Chilseong Buddhist Painting of Neunggasa Temple, Haman

The Chilseong Buddhist Painting of Neunggasa Temple, Haman is a Buddhist painting depicting Chiseonggwang Yeorae (the Buddha of the Pole Star) together with the Chilseong Yeorae (Seven Star Buddhas), the bodhisattvas Ilgwang and Wolgwang (Sun and Moon), the Chilwonseonggun (Seven Stellar Lords) and their eight attendants, rendered in ink and colour pigments on silk. The overall composition divides the picture plane roughly in half. In the upper centre, Chiseonggwang Yeorae sits in the lotus posture on a blue lotus throne, flanked by the two attendant bodhisattvas Ilgwang and Wolgwang in a triangular arrangement. Four of the eight attendants are placed to each side of the bodhisattvas, while behind the main deity's halo six further Buddhas are arranged in two groups of three on either side. In the lower register, the Chilwonseonggun are depicted on a large scale, filling almost half the picture, with clouds behind them marking the boundary between the upper and lower sections. The head of the main deity shows a raised usnisa (cranial protrusion) with a finial jewel and tightly curled hair painted in ink, its outline rendered in a dark blue-green line. The face, painted in a flat, unshaded tone, is finely drawn with fine brushstrokes for the eyes, nose and ears in pale ink, eyebrows, moustache and beard in dark blue-green, a white tuft of hair between the brows, and a small vermilion mouth, all skilfully composed. The imposing figure of the main deity has three curved lines (samdo, the conventional three folds marked on the neck of Buddhist deities), and the sagging chest line and nipples are also drawn in ink outline. The main deity wears a vermilion outer robe and a green inner robe tied with a vermilion sash; the outer robe bears a lotus arabesque motif within roundels, while the inner robe and the blue-coloured cuffs of the outer robe are sparsely patterned in gold with overlapping cross motifs. The deity's round head halo is painted in light green with a white outline, shading outward through pink, vermilion, blue and pale blue-green; the body halo has a yellow ground overlaid with gold, with closely drawn ink rays, its border marked off in white and shading through pink, vermilion, blue and light green. The two attendant bodhisattvas, Ilgwang and Wolgwang, are shown in three-quarter profile turned toward the main deity, at roughly half his scale. Sharing the same gentle countenance as the main deity, the two bodhisattvas are almost identical in iconography, differing only in the sun and moon on their crowns and in the colours, vermilion and blue, of their robes. The same near-identical iconography is applied to the six Buddha images depicted behind the main deity's body halo, to left and right; these figures, whose features resemble those of the attendant bodhisattvas, are all shown in the same profile view with hands joined in veneration. Only the first Buddha figure on each side lacks a head halo, apparently omitted by oversight at the time of production. In the lower register, unlike the half-length figures above, the Chilwonseonggun are depicted as full-length figures on a large scale, filling almost the width of the picture. Of the Seven Stellar Lords, who stand holding ceremonial tablets, only the central lord is shown frontally, wearing ceremonial robes and a ceremonial crown with hanging strings of beads; the remaining lords are shown in profile wearing wonyugwan crowns. The Chilwonseonggun share an almost identical appearance, with beards finely rendered in fine brushstrokes, and unlike the other figures their faces show slight shading. The eight attendants, shown smallest of all, bare-chested in groups of four to either side behind the Seven Stellar Lords, share the same appearance as the Chilwonseonggun but wear their hair simply knotted in a topknot. As this Chilseong painting lacks an inscription recording its date of production, its exact date cannot be determined; however, the uniformly gentle facial expressions of the figures, rendered in fine, even and refined brushwork, the well-proportioned depiction of the bodies, and the skilful use of vermilion, green, blue and pale blue-green pigments together display well the stylistic techniques of late Joseon Buddhist painting.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Haman, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료