Mok Four Guardian Kings Statue of Bongeunsa Temple

The four wooden Four Heavenly Kings statues were originally enshrined in Cheonwangmun Gate, which stood between Jinyeomun Gate and Beopwangnu Pavilion at Bongeunsa Temple. After Cheonwangmun Gate was demolished, the statues were moved to Daeungjeon Hall, where they remain temporarily enshrined. According to records of votive objects found inside the statues, they were made in 1746, the twenty-second year of King Yeongjo. Court-related figures took part as patrons, including Neungchanggun Yi (a great-grandson of Inseonggun, the seventh son of King Seonjo) and the court lady Bak Pil-ae. Dhritarashtra, the Guardian King of the East, commands the gandharvas and pisacas — classes of demigods and spirits in Buddhist cosmology — and is known to protect the people of the human world to the east, and in particular the state and the king. The statue of Dhritarashtra at Bongeunsa wears a jewelled crown and armour and stands with both hands clasped before the belly, originally gripping a sword that has since been lost. Its wide-open eyes and the sinuous curves of its eyebrows and beard convey the fierce valour expected of a guardian deity. All four statues were basically carved from a single large log, with separately carved pieces of wood joined to the body for parts that project or needed to be added, most notably the feet. The original pigments survive well on all four figures. Except for the statue of Virudhaka, the faces are all painted white, while the armour and crowns are coloured in a harmonious combination of red, green, blue and yellow. The standing wooden Four Heavenly Kings of Bongeunsa show bodies rendered somewhat small in relation to their large, broad faces, with patterns that are fine and elaborate yet somewhat rigid — features characteristic of the sculptural style of the mid-eighteenth century. These statues are valuable for several reasons. First, with a clearly documented production date of 1746, they are an important case for the study of mid-eighteenth-century wooden Buddhist sculpture. Second, unlike the clay Four Heavenly Kings statues usually found, they are a rare example in the Seoul area of standing wooden Four Heavenly Kings. Third, the large quantity of votive objects recovered from inside them provides valuable material for the study of such votive practices at the time. Fourth, aside from the loss of a few attributes — the sword held by Dhritarashtra and the spearhead atop the staff held by Virupaksha, the Guardian King of the West — their original form is comparatively well preserved.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산