Namyangjunaewonam Hermitage Hanging Scroll Painting

Naewonam Hermitage stands west of Mireukbong Peak on Suraksan Mountain, in Cheonghak-ri, Byeollae-myeon, and is a branch temple of Bongseonsa Temple, also in Cheonghak-ri, Byeollae-myeon. Most of the Buddhist paintings enshrined in the hermitage's shrine halls were produced and installed after Korea's 1945 liberation, but the gwaebul alone — a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for large ceremonies — is the work of painter-monks active in Gyeonggi and Gyeongsang provinces in the nineteenth century. It offers fresh material for examining both the regional character of nineteenth-century Buddhist painting in Gyeonggi Province, particularly in the Namyangju area, and the stylistic features of nineteenth-century Buddhist painting generally, and it was designated Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 197 in 2004. The hermitage's gwaebul was made in 1885; its composition is bold and simple, with an unusual arrangement of figures forming a large diamond shape. At the top, Sakyamuni Buddha, shown making the gesture of turning the wheel of the Dharma, bears a round halo behind the head and a winnowing-basket-shaped halo behind the body; below his chest is depicted Baegui Gwaneum, the White-robed Avalokiteśvara. Gwaneum bears a round halo behind both head and body, wears a crown with a manifestation Buddha at its centre, and sits in the full lotus position with both hands joined around a water bottle. Flanking Sakyamuni Buddha and Baegui Gwaneum, who thus divide the composition into upper and lower sections, stand the two disciples Ananda and Kasyapa with palms joined in prayer. The painting is the work of monk-painters including Manpa Jeongtak, Dongho Jincheol, Hakheo Seogun and Seogam Duyeol, together with the monks Bongan, Jakpum, Inhyeong, Hyeonjo, Jonghyeon, Myoheup, Hyejo and Unje, among others.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namyangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산