Seated Stone Buddha of Baekjoksa Temple, Cheongju

This is a seated stone Buddha enshrined in the Daeungjeon Hall of Baekjoksa Temple, on the southern slope below the summit of Baekjoksan Mountain in Gadeok-myeon, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju. No documentary records survive to tell the temple's history, but a stone pagoda from the Goryeo period and stone fittings from the Joseon period remain within the grounds, suggesting that the temple was founded in the Goryeo period and that its lineage continued into the early Joseon period. It is said to have originally been a hermitage called Simjinam, later renamed after the mountain. The present Baekjoksa Temple was rebuilt on the old temple site when the Daeungjeon Hall was re-erected in 1930, and now comprises the Daeungjeon Hall, Samseonggak Hall (the Hall of the Three Sages) and a monks' quarters. The seated stone Buddha in the Daeungjeon Hall sits cross-legged, depicted with a composed expression looking straight ahead. It was originally covered all over with white lime plaster, which hid its original form; before its designation as a cultural heritage item in 2007 the plaster was removed and part of the altar remodelled, so that the lotus pedestal can now be seen in full. The statue's neck had been severed and was reinforced with cement; the joint is thickly coated and somewhat swollen, and the eyes and mouth have also been ground down and repaired in recent times, leaving them slightly altered. Both ears have become very short, giving an awkward impression. The hair is rendered in a curled pattern, with a cranial protrusion (usnisha) at the crown, and the face as a whole is full and serene. The neck probably once bore samdo, the three lines symbolising the stages of enlightenment, but these are now hidden by the cement repair, and the body widens progressively from the shoulders down to the knees. The robe is worn bared over the right shoulder, its folds rendered in a relatively flowing manner that covers the whole of the right arm and knee, and the hand gesture is the earth-touching gesture (hangma chokjiin), symbolising the Buddha's victory over temptation. The pedestal is of a coarser-grained stone than the Buddha itself, and the broad flat slab used as its base is not original. The lower and upper tiers are carved with inverted and upright lotus-petal patterns respectively, arranged symmetrically, while the octagonal middle tier is left undecorated. The Buddha stands 86 cm tall, with a pedestal height of 94 cm, a head height of 29 cm and a knee width of 69 cm; it has no halo, but both the lotus pedestal and the Buddha's original form survive in relatively good condition. On the whole the carving is neither especially refined nor precise, and there is damage to the neck and face, but the Buddha's original appearance is for the most part well preserved. The lotus pedestal, made up of lower, middle and upper tiers, also survives intact, making this an important resource for studying the Goryeo-period temple that once stood on the site of Baekjoksa Temple.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료