Commemoration and Veneration of Naong Hye-geun through the Stone Stupa and Stele at Ansimsa Temple, Mount Myohyang : Focusing on the Rubbing Materials of the ‘Stone Stele of the Stone Stupa of Jigong and Naong at Ansimsa Temple, Mount Myohyang’(妙香山 安

This paper investigates the rubbing of the Stone Stele of the Stone Stupa at Ansimsa Temple on Mount Myohyang, currently housed at the National Museum of Korea. Following the death of Naong Hye-geun, a prominent Seon master of the late Goryeo period, a series of Buddhist memorial services were held across the kingdom to honor and venerate his legacy. Among the central sites for these commemorative activities were Hwaeomsa Temple, Sinnyeoksa Temple, and Mount Myohyang. Particularly noteworthy is the stone stupa(石鐘) erected at Ansimsa Temple in 1384, along with the commemorative stele established to mark the occasion. This stele represents the culmination of a sustained series of memorial services organized by Naong’s disciples in the years following his death. The stupa at Ansimsa not only enshrined the sarira(relics) of Naong but also those of his teacher, Jigong, thereby symbolically elevating Naong to the status of a Buddha. In fact, during the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods, both Jigong and Naong were at times referred to as “living Buddhas.” The Buddhist reliquary currently held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is a product of this doctrinal development that venerates Naong in a Buddha-like manner. This paper proposes the hypothesis that the Buddhist reliquary may have originally been housed at Ansimsa Temple. In a later development, in 1711 during the late Joseon period, the monk Woljeo Dae-an oversaw the erection of another stele—an replica of the original—at Bohyeonsa Temple on Mount Myohyang. The rubbing preserved at the National Museum of Korea is taken from this 1711 stele. These rubbings are exceptionally rare due to their limited production and possess considerable documentary value, particularly because the preserved copy is in excellent condition and includes impressions of both the front and reverse sides of the stele.