Ulsaninseongam Hermitage Guardian Deities Painting

A painting depicting the many deities who protect the Buddhist teaching and the guardians of a temple's ritual space is generically called a sinjungdo, or guardian-deities painting. The sinjungdo of Ulsan Inseongam Hermitage is enshrined on the right-hand side of Daeungjeon Hall; it is a coloured painting on a single panel of cotton, 105 cm wide and 106.5 cm high. On the left of the composition, Jeseokcheon (Indra), wearing a crown and holding a lotus, is attended on his left by Geumganggwon Bosal and Ilgung Cheonja, the deity of the sun palace, and on his right by Geumgangsak Bosal and Wolgung Cheonja, the deity of the moon palace. On the right of the composition, Dongjin Bosal, holding a long spear, is surrounded by the Deity of the Plough, the Deity of the Mountain, the Great Deity who Guards the Precepts, the Great Deity of Fortune and Virtue, the Deity of the Ritual Site and the Deity of the Monastery. In the upper part of the painting, in front of a folding screen, seven child attendants of heaven are shown playing musical instruments. Although some flaking can be seen in places, the sinjungdo of Ulsan Inseongam Hermitage renders the figures of the retinue with well-observed shading, giving each face a varied expression, and red tones are used throughout the composition. An inscription recording the painting's production survives at the bottom of the work; although badly flaked, it retains the Guangxu reign era and the temple's name, showing that the painting was made in the 1880s. It is a heritage item of considerable value for the study of late Joseon Buddhist painting and religious practice.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Ulju, Ulsan

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산