Uijeongbuhoeryongsa Temple Guardian Deities Painting

A 'Guardian Deities Painting' (Sinjungdo) is a Buddhist painting depicting the host of heavenly guardians who protect the Buddha's teachings and extend their protection even to the Buddha's followers. The Uijeongbu Hoeryongsa Temple Guardian Deities Painting was produced in 1883 alongside Buddhist works carried out at Heungguksa Temple on Suraksan Mountain, during which three Buddhist statues had their gilding renewed and ten paintings of the Ten Kings of Hell had their colours restored. A court lady of the Sin clan sponsored its production on behalf of her parents. The chief monk-painter, Gyeongseondang Eungseok, drew the preliminary sketch, and produced the work together with the monk-painters Jakpum, Jincheol, Geungbeop and Bongjo. Wideuncheon (Skanda), at the centre of the lower register, and Beomcheon (Brahma) and Jeseokcheon (Indra), placed to the left and right of the upper register, are arranged in an inverted-triangle composition, surrounded by their attendant retinues. In the upper register, centred on Beomcheon and Jeseokcheon, are placed the deities of the heavenly realm, including the sun and moon deities, banners, ritual vessels, and heavenly boys and maidens holding peaches. In the lower register, centred on Wideuncheon, are placed the Eight Classes of Heavenly Beings and Dragon Kings, including the mountain spirit and the kitchen god. As worship of the guardian deities became popular in the late Joseon period, the mountain spirit and kitchen god, Korea's traditional folk deities, were incorporated as guardian spirits of the Buddhist dharma, and from the mid-19th century onward they began to be depicted regularly in Sinjungdo paintings. The fine, supple linework, the naturally dynamic rendering of the figures, and the restrained use of strong blue in favour of bright scarlet and green are stylistic features characteristic of Gyeongseondang Eungseok, although the somewhat cluttered drapery lines also reflect the formulaic tendencies seen in Buddhist paintings of the late 19th century. Eungseok was a leading monk-painter active from the mid-19th to the early 20th century in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region, especially centred on Heungguksa Temple in Namyangju. Many Sinjungdo paintings survive among his extant works; this painting is based on the underdrawing of the 1867 Bomunsa Temple Guardian Deities Painting, with slight changes made to the positions and attributes of the heavenly boys and maidens in the upper part of the composition.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료