• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
• /
• v.99
• /
• pp.10-29
• /
• 2021

This paper is an introductory study of the wooden Buddha images excavated in the Mekong Delta in present-day southern Vietnam. Approximately thirty examples of wooden Buddha images have been recovered in the Mekong Delta. As they were found among the major historic sites of Funan (the first kingdom in Southeast Asia), including Oc Eo, and likely date to the sixth century, they can be regarded as the works of Funan. Similarly to stone Buddha images, these wooden examples are considered important for their demonstration of aspects of early Buddhist sculpture in Southeast Asia. Most of these Funan wooden Buddha images are presumed to have been produced around the sixth century based on radiocarbon dating and their stylistic characteristics. This paper analyzed the iconography and style of eight examples whose forms are relatively recognizable. The eight images can be divided into four types according to their postures, dress styles, and hand gestures. They all share features of the Sarnath style of the Gupta period in India as seen in their slender bodies and the outer robe that clings to the body. However, some display a South Indian style of Buddha images in their upright posture, style of wearing a monastic robe with the right shoulder exposed, and making the vitarka mudra (preaching gesture) that is often seen in Sri Lankan Buddha images. This suggests that Buddhist sculptors in Funan devised a new style by incorporating the principal styles of Indian Buddhist sculpture. Another notable feature of these Funan images is their material, namely, wood. While none of the contemporaneous Hindu sculptures discovered from the same historic sites are made of wood, numerous Buddhist sculptures are. This paper postulates that the use of wood in Buddhist sculptures was promoted for reasons beyond ease of carving. According to the Buddhist literature, the first-ever Buddha image was the so-called 'Udayana image' made out of sandalwood. This image and its story was well-known in the Southern Dynasty of China around the sixth century. Interestingly, some auspicious sandalwood images of the Buddha was believed to have been brought into the Southern Dynasty from Funan. This suggests the possibility that the legend of the Udayana image might have been known in Funan as well and resulted in the production of wooden sculptures there.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.158-171
• /
• 2016

The observation and analysis results of 9 glass bead samples collected from Oc Eo site in Vietnam, an outport of the ancient port city Funan in East Asia, are as follows. The type of glass beads is round, the colors are reddish brown, greenish blue, green, black and purplish blue, and the chemical composition is soda glass group. This means that they are similar in type, color and chemical compositions to glass beads from the ancient Korean peninsula. There are limitations in data because the glass beads are not from excavation investigation but from earth surface investigation. But it is significant that similar making technique and chemical composition are being observed in both the glass beads from Oc Eo and those of Korea. According to "Nihon Shoki" Kinmeiki, Baekje king sent Funan's goods and 2 slaves to Japan in 543. It is clear that there were direct or indirect exchanges between Baekje and Funan. The possibility has grown that glass beads could be included among goods.