Wooden Four Guardian Kings Statue of Ssanggyesa Temple, Hadong

The four wooden statues of the Four Heavenly Kings enshrined in the Cheonwangmun Gate at Ssanggyesa Temple are large-scale works, 475 cm in size, produced in 1705, in the late Joseon period. Some ten or so sets of Four Heavenly Kings statues dating from the early Joseon period to the seventeenth century are currently known to survive in Korea, including the Four Heavenly Kings statues at Borimsa Temple in South Jeolla Province (1539). Among these, in terms of wooden statues specifically, the Ssanggyesa work is known as the third such set after those at Borimsa Temple and Jeokcheonsa Temple (1690). Moreover, among surviving Buddhist sculptures of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Ssanggyesa set stands out for its considerable scale, is in relatively good condition, and is notable for the imposing physical presence of the figures. This work is therefore important not only as one of the large-scale sets of Four Heavenly Kings statues enshrined in the Cheonwangmun gates of the Joseon period, but also for comparative research into the iconography of the large-scale Joseon-period paintings of the Four Heavenly Kings, and it was judged to have heritage value and accordingly designated a Gyeongsangnam-do Tangible Cultural Heritage.

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Where it is

Region

Hadong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산