Vairocana Three Bodies Hanging Scroll Painting of Cheonchuksa Temple

The Vairocana Three Bodies Hanging Scroll Painting of Cheonchuksa Temple is a gwaebul (a huge Buddhist painting hung outdoors for large ceremonies) composed so that the standing images of the Three Bodies Buddha fill the entire picture. At the centre is the Dharma Body, Vairocana Buddha, forming the wisdom-fist mudra; to the left is the Reward Body, Rocana Buddha, forming the preaching mudra; and to the right is the Transformation Body, Sakyamuni Buddha, forming the earth-touching, demon-subduing mudra. Vairocana and Sakyamuni are usually depicted in Buddha form, making the wisdom-fist mudra and the earth-touching mudra respectively, while Rocana Buddha raises both hands towards the shoulders in the preaching mudra and is depicted in either of two forms: a bodhisattva form adorned with a jewelled crown and a beaded necklace, or a Buddha form. In the Seoul and Gyeonggi region during the nineteenth century, gwaebul on the theme of the Three Bodies Buddha or the Buddhas of the Three Ages were popular. Among gwaebul on the Three Bodies theme, some, such as the Heungcheonsa gwaebul (1832), the Cheonggyesa gwaebul (1862) and the Buramsa gwaebul (1895), depict all three Buddhas in Buddha form, while others, like this Cheonchuksa gwaebul, take the typical mudras of the wisdom-fist, preaching and earth-touching gestures, and although all three Buddhas wear the same outer robe, both the Reward Body and the Transformation Body are shown in bodhisattva form wearing a crown. This may reflect an intention to emphasise the pre-eminence of the Dharma Body Buddha, or it may equally be seen as an instance of the breakdown of iconographic convention that became frequent from the nineteenth century onward. The composition, in which clouds are simply depicted only in the blank space at the top of the picture with no other figures or decoration, filling the entire picture with just the three Buddhas, together with the pointed cranial protuberance, the large, showy and schematic crowns, the dominant colours of red, green and blue, the rendering of the flesh tone in yellow, the small floral pattern at the hem of the outer robe, and the shading technique used to create a sense of volume through gradations of colour, all clearly display the typical features of Buddhist paintings of the Gyeonggi region in the nineteenth century. This gwaebul was produced by Hawundang Yugyeong together with Changyeop, Chongji, Bongjo and Chongnyun. Three years later, Yugyeong made the Seven Stars Painting of Hwagyesa Temple, now held at Hyeondeungsa Temple, Gapyeong, but no other works by him are known. A broad, flattish face, narrow eyes but comparatively large features, and in particular lips drawn like a ribbon, appear to be the characteristic style of Hawundang Yugyeong. Changyeop and Chongnyun also took part, in September of the same year, in the production of the gwaebul of Heungguksa Temple in Namyangju, made under the direction of Eungseok. The two gwaebul were made in the same year and share two of the same painter-monks among their team, yet they show how greatly the style of a Buddhist painting can differ depending on the chief painter-monk. This painting is in good condition: the picture surface is undamaged, the production record survives intact, and the colouring largely retains its original state. Moreover, although as a gwaebul it is not large in scale and not especially old, its composition and style depicting the Three Bodies Buddha faithfully carry on the gwaebul style of the nineteenth-century Seoul and Gyeonggi region; and since few works survive by the master painter-monk Hawundang Yugyeong, it is important material both for identifying his distinctive painting style and for the study of nineteenth-century Buddhist painting.

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Where it is

Region

Dobong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산