Dogapsa Temple State Preceptor Doseon Portrait

This is a portrait of State Preceptor Doseon (827-898), a monk of the late Unified Silla period. Doseon was active mainly from the end of Unified Silla into the early Goryeo period, and because he is associated with secret prophetic records and with pungsu jiri (geomancy), he is sometimes regarded less as a historical figure than as a legendary one. He is said to have foretold the birth of King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo, and was greatly revered by the kings of Goryeo from King Taejo onward. The portrait is a full-length image showing him seated on a chair, turned slightly to the right, holding a jangja (a staff carried in the hand by a royal preceptor or great master during Buddhist rites); at the top of the painting is written the title "Portrait of State Preceptor Doseon". According to records handed down at the temple, the portrait of Doseon was first painted in 1456, the second year of King Sejo, at the suggestion of Royal Preceptor Sumi, who rebuilt Dogapsa Temple. The present painting is a later re-copy, done in deep colours on silk. Another portrait of Doseon is also preserved at Seonamsa Temple in Suncheon; an inscription at the top of that painting shows it to have been made in 1805, the fifth year of King Sunjo. Compared with the Seonamsa portrait, the treatment of the figure, the shading applied to the robes, and the pattern of the mat on the floor are similar, suggesting the two may date from around the same period; but the simplified costume, the inward-folded ends of the collar, and the floral bands on either side of the chair suggest that this portrait may be slightly later than the Seonamsa version. It is a fine example, well representative of monk portraiture of the late Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongam, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산