Seated Beomeosa Temple Naewonam Hermitage Stone Bodhisattva

The stone Jijang (Ksitigarbha) bodhisattva enshrined at Naewonam Hermitage, a hermitage within the grounds of Beomeosa Temple, is a seated image whose body leans slightly forward overall. The face looks slightly downward and is generally oval in shape, with small eyes, nose and mouth, and the head wears a cloth hood. Both hands form a mudra, hanging down towards the ground. The hood and hand gesture suggest that this is an image of the bodhisattva Jijang, though further study is needed to establish its precise iconography. Overall, the carving technique and workmanship are not of a high standard. The schematic, flattened carving style seen in eighteenth-century bodhisattva images is even more pronounced here, suggesting that this image was made at a somewhat later date. Jijang bodhisattva images from the end of Goryeo, and from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of Joseon, retain many features inherited from Goryeo, including examples that wear a hood and hold a monk's staff. From the seventeenth century onward, however, it becomes rare for Jijang images to wear a hood, and Jijang or arhat images of the late Joseon period are generally depicted in the form of a monk. The seated stone bodhisattva of Naewonam Hermitage therefore dates from a somewhat later period, but it is recognised as important as a hooded bodhisattva image, a type rarely found in the late Joseon period.

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Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료