed. Through analyses of these incantation sheets, this paper contributes toward filling the gap in our current understanding of the material practice pertaining to the <i>Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment</i> of medieval East Asia. Previously, all known traces of material <i>dhāraṇīs</i> from early Korea, with just a few exceptions, were related to the <i>Sūtra of the Pure Light Incantation</i> enshrined in the relic crypts of pagodas—a practice that has little connection to contemporaneous Chinese <i>dhāraṇī</i> practice. However, the newly discovered <i>Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment</i> sheets, whose date this paper infers to be between the eighth and ninth century, show that Unified Silla had a <i>dhāraṇī</i> practice closely linked to coeval Chinese practice. The <i>Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment</i> sheets from Silla show the modification and continuation of Chinese <i>dhāraṇī</i> practice. Unlike the Chinese amulet sheets of the <i>Incantation of Wish-Fulfillment</i> that were buried in tombs, the Silla amulet sheets were likely enshrined in one of the pagodas erected on Mount Nam in Silla’s capital. At the same time, they were placed in the pagoda to wish for good afterlives of the soldiers who died at the battle, suggesting that they had a mortuary function similar to those buried in Chinese tombs.