Seven Stars Painting of Jingwansa Temple

This Buddhist painting, made in 1910, is currently enshrined as the rear altar painting of Chilseonggak, the Seven Stars Hall of Jingwansa Temple. On the wide, horizontal picture plane, the Buddha of the Fixed Stars is depicted at the centre, surrounded by the Seven Stars and the Lords of the Stars. Seated in full lotus position on a blue lotus at the centre, the Buddha of the Fixed Stars wears red monastic robes, with the right hand held at chest level and the left resting on the knee; above his notably pointed cranial protuberance is shown a round finial jewel. To his right and left stand seven Buddhas of the Seven Stars — four on the right and three on the left — each with palms joined, facing the central Buddha; all seven wear red robes and, like the central image, have prominent pointed cranial protuberances. Below the Buddha of the Fixed Stars stand his two attendant bodhisattvas, the Sunlight Bodhisattva and the Moonlight Bodhisattva, each holding a gilded ceremonial sceptre; the Sunlight Bodhisattva wears a crown bearing a red sun and the Moonlight Bodhisattva a crown bearing a white moon, and both attend the principal image in reverence. Beside them stand the Seven Primordial Lords of the Stars, rendered in Daoist style and holding ceremonial tablets. With its thick application of pigment, a dominant scheme of red mixed with small amounts of indigo and green, and the heavy white powder applied to the faces of the surrounding star deities, this painting well shows the style of Buddhist painting of the early twentieth century. Not only is its exact date of production and painter-monk clearly known, but it is also notable as a rare example of a Seven Stars painting from the area near Seoul.

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Where it is

Region

Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산