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영어

The wind god and thunder god shown in Gamrodo located at Heungcheonsa Temple in Seoul takes up a very unique position in the history of Korean painting. The smallpox demons are seen in pairs. They have two horns on their heads and put up a frightening face like goblins. They also show as males who are nearly naked for the upper body and reveal muscular skin through the fabric-made clothes. The wind god spews wind with its wind bag carried around the waist. Meanwhile, the thunder god presents an attacker’s stance holding the smaller dumbbells in both hands and with its mouth agape. The two demons as such are never found anywhere else than at Heungcheonsa. In short, this is an anomaly in Korea. However, such a characteristic is quite common with the Japanese Buddhist painting. In this sense, it is believed that the wind god and thunder god shown in Gamrodo of Heungncheonsa reflect the Japanese influence. The wind god and thunder god at Heungcheonsa are nearly the same as the wind god and thunder god that frequently appear in the works by Hashimoto Gaho, the Japanese painter. The wind gods and thunder gods strike resemblance to one another of the pairs, in that the wind god fumes air from a wind bang carried around the waist and the thunder god with two sharp horns on their heads take an aggressive posture by upholding their arms while opening their mouths and putting up a scary face. This leads to the inference that the Buddhist painters of Joseon imitated the works by Hashimoto Gaho in including the wind god and thunder god in Gamrodo at Heungcheonsa.