[News Terms] Cultural Heritage Administration Begins Academic Investigation of 'Bulbokjang'

Relics Inside Buddha Statues Including Horyeongtong (喉鈴筒), Scriptures, and Fabrics
Project Open for Bidders to Properly Preserve and Manage Buddha's Inner Artifacts

'Bulbokjang (佛腹藏)' is a term referring to relics placed inside Buddha statues, such as gold, silver, various treasures, sarira (Buddhist relics), and scriptures. It is also called 'Bokjang Yimul (腹藏遺物)' or 'Bulbokjang (佛腹藏)', and includes not only the various relics placed inside Buddha statues but also the ritual acts performed to confer symbolic meaning to the statues.

One of the most important Buddhist rituals is the Jeoman-sik (點眼式), or eye-opening ceremony. Jeoman-sik is a ritual that imbues Buddha statues, Buddhist paintings, stone pagodas, and Buddhist altars with sacredness, making these Buddhist objects of faith spiritually efficacious. It is also called Gaean-sik (開眼式).

The Seated Stone Statue of Samjang Bosal and the Wooden Statues of the Ten Kings at Songlimsa Temple in Chilgok, designated as treasures by the Cultural Heritage Administration in December last year.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Buddha statue gains its sacred significance as a holy object after the ritual of placing various items inside the statue's body is completed during the Jeoman-sik.

The items placed inside the Buddha statue center around the Huryungtong (喉鈴筒). The Huryungtong can be considered the heart of the Buddha statue. It is placed in the chest area of the statue and surrounded tightly by other items to prevent movement. Inside the Huryungtong are sarira relics, as well as the five grains (Ogok, 五穀), five treasures (Obo, 五寶), five medicines (Oyak, 五藥), five fragrances (Ohyang, 五香), and five treasure bottles (Obobyeong, 五寶甁), representing the five directions and precious items obtained from the world.

After filling the Huryungtong, various dharani (mantras), scriptures, silk cloth, and other garments (bokshik) are placed inside.

The method of enshrining various relics inside Buddha statues, called 'Bulbokjang Jakbeop', is designated as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The term 'Bokjang (腹藏)' is used only in Korea; in China, it is called 'Zhangzhang (裝藏)', and in Japan, it is called 'Nonyu (納入)'.

The earliest known example is the stone Buddha statues of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, created in the 4th to 6th centuries. In China, this practice was already widespread during the Tang Dynasty from the 7th century onward. In Korea, it was introduced during the Unified Silla period around the same time and flourished during the Goryeo period, later spreading to Japan around the 10th century.

Domestically, the most famous Bulbokjang was excavated from the wooden seated statue of Manjusri Boy at Sangwonsa Temple on Odaesan Mountain. The Bulbokjang included the Huryungtong and a jeogori (jacket) belonging to Lady Jang, known as a concubine of King Sejo.

Horyeongtong excavated from the Wooden Amitabha Triad Statue at Wondangam, Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon.
[Photo by Cultural Heritage Administration]

Bulbokjang relics are important research subjects when studying Buddhist art history, bibliography, and costume history, and academic investigations have begun to properly preserve and manage the diverse types and quantities of these relics.

According to academia on the 20th, the Cultural Heritage Administration recently announced a public recruitment for a private contractor to carry out the first year of the 'Bokjang Yimul Precision Academic Investigation Project.' The Cultural Heritage Administration stated that the purpose of the project is "to identify the academic and cultural heritage value of the complex cultural heritage of Bokjang relics and to establish basic data for systematic management and utilization."

In the first year of the project, the Cultural Heritage Administration plans to conduct investigations until the end of December. The goal is to investigate at least five Buddha statue Bokjang relics that are either designated as national cultural heritage or considered important even if not currently designated, organize the data, and prepare reports.