Standing Stone Buddha at Mogusa Temple Site, Cheongju

This is a standing stone Buddha originally handed down from Mogamsa Temple on Uamsan Mountain in Cheongju, and it was moved to its present location in recent times. The Buddha's head had originally been lost; a replacement head made at some later date was in place, but when the statue was moved to its present site a new head was made and attached. The pedestal and mandorla do not survive, and part of the body is slightly damaged, but the rest is well preserved. The carving technique is excellent, and the image is a fully rounded sculpture, carved in detail even on the back of the body, so that it prominently reflects the characteristic features of standing Buddha images of the Unified Silla period. The surviving neck bears the three creases (samdo, a conventional mark of a Buddha's neck), and as the shoulders are not broad the body forms a long cylindrical shape, yet each part of the body shows balanced proportions. A soft sense of volume is expressed throughout the body, and the folds of the outer robe are densely rendered in evenly spaced lines. A distinctive feature of this image is that the manner of wearing the robe is fully expressed, because the back is also carved in detail. Seen from the front, the outer robe appears to cover both shoulders (tonggyeon), but from the back it can be confirmed that the statue actually wears an outer robe baring the right shoulder (pyeondan-ugyeon) together with an undergarment (pyeonsam) covering the left. The chest is exposed and a knotted sash is visible at the waist; below the waist the folds of the robe wind around each leg in rounded curves. The hems of the robe, which cover the shoulders and fall over both arms, are rendered with great fluidity; the folds are carved as deep incised lines or stepped lines, yet without stiffness, harmonising with the soft volume of the body and adding to the weight of the carving. A particularly important feature of this image is its hand gesture, the wheel-turning mudra (jeonbeomnyunin) that was popular in the Unified Silla period, which is rendered comparatively accurately.

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Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산