Daeungjeon Hall Vulture Peak Assembly Painting of Beomeosa Temple

In its broad sense, the Vulture Peak Assembly (Yeongsanhoesang) represents the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha, or Buddhism itself, and stands as a symbolic emblem of Buddhism; in its narrow sense, it refers to the gathering at which Sakyamuni preached the Lotus Sutra on Vulture Peak. A Vulture Peak Assembly painting is a Buddhist painting expressing this meaning, and is usually enshrined in the Daeungjeon Hall, where Sakyamuni is worshipped as the principal Buddha. Hanging so as to fill the entire altar-back wall of Beomeosa Temple's Daeungjeon Hall, this Vulture Peak Assembly painting is a large hanging-scroll Buddhist painting, comparable in scale to a gwaebul (a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for great ceremonies), and is in overall good condition. At the centre of the composition is Sakyamuni Buddha, seated cross-legged on a lotus pedestal with his hand in the earth-touching mudra, the gesture of subduing demons, surrounded by the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, the Ten Great Disciples and guardian deities, each shown at a different size according to rank, arranged in a fan-shaped, left-right symmetrical composition in the manner of a great assembly. On this large canvas, Sakyamuni and his compassionately smiling attendant figures are well harmonised with the solemn-faced guardian deities. The composition is divided overall into upper, middle and lower registers. At the centre of the middle register, Sakyamuni is depicted at roughly twice the size of the attendant bodhisattvas, and to either side of the main image, four bodhisattvas each, shown from the waist up amid purple clouds, attend him. In the lower register, to either side of the altar, stand the venerables Kasyapa and Ananda, their halos rendered in pale ink, at about half the size of the attendant bodhisattvas, with Indra and Brahma standing beside them, palms joined. Also depicted at either side of the lower register are the Four Heavenly Kings, whose attributes, armour and beards are rendered with delicate yet splendid detail, adding vitality and weight to the composition. The inscription reveals that this Sakyamuni Vulture Peak Assembly painting was made in 1882, together with the Trikaya Bodhisattva Painting and the Indra and Guardian Deities Painting also enshrined in the Daeungjeon Hall, and the White-robed Avalokitesvara Painting in the Gwaneumjeon Hall of the same temple. It is not only a large, well-preserved altar-back painting but also a heritage item of great research value for the study of late-Joseon Buddhist painting, being outstanding in composition and colouring and bearing a detailed record of the ranks and roles of those involved in its production, along with the names of the seventeen craftsmen who took part.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산