Mountain Wutai Map; Silla King Tower; Silla prince; Jajang; Wutaishan Manjusri belief
摘要
The “Wutai Mountain Map” of cave 61 in Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang and the “Wutai Shan zan” found in the Tripitaka Cave are precious historical materials for the study of ancient Buddhism in Korea. Chinese and Korean academia generally believe that the Silla King Tower is to commemorate the Silla monk Jajang. Because Jajang had gone to Chang’an to study Dharma and visited Wutai Mountain. From the background of Jajang’s origin and the process of his entry into the Tang Dynasty, he is the “Silla prince” often found in Dunhuang literature. However, according to the author's investigation, Jajang did not visit Wutai Mountain. He has no direct connection with the Wutaishan Manjusri belief. Therefore, there is no direct connection between the “Silla Prince” and Jajang. The “Silla” elements appearing in the Dunhuang literature have no problems in themselves. It proves the frequent Buddhist exchanges between the Silla and the Tang in the 7th and 8th centuries. However, there are many problems with considering the “Silla prince” as Jajang, because many Silla monks visited Wutai Mountain. In Silla's hierarchy at that time, the status of these monks was born to be distinguished, so the “Silla Prince” may be a vague reference to the Buddhist monks from Silla. It is also a cognition phenomenon that the spread of Jajang and Wutai Mountain beliefs spread in the Korean Peninsula was reversed to Dunhuang.
