Stone Lone Arhat Statue of Doseonsa Temple

This stone statue of the Lone Arhat, currently enshrined in the Dokseonggak Hall (Lone Arhat Hall) of Doseonsa Temple, is a small image with a total height of 71 cm. The Lone Arhat is one of the arhats who, dwelling on Mount Tiantai in southern India, received the Buddha's prophecy of future enlightenment and cultivates himself in solitude; he is also called Dokseongsu or Dokseong Jonja. "Lone Arhat" (dokseong) was originally a general term for sages of Hinayana Buddhism who attained enlightenment alone by awakening to the principle of cause and effect, but because of this sense of "one who awakened alone," Naban Jonja is commonly called by this name. Statues of the Lone Arhat are usually depicted as an aged arhat, seated before a landscape symbolising Mount Tiantai, with long hair and long eyebrows hanging down; the Doseonsa statue is distinctive, however, in showing the Lone Arhat as a young monk. The statue was carved in stone and then painted, and is shown seated comfortably with the left knee raised, the left hand resting on the knee, and the right hand set against the ground. Unlike the usual depiction of the Lone Arhat, the face has the youthful look of a novice monk: the head is somewhat oval, the crown closely shaven, with arched round eyebrows, narrowly opened eyes and a neat mouth, all in good harmony. Overall the face and body are well balanced, giving a settled, stable posture. A clasp fastening the robe is shown on the left shoulder, suggesting the figure is wearing the kasaya, but since the chest is left broadly bare with only a fold of the robe lightly draped over the right shoulder, it is rendered as though wearing the robe in the "right shoulder bared" style. The upper body appears elongated because the knee is set low, and the pose, with one hand on the ground and the other resting on the raised knee, appears very natural. Concerning this statue, a prayer text titled "Prayer for the Repainting of the Lone Arhat Naban Jonja" survives, according to which the statue was first coated with paint in 1876, the thirteenth year of Emperor Gojong, and recoated 108 years later. The statue is therefore presumed to have been made no later than 1876. While many paintings of the Lone Arhat survive today, sculpted images are rare; together with the clay statue of the Lone Arhat in the Dokseonggak Hall of Jingwansa Temple, this is one of the few such examples surviving in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region, and it is notable for depicting the Lone Arhat as a young figure rather than in the usual guise of a white-haired old arhat.

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Where it is

Region

Gangbuk-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산