Hamyang Beobinsa Temple Ksitigarbha Buddhist Painting

The Hamyang Beobinsa Temple Ksitigarbha Buddhist Painting is composed as a congregational scene, in which the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha occupies the centre of the picture, flanked at the front of his pedestal by the attendants Domyeong Jonja and the Muduk Guiwang, surrounded symmetrically to left and right by the Ten Kings of the underworld, record-keeping officials and other attendants. Depicted at roughly twice the scale of the other figures, Ksitigarbha, wearing a robe that covers both shoulders, forms the gesture of preaching the Dharma and sits in the lotus posture on a lotus throne, with both a body halo and a head halo. The halos are painted on a green ground, shading outward through white, orange, red and green. At the bottom of the picture, to either side of the Sumeru pedestal, Doymeong Jonja and the Muduk Guiwang stand in attendance with hands joined, each shown with a head halo; unusually, Doymeong Jonja's joined hands hold a long monk's staff (seokjang), which differs somewhat from the typical iconography of Ksitigarbha paintings produced at the time. The Ten Kings are depicted symmetrically to left and right at the base of the picture beside the pedestal, each wearing either a ceremonial crown or a wonyugwan crown and holding a ceremonial tablet. Behind the Ten Kings, the record-keeping officials are arranged in a single row of three to each side, and further behind them are depicted sword-bearing heavenly dragon kings, an asura with hands joined, lions and attendants. In the upper part of the picture, bands of colour representing the Six Realms of rebirth, in green, yellow, red and pale green in sequence, unfold as if filling the space, and at the very top auspicious vapours rising from below form a lotus-shaped canopy at the summit. The Ksitigarbha painting held at Beobinsa Temple shows very fine outlines drawn with a fine brush. The colouring, based mainly on red and green, is calm but applied rather thickly, and the flesh tones of the faces are painted in an almost uniform tone without shading. The cartouche at the bottom centre of the picture, set against a vermilion-lacquered ground with an inscription in ink recording the painting's production, is badly damaged and only part of it can be read. In particular, the inscription recording '건륭 10년 을축' ("the 10th year of Qianlong, the eulchuk year") shows that this Ksitigarbha painting was made in 1745, the 21st year of King Yeongjo. Outside the cartouche, a dedicatory prayer is also recorded, expressing the wish that all who took part in making the painting attain Buddhahood. In the treatment of its figures, brushwork and colouring, the Ksitigarbha painting at Beobinsa Temple shares its stylistic lineage with other Ksitigarbha paintings produced in the 18th century, showing particular similarity in iconography to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva painting of Munsusa Temple in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, made in 1774. This painting is, however, smaller in scale than other Ksitigarbha paintings produced in the 18th century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hamyang, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료