Eight Scenes from the Life of the Buddha of Anyangam Hermitage

A palsangdo is a painting that condenses the life of the Buddha Sakyamuni into eight scenes: the descent from Tusita Heaven, the birth in Lumbini Garden, the observation of suffering at the four gates of the palace, the departure from the palace over its walls, ascetic practice in the snow-covered mountains, the subjugation of demons beneath the Bodhi tree, the first sermon at Deer Park, and entry into nirvana beneath the twin sala trees - eight panels in all. The Eight Scenes of Anyangam Hermitage are enshrined to the left of the main altar in Daeungjeon Hall. Unlike most such sets, the first four scenes are hung out of their normal order. The scene that properly belongs in the third position, Observation at the Four Gates, is displayed as the first: it shows the prince leaving the palace by its eastern, western, southern and northern gates to observe the sufferings of ordinary people and to become aware of the impermanence of life. The scene that properly belongs in the fourth position, Departure over the City Wall, is displayed as the second: it shows the prince, once the palace attendants have fallen asleep at night, leaving home and crossing the city wall under the escort of the Four Heavenly Kings. The scene that should properly come first, Descent from Tusita Heaven, is displayed as the third: the Bodhisattva Horyeong, who had dwelt in Tusita Heaven before being born as a prince to King Suddhodana and Queen Maya of Kapilavastu, is shown descending in the form of Queen Maya's dream of a bodhisattva riding down on a white elephant. The scene that should properly come second, Birth in Lumbini Garden, is displayed as the fourth, and depicts scenes connected with the Buddha's birth. The fifth scene, Ascetic Practice in the Snow Mountains, shows the prince, having entered the snow-covered mountains, rejecting King Suddhodana's request, conveyed through his ministers, that he return to the palace, and instead devoting himself to spiritual practice among hermits. The sixth scene, Subjugation of Demons beneath the Bodhi Tree, depicts the prince overcoming every temptation and threat of the demon armies and forcing their submission. The seventh scene, First Preaching at Deer Park, shows the Buddha delivering his first sermon there. The eighth scene, Entry into Nirvana beneath the Twin Sala Trees, shows the Buddha, at the age of eighty, giving his final sermon on the fifteenth day of the second lunar month beneath the twin sala trees at Kushinagar before entering nirvana. An inscription recording the making of the work appears on the second, fourth, sixth and eighth scenes, showing that the paintings were produced in 1917 by the monk-painters Hwaam, Hakbong Seonho and others, and enshrined at Anyangam Hermitage on Samgaksan Mountain. The Eight Scenes in Anyangam's Daeungjeon Hall insert far more episodes than is traditional, making their iconography unusually complex. Even so, the composition is solemn, well-ordered and stable, the brushwork fine and delicate, and the manner of rendering trees and rocks recalls folk painting. The work is an important source for examining the relationship between late Joseon palsangdo and folk painting.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산