Wooden Seated Sakyamuni Buddha Triad of Beomeosa Temple, Busan

This seated triad, the principal image in the Daeungjeon Hall of Beomeosa Temple, is known from an inscription and a votive prayer text found inside the statues during regilding to have been made as a "prediction triad" comprising Sakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya Bodhisattva and Dipankara Bodhisattva. They also confirm the exact date of production as the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi reign, 1661, the second year of King Hyeonjong of Joseon, and that the sculptors were led by the chief monk-sculptor Huijang, together with Bohae, Gyeongsin, Ssangmuk, Noeyeong, Sinhak, Cheongeon and others. The chief sculptor-monk Huijang worked in 1639 together with Cheongheon, who carved the wooden seated Buddhas of the Three Ages and standing bodhisattvas, a treasure, in the Daeungjeon Hall of Ssanggyesa Temple, Hadong, and in 1646 also worked with Seungil, who carved the wooden Amitabha triad of Sudoam Hermitage at Cheoneunsa Temple. In the 1650s, bearing the title Great Meditation Master of the Seon school, he made the Buddha image at Daeunam Hermitage in Cheongdo (1654). His works are also found elsewhere in the Jeolla and Gyeongsang regions, and the Buddha images in the Daeungjeon Hall of Beomeosa Temple are thought to be works of his mature period. Surviving records show that he was a leading monk-sculptor of the mid- to late seventeenth century, active throughout the Jeolla and Gyeongsang regions. The triad has well-balanced proportions, giving it a dignified and well-proportioned form, while the faces combine full volume with a gentle smile, conveying a compassionate, composed and elegant expression. The folds of the robes are rendered simply in straight lines, leaving much open space, yet the overall effect is both vigorous and well ordered. Below the knees, broad band-like folds spread out symmetrically on either side to form a fan shape. These stylistic features have become established as characteristic of the sculptural style of the Huijang school. The Wooden Seated Sakyamuni Buddha Triad in the Daeungjeon Hall of Beomeosa Temple is an outstandingly accomplished work, for which the inscription reveals not only the precise identity of the deities but also the date of production and the group of sculptors involved.

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Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Treasure · 보물