Goyang Heungguksa Temple Hanging Scroll

This hanging scroll (a gwaebul, a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for large-scale ceremonies) follows the same triad format as the 1886 hanging scroll at Bongeunsa Temple, and is also similar to the 1858 hanging scroll at Heungguksa Temple in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, and the 1895 hanging scroll at Buramsa Temple. Its iconography reflects the simplified, miniaturised triad composition popular during the reigns of King Sunjo and Emperor Gojong. Amitabha Buddha is placed at the centre, flanked by the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, with Ananda, Kashyapa, and the child attendants Manjusri and Samantabhadra arranged around them. The main Buddha bears a halo shaped like a winnowing basket. Its serene, full face, the large jewel set at the centre of the topknot, the long ears, and the elongated arms are all rendered in an unrealistic manner. Unlike the main Buddha, the bodhisattvas, disciples and child attendants are depicted in relatively fine detail. However, the attendant figures standing in front of the main Buddha show an awkward sense of perspective. The way the composition fills the entire picture plane, together with the attendants' somewhat gaunt cheeks, thin eyebrows, small half-closed downcast eyes and small, tightly closed mouths, reflects the stylistic trend of the early twentieth century. The bodhisattvas' ornate crowns each bear a fairly large kundika (water vessel) or a small manifestation Buddha, which clearly identifies Mahasthamaprapta and Avalokitesvara respectively. The main Buddha and the two flanking bodhisattvas are depicted at almost the same size, which appears to emphasise the triad as a unit. Lavish ornamentation seems intended to disguise the unrealistic proportions of the main Buddha, whose hands are unusually large and whose lower body is rendered too short in relation to the rest of the figure. The hems of the robes are elaborately decorated with stylised floral motifs derived from chrysanthemum, peony and lotus designs. In its use of colour, the painting combines vivid reds and greens, the yellow tone of the triad's faces, the light flesh tone of the two disciples, and the vermilion of the two child attendants, seemingly aiming to convey the splendour of the Western Pure Land. However, the excessive use of ultramarine makes the picture as a whole look dark and stiff. Hanging scrolls of this kind are mostly produced depicting the Buddha's assembly on Vulture Peak (Yeongsanhoesangdo), Maitreya Bodhisattva, or Vairocana Buddha, and paintings of Amitabha Buddha are extremely rare among them. Around the nineteenth century, Buddhist paintings held at temples across Gyeonggi-do were predominantly of Amitabha Buddha, which appears to reflect the turbulent domestic and international circumstances of the time. According to an inscription entitled Hanmisan Heungguksa Manilhoebigi (a record of the Ten-Thousand-Day Assembly held at Heungguksa Temple on Mount Hanmi) and the temple history Bongeun Bonmalsaji, King Yeongjo, while travelling in 1707 to Soryeongwon, the tomb of Royal Consort Suk-bin Choe, stopped at this temple and personally wrote the wooden plaque for Yaksajeon Hall, showing that the temple had a close relationship with the royal family. Later, in the fifteenth year of Emperor Gojong's reign (1878), the head monk Wanhae is said to have had this hanging scroll painting made using funds from the royal privy purse. According to the dedicatory inscription on this Heungguksa hanging scroll, the name Wanhae Seongsun indicates a close connection with the royal family, and it can be seen that the royal family had the image of Amitabha Buddha made in a turbulent period in order to pray for the wellbeing of the royal house and for rebirth in the Pure Land. In other words, it is thought to have been made to pray for Emperor Gojong's longevity, for the health of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and for the wellbeing of Royal Consort Sunbi, Lady Eom, and Crown Prince Yeong.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goyang, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산