Seated Seocheon Temple Stone Buddha, Pyeongtaek

This stone seated Buddha is enshrined on the Sumidan altar inside Daeungjeon Hall, to the right of the principal image. It has a snail-shell curl hairstyle (nabal), with an oval cranial finial (gyeju) depicted above the forehead. The egg-shaped face shows gently closed eyes, a large urna at the centre of the forehead, a prominent triangular nose, and red lips. The three folds on the neck and the ears, which hang down to the shoulders, appear somewhat unnatural. The robe is a variant of the right-shoulder-exposed style, with an undergarment (pyeonsam) worn beneath the outer robe: the outer robe's hem falls gently from the left shoulder to the elbow, while the fold descending from the right shoulder overlaps the pyeonsam at the abdomen. The hem covering the lower body forms a semicircle, as if wearing an apron, and both soles of the feet are exposed. On the back of the statue, the robe fold that wraps around from the front has been omitted, leaving the surface flat. The hand gesture is the dhyana mudra, with both hands placed evenly on the legs in the full lotus posture. The statue appears to have been made between the end of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, after Seocheonsa Temple was rebuilt. Stone Buddhas made in this period rarely bear inscriptions, which makes precise dating difficult. Stone Buddhas made in the late Joseon period include the rock-carved seated Avalokitesvara at Hakdoam Hermitage in Seoul (1872, Seoul Metropolitan City Tangible Cultural Heritage), the rock-carved seated Buddha at Manggyeongam Hermitage in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do (1897, Tangible Cultural Heritage), and the rock-carved seated Avalokitesvara at Bomunsa Temple on Ganghwado Island (1928, Incheon Metropolitan City Tangible Cultural Heritage), but all of these were commissioned by the royal family or the ruling class. Some researchers have accordingly suggested that many stone Buddhas in Gyeonggi-do date from the late Silla–early Goryeo period or the Goryeo dynasty, but no record or inscription has yet been found to confirm this.

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Where it is

Region

Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료