Clay Seated Vairocana Buddha Triad of Beopjusa Temple, Boeun

This Buddha triad enshrined in Beopjusa Temple is well preserved, with the principal Vairocana Buddha at the centre, Amitabha Buddha on the left, and Sakyamuni Buddha on the right. The Vairocana Buddha has a square face and a sturdy, flat, curveless body, and the treatment of the knees gives it a blocky, massive impression. The left hand is wrapped by the right hand in the jigwonin, the wisdom-fist mudra symbolic of Vairocana, and the robe covering both shoulders falls in symmetrical folds at the wrists, giving a decorative effect. The Amitabha Buddha is of almost the same type as the principal Buddha, with the left hand raised to the chest and the right hand placed on the abdomen, the thumb and middle finger touching. The Sakyamuni Buddha shows the same stylistic features as the Vairocana and Amitabha figures in body and face. Its hand gesture is the hangma chokjiin, the earth-touching mudra commonly used for Sakyamuni, with the fingertips of the right hand, resting on the knee, pointing toward the ground. Interestingly, although the Amitabha and Sakyamuni Buddhas differ in hand gesture and religious character, their drapery follows an almost identical stylistic pattern, as if cast from the same mould. Overall, despite their large build the figures have youthful faces, and the robes are rendered with thick folds; solid in form, this triad is a monumental work reflecting the new sculptural style that emerged after the Japanese invasions of 1592-98. Although most of the relics once enshrined inside the statues have been stolen, a surviving record of the statues' origin shows that the triad was made in 1626, the fourth year of King Injo of Joseon, and that 121 years later, in 1747, the twenty-third year of King Yeongjo, the statues were regilded, making it a benchmark work for the study of Buddhist statues of the early late Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Boeun, Chungbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물