Seated Sogo-ri Rock-carved Buddha

A rock-carved Buddha 4.7m tall, seated broadly across the face of a large rock at the foot of Maoksan Mountain. Behind the Buddha's head is carved a round halo of six concentric rings (dogwang, representing the sacred light emanating from the Buddha's head), and around the body is a two-layered body halo (shingwang, likewise representing the Buddha's sacred light). Above the bare head rises a large usnisha (yukgye, the topknot-shaped protrusion on the crown of the Buddha's head symbolising wisdom). The broad face is carved with long, slanting eyes, a nose with pronounced nostrils, and a firmly closed mouth, and the ears on both sides are rendered large. The bow-shaped eyebrows, long eyes, round-nostrilled nose, small mouth, the depiction of a double chin, and the thick ears hanging down to the shoulders resemble those of the Standing Stone Buddha at Eoseok-ri, Icheon. Three lines of samdo (three folds carved on the Buddha's neck, symbolising wisdom) are clearly incised on the neck. The robe draped over both shoulders is carved turned back around the neck, and the drapery folds falling over the chest are rendered as continuous U-shapes, faithfully carrying on the characteristics of Unified Silla. The two hands, raised to the chest with the fingertips touching, appear intended to represent the mudra of preaching the Dharma. The somewhat flat body, the halo carved with several concentric lines, the thick usnisha and facial details, and the hand gesture of the preaching mudra resemble the Standing Rock-carved Buddha at Seongnamsa Temple in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, though in technique this work is somewhat inferior to the Seongnamsa Buddha. The stern expression on the broad, large face, the carving's loss of tension and diminished resilience, and the imprecise drapery folds and other details suggest a regionalised work of the early Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Icheon, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산