Chilseong Buddhist Painting of Geumjeongsa Temple, Hadong

According to records, the Chilseong Buddhist Painting of Geumjeongsa Temple, Hadong was produced in May 1894 at the Janggyeonggak, the sutra repository of Haeinsa Temple, in Chiin-ri, Gaya-myeon, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, and was enshrined in Miryang. It was painted by the geumeo, a painter of Buddhist images, Gyeongho, based on a preparatory sketch produced by the head monk-painter Dumyeong. Gyeongho was a painter active in the latter half of the 19th century; in 1894 he produced, together with Dumyeong, the Sinjungdo, a painting of guardian deities, at Yeongwonsa Temple in Hamyang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, and in 1896 he took part in producing the Amitabha-behind-the-altar painting at Seonseoksa Temple in Seongju-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Dumyeong was a painter who, in 1884, together with the head monk-painter Jeonggyu, produced the Sakyamuni-behind-the-altar painting at Eungseoksa Temple in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do. The painting was designated a Gyeongsangnam-do Cultural Heritage Material on 7 October 2010. The painting is a panel-form Buddhist painting in colour on silk, made of two sheets mounted as one panel, measuring 142.5 by 105.9 cm, with a picture plane of 138 by 101 cm. The composition is divided into upper and lower registers centred on the principal image, the Tejaprabha Buddha. The Tejaprabha Buddha sits in the full lotus posture, holding a golden wheel within a head halo and a body halo, flanked by the bodhisattvas Ilgwang (Sun Light) and Wolgwang (Moon Light), each half the size of the principal image. In the upper register, the Seven Buddhas stand with palms joined towards the principal image, while in the lower register, following the Ilgwang and Wolgwang bodhisattvas, six of the seven Lords of the Seven Stars — Tamnang, Nokjon, Yeomjeong, Pagun, Geomun, Mungok and Mugok — are placed to either side, with the remaining one placed beside the Seven Buddhas in the upper register. The Lords of the Seven Stars each wear a different crown and stand in attendance with their hands clasped together. The Tejaprabha Buddha's face was painted in a pale flesh tone and then outlined with fine, light brown lines; the golden wheel was finished in gold leaf and then outlined in ink. The hems of the red outer robe and the skirt were coloured in green and black without any particular pattern. The overall colouring is based mainly on red and green, with bright blue added at important points. This is a typical colouring method of hanging-scroll paintings from the port-opening period: in the clouds depicted to create a sense of space, white and green are used over a bright blue sky background, with light ink-wash shading added. The painting shows many similarities to the Buddhist paintings of Wanho in its composition, stylistic features and technique. In the manner of depicting the clouds between the figures, and in the costume patterns of the Lords of the Seven Stars in the lower register, a connection with the Buddhist painting style of the Gyeongsangnam-do region in the early 20th century can be seen. There are many traces of retouching across the whole painting, and it appears that overpainting was carried out on the drapery lines and background clouds following the flaking of pigments such as an imported blue, vermilion and white lead. The inscription at the bottom of the painting is somewhat damaged, but its content can still be read. The painting follows the general characteristics of Chilseong paintings produced in the Gyeongsangnam-do region in the 19th century. In particular, its composition shows an early example of the modern Gyeongsangnam-do regional Buddhist painting style associated with Wanho and others, giving it great significance as research material. The fact that the painting was produced in 1894 at the Janggyeonggak of Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon provides evidence relevant to one of the contested issues in the study of late 19th-century Buddhist paintings in the Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do region, namely the question of the establishment of painting ateliers. It is also valuable both as material through which the activities and lineage of painters in the Gyeongsangnam-do region during the port-opening period can be traced, and as a historical source for examining the style of Chilseong paintings in the late 19th century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hadong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료