Buddhist Painting held at Andongdaewonsa Temple

Judging from their inscriptions (hwagi), these three late-Joseon Buddhist paintings were originally enshrined at Jungdaesa Temple in Andong; it is not known when, or for what reason, they were later moved to Daewonsa Temple. According to the Complete Compilation of Korean Temples and the Encyclopaedia of Korean Buddhist History, Jungdaesa stood on Hakgasan Mountain in Seomi-dong, Pungsan-eup, Andong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. The Sinjungtaenghwa, a painting of Buddhist guardian deities, is nearly square in format and arranged in two registers. In the upper register, Brahma (Beomcheon) and Indra (Jeseokcheon) are shown leading the heavenly beings (cheonbu) and music-playing deities. In the lower register, Wicheon (Skanda), leading the Eight Legions of heavenly dragons and other guardian beings, is again arranged in two tiers: Wicheon stands holding a three-pronged vajra (samgojeo), his hands forming a mudra, flanked on either side by five figures, with four further figures placed to either side of the halo around his head, so that the Eight Legions and various guardian generals fill the register. In the upper register, Indra and Brahma occupy the centre, flanked to either side by the Sun deity and the Moon deity, two child attendants, two of the Four Heavenly Kings, a heavenly maiden holding an incense burner and a jewelled banner, and boy and girl attendants holding heavenly fruit and heavenly flowers. Brahma is shown with three eyes and hands forming a mudra, standing to the viewer's right of the composition, while Indra stands to the left with his hands concealed in his sleeves. Auspicious clouds rise throughout the painting and around the heads of the deities, and drift across the sky as well. The overall palette is dominated by red and green, and the weapons and hand-held objects of the guardian generals are covered in gold leaf. The term 'sinjung taeng habbuhwa', recorded in the inscription, indicates that although each deity plays a somewhat different role, because they share a common doctrinal basis they are depicted together on a single canvas — combining the heavenly host of Indra and Brahma with Wicheon and the Eight Legions of heavenly dragons. The Huhbultaenghwa, the painting placed behind the main Buddha image, has a symmetrical left-right composition. Rather than following the vertical format typical of Joseon-period upper-altar paintings, it uses a horizontal format, giving it a relatively refined and well-ordered structure. All the figures are oriented towards the central Buddha, and although Buddha and bodhisattva images are usually rendered noticeably larger than attendant figures, here there is little difference in scale between them, which is unusual. In its composition, the Buddha is enthroned alone at the centre of the altar, flanked to either side by six bodhisattva images; notably, the four bodhisattvas nearest the front are shown seated on chairs, and all six bodhisattvas display not only a green halo around the head but also a winnowing-basket-shaped green halo around the body. The Four Heavenly Kings are placed at the lower left and right, and behind them, at the rear of the composition, the Ten Great Disciples, led by Kasyapa and Ananda, are rendered with lifelike expressions. The overall colouring is again dominated by red and green, and the detailed patterns and costume decoration are finely executed, with gold leaf applied in places for splendid effect. The brushwork uses thin, taut 'iron-wire' (cheolseon) lines that appear elastic and refined. The Jijangtaenghwa, like the Huhbultaenghwa, has a symmetrical left-right composition. The principal image, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, is enthroned on a raised platform at the centre of the composition; below, to either side, are placed Dosonjonja and Mudok, the Ghost King, forming an upper and lower register, while the Ten Kings of the Underworld are arrayed five to each side, and behind them are placed the day- and month-duty messengers and the underworld judges. As in the other two paintings, the colouring is dominated by red and green. Ksitigarbha's robes and pedestal are elongated in form, and the tablets and headdresses held by the Ten Kings are decorated with gold leaf; the clouds filling the empty spaces are soft red-and-green clouds that harmonise well with the rest of the composition. The brushwork, too, uses the same refined 'iron-wire' line typical of the late Joseon period, as in the Sinjungtaenghwa and Huhbultaenghwa. The Sinjungtaenghwa, Huhbultaenghwa and Jijangtaenghwa of Daewonsa Temple are all late-Joseon paintings. Of the three, the Sinjungtaenghwa is the largest guardian-deity painting yet surveyed in the Andong region, and its varied and finely rendered colour scheme and figures make it important material for research into guardian-deity paintings from this area. The Huhbultaenghwa and Jijangtaenghwa likewise exemplify the characteristic features of late-Joseon paintings from this region: their well-organised composition, the harmonious splendour of their red-and-green colouring, and their refined brushwork give them notable artistic merit, and their pigments remain in good condition. The inscriptions show that all three were produced together, at the same time, by a single workshop of painter-monks, giving them great value as historical evidence for research into the painting style and activities of a workshop representative of its period and region.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Andong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산