Hanging Painting and Storage Chest of Unheungsa Temple

This is a Yeongsanhoe (Vulture Peak Assembly) gwaebul, a large Buddhist painting hung outdoors for major ceremonies, depicting the standing Sakyamuni Buddha at the centre surrounded by numerous other beings filling the picture, together with the chest used to store it. The painting shows the principal Buddha large enough to occupy about half the picture, flanked by the bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra. At the top of the picture are the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, along with two Buddhas of other worlds. The principal Buddha wears a robe that bares the right shoulder; the right hand hangs down gently gathered, while the left hand is raised to chest level, palm upward, with the thumb, middle finger and fourth finger slightly bent. With an imposing physique, broad squared shoulders drawn as though hunched, a square face and ears long enough to touch the shoulders, and robes that appear thick, the figure conveys great dignity and gravity. The rounded, squared face has slightly drooping eyebrows and a small mouth; the eyebrows, moustache and beard are drawn thickly in green, while the lips are rendered in vivid crimson. Manjusri and Samantabhadra, their bodies turned slightly towards the principal Buddha, stand on lotus flowers wearing ornate crowns, holding a ruyi sceptre and a lotus branch respectively. Apart from the colours and patterns of their robes and the position of their hands, their bodies, feet and postures are almost identical, as are the long hair falling over their shoulders and their various ornaments, headbands, chest ornaments, bracelets and earrings. The most distinctive feature of this painting is its densely packed patterning and the red Sanskrit letters marked on each figure. The patterns include lotus, scrolling vine, cloud, roundel, small-flower and dot motifs; among these, the scrolling-flower, lotus and cloud patterns are the principal patterns of the triad and add splendour across the whole picture. The Sanskrit letters are written at the centre of each figure's forehead, above both eyebrows, on the eyelids, at the middle and top of the crown protuberance, at the lower edge and top of the crown, at the centre of the upper neck, above and below the chest, and at the ankles. This hanging painting was made in the sixth year of King Yeongjo of Joseon (1730) by the monk-painter Uigyeom and others. The well-proportioned figures and facial features, the harmonious, bright colouring, the refined brushwork producing splendid, intricate and varied patterns, and the compositional method of painting the principal figure large at the centre with other figures set further back are all characteristic of Uigyeom's style, and the work compares favourably with the Yeongsanhoe Hanging Painting of Cheonggoksa Temple in Jinju (National Treasure). The storage chest is well preserved apart from a small loss to part of the lid. Made one year after the painting, in the seventh year of King Yeongjo of Joseon (1731), this chest is decorated with openwork metal fittings in the form of the man (卍), wang (王) and cross-shaped characters together with Sanskrit letters — an intricate and varied form of metalwork rarely found elsewhere, and a valuable example for the study of metal crafts of the period.

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Where it is

Region

Goseong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물