Seated Hadong Geumseongsa Temple Wooden Bodhisattva

This wooden seated bodhisattva of Geumseongsa Temple is a modest-sized image, 61.8 cm in overall height, though the seated figure itself, excluding the lotus pedestal, measures only 50.7 cm. The upper body is held upright with the head bowed slightly forward, and the head is not disproportionately large for the body. The hands form the jungpum-hasaeng-in mudra, the 'middle grade, lower birth' gesture associated with Amitabha's nine grades of rebirth, in which the thumb and middle finger touch; here, however, both hands rest on the knees, a feature characteristic of this mudra from the 17th century of the Joseon period onward. At the crown of the head is a low topknot (bogye), and no ridge was made around the hairline for fitting a crown. On the sides of the head, three strands of hair fall down: one passes behind the ear, and two curve around the earlobe to meet at the shoulder in a circular loop before dividing again into three strands, which, however, were rendered short at the shoulders rather than flowing down at length. The nearly square, rounded face has its features gathered relatively toward the centre, while the cheeks spread comparatively wide but are treated in a flat, unaccented manner; the eyes are narrow, long and horizontal, the bridge of the nose is rather low, and the thin, long lips turn up slightly at the corners with a slight indentation, giving the impression of a faint smile. The three lines on the neck (samdo) are only partly visible owing to past repair. The shoulders are rounded and slope downward. The outer robe (daeui) is worn in the both-shoulders-covered (tonggyeon) style, but the folds emerging from the right armpit do not flow naturally across to the left shoulder; instead, the hem of the robe appears to begin again at the right armpit, an awkwardness that suggests an imperfect understanding of how monastic dress should be rendered. Within the U-shaped opening of the robe at the chest, the undergarment (seunggakgi) is rendered horizontally. Between the legs, which are crossed in the full lotus position, the folds of the skirt-like garment (gunui) are arranged in a fan shape, their lower edge forming a wave pattern. The crown is made of two sheets of bronze joined at front and back; on the front, ornaments such as a flaming jewel, cloud patterns and flower patterns were made separately and attached, while on the back a lotus flower is incised at the centre and surrounded by small circular motifs. Overall the statue has a settled, stable quality, achieving harmony through its proportions and the gentle treatment of the face. The nearly square, rounded face, the flat rendering of the body with suppressed volume, and the low topknot divided in the middle are all features of the late Joseon period, giving the statue value as material for studying the characteristics of 17th-century Buddhist statues from the Gyeongsang region.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hadong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료