Seated Rock-carved Maitreya Buddha of Bongamsa Temple, Mungyeong

The Treasure Seated Rock-carved Maitreya Buddha of Bongamsa Temple, Mungyeong is a rock-carved Buddha made in 1663, the fourth year of King Hyeonjong, located at Okseokdae (also called Baegundae) at Bongamsa Temple in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Its date of production and the person who commissioned it are confirmed by the "Record of the Conduct of Great Master Hwanjeokdang", included in the collected writings of the monk Punggye Myeongchal (1640-1708), the Punggyejip. Myeongchal was a disciple of the seventeenth-century monk Hwanjeokdang Uicheon, and this record states that Hwanjeokdang oversaw the making of the rock-carved Buddha. Hwanjeokdang Uicheon was born in 1630 in Seonsan, Gyeongsangbuk-do, left home to become a monk at the age of eleven, and died at Baengnyeonam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple in 1690, aged eighty-eight. Hwanjeokdang first practised at Bongamsa Temple from the age of sixty (1662) to sixty-one; according to the record, during this time he had this Seated Maitreya carved at Baegundae, erected a stele recording the temple's history, and built Hwanjeokam Hermitage. The seated bodhisattva figure is about 539.6 cm high and 502.6 cm wide. The area around the head was cut deeply to form the shape of a halo, carved in deep relief at the top and gradually shallower towards the bottom. The head has plain, unadorned hair, and the round, oval face, with its well-defined nose, gentle eyes and neatly closed mouth, gives a harmonious impression. The three folds on the neck are lightly rendered, and the figure wears a robe covering both shoulders, its folds simply carved. Across the chest is a horizontally draped skirt-like garment fastened with a knotted sash, its folds carved with restraint and a controlled variation of strength and rhythm. The seated posture is the auspicious cross-legged posture (gilsangjwa), and the exposed right foot is comparatively small next to the scale of the statue and the width of its knees. In particular, the detailed treatment of the face, posture and drapery shares elements with seventeenth-century gwaebul - huge Buddhist paintings hung outdoors for large ceremonies - such as the Sejon Gwaebultaeng of Jungnimsa Temple, Naju (1622), the Yeongsanhoe Gwaebultaeng of Hwaeomsa Temple, Gurye (1653), the Yeongsanhoesangdo in Palsangjeon Hall of Ssanggyesa Temple, Hadong (1688), and the Yeongsanhoesangdo of Heungguksa Temple, Yeosu (1693), suggesting a relationship with contemporary Buddhist paintings. The hand gesture of this Buddha is the yonghwa mudra, or dragon-flower hand gesture, in which both hands hold a long bunch of flowering branches. Given its clear production date of 1663, the statue is an important benchmark work for confirming the iconography of rock-carved Buddhas. The Treasure Seated Rock-carved Maitreya Buddha of Bongamsa Temple, Mungyeong is one of the few rock-carved Buddhas whose date, motive for production, sponsor and iconography can be verified through documentary sources, and it is of great historical and academic value as essential material not only for the study of rock-carved Buddhas of the late Joseon period but also for the study of Maitreya iconography. It is also highly valued artistically for its clearly rendered features, realistic carving technique and creative expression linked to contemporary Buddhist paintings, and it fully merits designation and preservation as a Treasure.

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Where it is

Region

Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물