Wooden Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva of Bongjeongsa Temple, Andong

The Wooden Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva of Bongjeongsa Temple, Andong, was made using a joined-wood technique (jeopmokjo) in which several pieces of timber are fitted together, and crystal was inlaid for the eyes. According to a wooden plaque at the temple recording the regilding of the Avalokitesvara image in the Daeungjeon Hall, and a 1753 vow text for its repair, the image was first made in 1199 and repaired between 1363 and 1364 and again between 1751 and 1753. Stylistically too, this bodhisattva invites comparison with Buddhist images of China's Southern Song dynasty and with the Wooden Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva of Bogwangsa Temple, Andong, and the Wooden Seated Amitabha Buddha of Gaesimsa Temple, Seosan — both presumed to date from the late twelfth to early thirteenth century. Its exotic appearance, not yet transformed into the Goryeo style, its elegantly plaited high topknot (bogye) reminiscent of an entasis column, its hair ornament (bobal) falling in overlapping loops over the shoulders, its tense drapery folds, and its refined carving technique and well-balanced proportions all support this comparison. This suggests that the image was very likely made around 1199 — the fourth year of the Seungan reign era, corresponding to the second year of King Sinjong of Goryeo — as recorded on the plaque describing the repair of the Avalokitesvara image in the Daeungjeon Hall. This Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva retains the earliest form of the neoclassical style of Buddhist image that newly emerged in the late Goryeo period, and it is highly valued as an important work for examining the establishment and development of this sculptural style.

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Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물