Amitabha Buddha Assembly Painting of Pyochungsa Temple, Miryang

This Amitabha altar painting, enshrined in Seoraegak Hall of Pyochungsa Temple, is a painting in colour on cotton, made in a framed format. With Amitabha Buddha as the principal figure at the centre of the composition, the Six Great Bodhisattvas — Avalokitesvara, Mahasthamaprapta, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Cundi and Ksitigarbha — are depicted to either side, along with the Six Great Disciples, the Four Heavenly Kings and two Vajra guardians. The painting is currently fixed to the wall, with a wooden frame added in front of the original one. The large principal Buddha, forming the nine-grade mudra of Amitabha, is placed at the centre of the composition, with the flanking bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta and two figures of the Four Heavenly Kings arranged below in the lower register. In the middle register, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Cundi and Ksitigarbha are depicted to either side of the principal Buddha, while in the upper register the Six Great Disciples, including Kasyapa and Ananda, and the two Vajra guardians are painted symmetrically. Clouds are used to fill the space in the middle and upper registers and the blank areas at the top of the composition. Amitabha Buddha has a serene, round face with small, finely rendered eyes, nose and mouth beneath a tall usnisa bearing both a middle and a crowning jewel. The exposed skin is painted in flesh tone and outlined with fine, pale ink lines. The right hand, raised to chest height, has the thumb and middle finger bent, while the left hand, lowered toward the abdomen, has the thumb and index finger bent, together forming the nine-grade mudra of Amitabha. The red outer robe is drawn with bold, free pale-ink lines, its border trim decorated with a lotus design; the knot of the inner garment at the chest is painted red, the long robe beneath the right hand and the leaf-shaped ankle ornament are painted lotus-leaf green, and the inner hem of the outer robe is coloured in pale blue-green and blue. The round halo behind the Buddha's head has a lotus-leaf green ground, while the body halo is rendered in rays of pink, lotus-leaf green, yellow and pale blue-green in sequence, its outline drawn in pink, red, lotus-leaf green, pale blue-green and white in turn. The two flanking bodhisattvas in the lower register are shown symmetrically, each in three-quarter profile turned toward the centre: Avalokitesvara wears a crown bearing a transformation Buddha and holds a lotus branch topped with a water vessel, while Mahasthamaprapta wears a crown bearing a ewer and holds a lotus branch topped with a sutra book. Unlike the other figures in the painting, the ground of their round halos is rendered in pale ink. At the outer edges of the lower register stand the Four Heavenly Kings: Dhrtarastra and Virudhaka kneeling with hands joined in prayer, Vaisravana holding a pagoda, and Virupaksa holding a dragon and a wish-fulfilling jewel. The bodhisattvas in the middle register, to either side of the principal Buddha, are shown in three-quarter profile turned toward him; Manjusri and Samantabhadra have their hands joined in prayer, while Cundi and Ksitigarbha each hold a ruyi sceptre and a six-ringed staff. In the upper register, Kasyapa and Ananda, each with a lotus-leaf green round halo and hands joined in prayer, are placed directly behind the principal Buddha; to the right are two disciples playing with a small lion on their palm and a Vajra guardian holding a sword, and to the left are two disciples discussing an open sutra and a Vajra guardian with clasped hands. Clouds are also painted behind the bodhisattvas in the middle register and in the blank space of the upper register, lending a sense of depth. Overall, the painting uses red and green pigments as its main colours, with bright accents of pink and pale blue-green added here and there. The cloud patterns are coloured with purple and then shaded, and gold leaf is applied to the helmets of the Four Heavenly Kings and, in particular, to the pagoda held by Vaisravana. The outlines and drawn lines throughout are executed in skilful, pale ink, though the body outlines of the disciples and guardian figures are drawn in brown. According to the painting's inscription, written in ink on a red ground at the lower left and right edges of the composition, the altar painting was made in the 11th year of the Xianfeng era (1861) in connection with the Manilhoe, a Ten-Thousand-Day Buddhist assembly, of Pyochungsa Temple. This shows that the painting was made as the altar painting for Amitabha Buddha in 1860, the 11th year of King Cheoljong, when the Seon master Wolam, together with the fourfold assembly of monks, nuns and laymen and laywomen, formed the Manilhoe to save sentient beings and devote themselves to practice. They built a hall of 48 kan and 108 pyeong, symbolising the forty-eight great vows of Amitabha Buddha, bearing the name Manillu, also known as Muryangsugak or Seoraegak, and after enshrining Amitabha Buddha within it, had this painting made as its altar painting.

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Where it is

Region

Miryang, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산