• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.97
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• pp.87-104
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• 2020

Myogilsang on Diamond Mountain, signed and dated (2000) by Seon-u Yeong (1946-2009), is the first work by a North Korean artist to enter the collection of the National Museum of Korea (fig. 1a). The donor acquired the painting directly from the artist in Pyeongyang in 2006. In consequence, there are no issues with the painting's authenticity.This painting is the largest among all existing Korean paintings, whether contemporary or from the Joseon Dynasty, to depict this iconography (see chart 1. A Chronological List of Korean Myogilsang Paintings.) It is ink and color on paper, measures 130.2 × 56.2 centimeters, and is in a hanging scroll format. Since this essay is intended as a brief introduction of the painting and not in-depth research into it, I will simply examine the following four areas: 1. Seon-u Yeong's background; 2. The location and the traditional appellation of the rock-cut image known as Myogilsang; 3. The iconography of the image; and 4) A comparative analysis of Seon-u Yeong's painting in light of other paintings on the same theme. Finally, I will present two more of his works to broaden the understanding of Seon-u Yeong as a painter. 1. Seon-u Yeong: According to the donor, who met Seon-u at his workshop in the Cheollima Jejakso (Flying Horse Workshop) three years before the artist's death, he was an individual of few words but displayed a firm commitment to art. His preference for subjects such as Korean landscapes rather than motifs of socialist realism such as revolutionary leaders is demonstrated by the fact that, relative to his North Korean contemporaries, he seems to have produced more paintings of the former. In recent years, Seon-u Yeong has been well publicized in Korea through three special exhibitions (2012 through 2019). He graduated from Pyeongyang College of Fine Arts in 1969 and joined the Central Fine Arts Production Workshop focusing on oil painting. In 1973 he entered the Joseon Painting Production Workshop and began creating traditional Korean paintings in ink and color. His paintings are characterized by intense colors and fine details. The fact that his mother was an accomplished embroidery specialist may have influenced on Seon-u's choice to use intense colors in his paintings. By 1992, he had become a painter representing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with several titles such as Artist of Merit, People's Artist, and more. About 60 of his paintings have been designated as National Treasures of the DPRK. 2. The Myogilsang rock-cut image is located in the Manpok-dong Valley in the inner Geumgangsan Mountain area. It is a high-relief image about 15 meters tall cut into a niche under 40 meters of a rock cliff. It is the largest of all the rock-cut images of the Goryeo period. This image is often known as "Mahayeon Myogilsang," Mahayeon (Mahayana) being the name of a small temple deep in the Manpokdong Valley (See fig. 3a & 3b). On the right side of the image, there is an intaglio inscription of three Chinese characters by the famous scholar-official and calligrapher Yun Sa-guk (1728-1709) reading "妙吉祥"myogilsang (fig. 4a, 4b). 3. The iconography: "Myogilsang" is another name for the Bhodhisattva Mañjuśrī. The Chinese pronunciation of Myogilsang is "miaojixiang," which is similar in pronunciation to Mañjuśrī. Therefore, we can suggest a 妙吉祥 ↔ Mañjuśrī formula for the translation and transliteration of the term. Even though the image was given a traditional name, the mudra presented by the two hands in the image calls for a closer examination. They show the making of a circle by joining the thumb with the ring finger (fig. 6). If the left land pointed downward, this mudra would conventionally be considered "lower class: lower life," one of the nine mudras of the Amitabha. However, in this image the left hand is placed across its abdomen at an almost 90-degree angle to the right hand (fig. 6). This can be interpreted as a combination of the "fear not" and the "preaching" mudras (see note 10, D. Saunders). I was also advised by the noted Buddhist art specialist Professor Kim Jeong-heui (of Won'gwang University) to presume that this is the "preaching" mudra. Therefore, I have tentatively concluded that this Myogilsang is an image of the Shakyamuni offering the preaching mudra. There is no such combination of hand gestures in any other Goryeo-period images. The closest I could identify is the Beopjusa Rock-cut Buddha (fig. 7) from around the same time. 4. Comparative analysis: As seen in , except for the two contemporary paintings, all others on this chart are in ink or ink and light color. Also, none of them included the fact that the image is under a 40-meter cliff. In addition, the Joseon-period paintings all depicted the rock-cut image as if it were a human figure, using soft brushstrokes and rounded forms. None of these paintings accurately rendered the mudra from the image as did Seon-u. Only his painting depicts the natural setting of the image under the cliff along with a realistic rendering of the image. However, by painting the tall cliff in dark green and by eliminating elements on either side of the rock-cut image, the artist was able to create an almost surreal atmosphere surrounding the image. Herein lies the uniqueness of Seon-u Yeong's version. The left side of Seon-u's 2007 work Mount Geumgang (fig. 8) lives up to his reputation as a painter who depicts forms (rocks in this case) in minute detail, but in the right half of the composition it also shows his skill at presenting a sense of space. In contrast, Wave (fig. 9), a work completed one year before his death, displays his faithfulness to the traditions of ink painting. Even based on only three paintings by Seon-u Yeong, it seems possible to assess his versatility in both traditional ink and color mediums.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.100
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• pp.140-170
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• 2021

