Standing Gyeondusan Mountain Rock-carved Buddha

Climbing about 6km from the entrance to Gyeondusan Mountain behind Sindeok Village in Suji-myeon leads to the summit; descending past a grave there, keeping it to the left, one comes to a massive rock face some 5m high. This rock-carved Buddha is cut about 2.5m up from the base of the rock face. The area below the knees is now lost, so its exact scale cannot be determined, but including the lotus pedestal the statue reaches 3.2m in height, with a shoulder width of 78cm and a head length of 58cm, making it a large standing rock-carved Buddha. The full, fleshy face and imposing body give a sturdy build; the eyes appear to slant upward at the corners, and with a thick nose and tightly closed mouth the overall expression is rigid. On the bare head, the topknot-shaped ushnisha is rendered broad and large, and the hair spreads widely across both sides of the forehead, giving a thick, cap-like appearance. At the centre of the forehead the urna (a tuft-of-hair mark, baekho) is clearly marked, and the philtrum is very short, so that the nose and mouth seem almost joined. On the neck, the three folds known as samdo — a standard mark of the Buddha's virtue — are distinct, and the broad-shouldered, imposing body wears monastic robes draped to bare the right shoulder. The hem of the robe covering the left shoulder forms gentle U-shaped folds beneath the right armpit, wrapping the whole body and flowing down to near the ankles. The two hands are spread to either side as if preaching: the right hand is raised above the chest with the wrist turned outward, while the left hand is held out from the body with the thumb and index finger lightly touching. The halo was formed by shallowly carving away the surrounding rock to depict a head halo and a body halo, and a hollow is cut into the rock above the head, a trace suggesting that something was once fitted there to protect the statue. With its carving technique close to shallow-relief line engraving, its imposing proportions, the form of its hand gestures, and a facial expression combining a full face with a tightly closed mouth, this rock-carved Buddha shows affinities with other rock-carved Buddhas of the Namwon area, such as the Yeowonchi rock-carved Buddha, and its production is presumed to date from the early to middle Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namwon, Jeonbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산