Seated Rock-carved Ksitigarbha

Behind Samseonggak, the Hall of the Three Sages, at Ongnyeonseonwon stands a group of rocks called Gwandeogam, long venerated by local residents as an object of faith. On a rock face that broke away from this group after being struck by lightning, a single seated bodhisattva image is carved. The rock bearing the image was originally one of two massive boulders joined together; when lightning split it, the broken piece lodged upside down, so the bodhisattva figure is now inverted. Shallowly carved to begin with, the image today clearly shows traces of red and blue paint. Whether the damage came from the rock's fall or from later deliberate defacement is unknown, but most of the carving has been lost, leaving only its outline. Fortunately the incised head halo and body halo survive, offering a clue to the figure's identity. The face and head are rendered in incised line, and since no trace of an usnisha (the cranial protrusion marking a Buddha or bodhisattva) appears on the head, while a clear headcloth band is visible above the forehead showing that the figure wears a hood, the image is identified as Ksitigarbha. Apart from the face and head, which are incised, every other element — the head and body halos, the parts of the torso, the lotus pedestal — is carved in relief, but so shallowly that it gives almost the impression of a petroglyph; this suggests it should also be considered in the context of Buddhist painting. Judging by the treatment of the halo, which shows the radiating line pattern seen in the halos of Buddhist paintings produced in the late Joseon period, the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, this rock-carved Ksitigarbha is presumed to date from the same late Joseon period. Baeksan, the mountain on which Ongnyeonseonwon stands, was the site of the Gyeongsang Left Naval Headquarters, and with Cheomidae at its summit it was not only a military stronghold defending the southern sea but also a place with a deep historical connection to Master Samyeong during the Imjin War, the Japanese invasions of Korea. Against this historical background, the rock-carved Ksitigarbha at Ongnyeonseonwon holds deep historical significance as an object of devotion for sailors seeking rescue from disaster at sea and as a focus of faith for naval forces. It is also a rock-carved Buddha image of a kind rarely found in the Busan region, and the fact that the face and head are incised while the rest is carved in relief makes it valuable material for the study of sculptural history in Korea, not only of the Joseon period — qualities that give it considerable heritage value.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suyeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료