This paper investigates the Wooden Seated Tri-kaya Buddha Images(三身佛像) of Vairocana, Rushana, and Sakyamuni enshrined in Daeungjeon Hall of Hwaeomsa temple(華嚴寺) in Gurae, South Cheolla Province. They were produced in 1634 CE and placed in 1635 CE, about forty years after original images made in the Goryeo period were destroyed by the Japanese army during the war. The reconstruction of Hwaeomsa was conducted by Gakseong, one of the leading monks of Joseon Dynasty in the 17th century, who also conducted the reconstructions of many Buddhist temples after the war. In 2015, a prayer text (dated 1635) concerning the production of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images was found in the repository within Sakyamuni Buddha. It lists the names of participants, including royal family members (i.e., prince Yi Guang, the eighth son of King Seon-jo), and their relatives (i.e., Sin Ik-seong, son-in-law of King Seonjo), court ladies, monk-sculptors, and large numbers of monks and laymen Buddhists. A prayer text (dated 1634) listing the names of monk-sculptors written on the wooden panel inside the pedestal of Rushana Buddha was also found. A recent investigation into the repository within Rushana Buddha in 2020 CE has revealed a prayer text listing participants producing these images, similar to the former one from Sakyamuni Buddha, together with sacred relics of hoo-ryeong-tong copper bottle and a large quantity of Sutra books. These new materials opened a way to understand Hwaeomsa Trikaya images, including who made them and when they were made. The two above-mentioned prayer texts from the repository of Sakyamuni and Rushana Buddha statues, and the wooden panel inside the pedestal of Rushan Buddha tell us that eighteen monk-sculptors, including Eungwon, Cheongheon and Ingyun, who were well-known monk artisans of the 17th century, took part in the construction of these images. As a matter of fact, Cheongheon belonged to a different workshop from Eungwon and Ingyun, who were most likely teacher and disciple or senior and junior colleagues, which means that the production of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images was a collaboration between sculptors from two workshops. Eungwon and Ingyun seem to have belonged to the same community studying under the great Buddhist priest Seonsu, the teacher of Monk Gakseong who was in charge of the reconstruction of Haweonsa temple. Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images show a big head, a squarish face with plump cheeks, narrow and drooping shoulders, and a short waist, which depict significant differences in body proportion to those of other Buddha statues of the first half of 17th century, which typically have wide shoulders and long waists. The body proportion shown in the Hwaeomsa images could be linked with images of late Goryeo and early Joseon period. Rushana Buddha, raising his two arms in a preaching hand gesture and wearing a crown and bracelets, shows unique iconography of the Bodhisattva form. This iconography of Rushana Buddha had appeared in a few Sutra paintings of Northern Song and Late Goryeo period of 13th and 14th century. BodhaSri-mudra of Vairocana Buddha, unlike the general type of BodhaSri-mudra that shows the right hand holding the left index finger, places his right hand upon the left hand in a fist. It is similar to that of Vairocana images of Northern and Southern Song, whose left hand is placed on the top of right hand in a fist. This type of mudra was most likely introduced during the Goryeo period. The dried lacquer Seated Vairocana image of Bulheosa Temple in Naju is datable to late Goryeo period, and exhibits similar forms of the mudra. Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images also show new iconographic aspects, as well as traditional stylistic and iconographic features. The earth-touching (bhumisparsa) mudra of Sakymuni Buddha, putting his left thumb close to the middle finger, as if to make a preaching mudra, can be regarded as a new aspect that was influenced by the Sutra illustrations of the Ming dynasty, which were imported by the royal court of Joseon dynasty and most likely had an impact on Joseon Buddhist art from the 15th and 16th centuries. Stylistic and iconographical features of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images indicate that the traditional aspects of Goryeo period and new iconography of Joseon period are rendered together, side by side, in these sculptures. The coexistence of old and new aspects in one set of images could indicate that monk sculptors tried to find a new way to produce Hwaeomsa images based on the old traditional style of Goryeo period when the original Tri-kaya Buddha images were made, although some new iconography popular in Joseon period was also employed in the images. It is also probable that monk sculptors of Hwaeomsa Tri-kaya Buddha images intended to reconstruct these images following the original images of Goryeo period, which was recollected by surviving monks at Hwaeomsa, who had witnessed the original Tri-kaya Buddha images.

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