Cheonjisa Seated Stone Buddha, Uiryeong

The Seated Stone Buddha of Cheonjisa Temple has a head that is large in proportion to the body, with narrow shoulders and legs and rather slender arms and legs. The figure sits upright in the full lotus position, both hands resting on the knees in the dhyana mudra, the gesture of meditation. The ushnisha, the cranial protuberance on the crown of the head, is low and small, with a jewel marking its base and another jewel at its very top. The face is oval and elongated, the chin is carved full, and there is a smile at the corners of the mouth. However, the omission of a large urna [the curl between the brows] and of incised lines at the nostrils, together with the circular incised line above the chin, set this statue apart from statues of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The robe is worn in a modified style covering both shoulders: the outer robe, which slightly covers the inner vest at the right shoulder, is drawn out through the armpit and thrown back over the left shoulder. The treatment of the back is less convincing, with the folds of the outer robe running from left to right rather than right to left, and with superfluous folds added. By contrast, although the statue is carved in stone, the gently puffed undergarment tied at the chest, the Ω-shaped end-fold above the joint of the left arm, and the drapery of the skirt-like garment over the legs are rendered in a supple, natural manner. In its detailed features, a trait of the Cheonjisa statue that is rare among other stone Buddhas is the presence of cavities for sacred deposits at both the crown of the head and the base. It therefore differs stylistically from conventional late Joseon Buddhist statues, and, since few small stone Buddhist statues survive from the late Joseon period, it is a statue of great documentary value.

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Where it is

Region

Uiryeong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료