Seated Wooden Avalokitesvara of Dosoram Hermitage, Hamyang

Dosoram Hermitage is a historic temple where Cheongmae Ino (1548-1623) once practised; it was rebuilt in 1987 by the monk Hyeam of Haeinsa Temple and has continued to the present. According to temple tradition, the Seated Wooden Avalokitesvara of Dosoram was originally enshrined as the personal devotional image (wonbul) of the monk Hyeam, who served as Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order, and was installed as the main image of the Dharma hall when the present Dosoram was founded. Apart from a repair of about 10cm on the back of the crown, the statue is in good condition. The original site where it was enshrined is unknown. However, a votive text discovered inside the statue shows that it was made in 1707, the 33rd year of King Sukjong, by six sculptor-monks: Jinyeol, Gyecho, Sinyeon, Taeeung, Taewon and Cheonghwi. The statue sits in full lotus position on a double raised-lotus pedestal, its head tilted slightly forward as if looking down over the mundane world, and shows compact, well-proportioned bodily proportions overall. It wears an elaborate crown decorated with flame and cloud motifs and busily fluttering ribbons. A small seated image of Amitabha Buddha is attached to the front of the crown, identifying the figure as Avalokitesvara, though this appears to have been added, together with other crown ornaments, when the roughly 10cm section on the back was repaired. The square face is full in the cheeks, with narrow, small eyes, and a bright smile plays about the mouth, giving a compassionate, endearing impression. The hair covers both earlobes and, above the shoulders, divides into three strands forming radiating round loops as it flows downward. The two hands, resting on the knees, form the gesture of preaching with the thumb and middle finger touching in a circle; the right hand faces palm down and the left palm up, giving a slight variation. The robe is worn in a double-layer style: an outer robe is draped over the inner garment in the manner of baring the right shoulder, but here it is a modified version in which the hem of the outer robe lightly touches the right shoulder. The two folds of the outer robe overlap at the centre of the abdomen and pass over to behind the left shoulder. The near-symmetrical arrangement of the inner and outer robe hems in front of the abdomen is a feature commonly seen in Jinyeol's sculpture. The drapery folds hanging down below the crossed legs form a rhythmic cascade covering the raised-lotus pedestal, and the sleeve over the left knee is rendered as if fluttering in the wind, lending a lively sense of movement. The treatment of the face, bodily proportions, drapery folds and hand gestures seen in this statue closely resemble other works by Jinyeol - the Seated Wooden Avalokitesvara of Daeeunam Hermitage, Gokseong (1706), the statue at Sangunsa Temple in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do (1713), and the Seated Wooden Avalokitesvara of Yeoyeojeongsa Temple, Miryang (1722) - offering a glimpse of his artistic tendencies.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hamyang, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산