• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.242-261
• /
• 2021

Sangjeong was a sculptor-monk who was active in the mid-to-late 18th Century, and the current study established the overall chronology of Sangjeong's Buddhist statues and their styles based on the six sculptures of Sangjeong already known and the Wooden Seated Buddha of 1767 in Songgyesa Temple, Geochang, which was found to be his last work. All of the Buddhist statues of Sangjeong have commonalities in terms of the appearance of the ears, wrinkles on clothing on the upper and lower body, position of hands, and expression of the lower body. The expression of the lower body, in particular, is classified into three types: Type A, where the clothing drapes through the lotus leaves on the bottom; Type B, with an 'S-shaped' drape over the lower body but no lotus leaves or pedestal; and Type C, with the Buddha and pedestal as a single unit, and the clothing draping through the lotus leaves on the pedestal. It appears that Sangjeong faithfully succeeded the style of Taewon, who was his only instructor for sculpture. This is verified based on the records of his participation in the creation of the Wooden Seated Sakyamuni Buddha Triad and Statue of Arhat in Bongeunsa Temple, Seoul, as the third sculptor-monk out of twelve sculptor-monks, and the reflection of the S-shaped drape on the lower body found on the statue of Buddha in Bongeunsa Temple on all of the statues created by Sangjeong. Not only that, but it was assumed that the expression of the pedestal and hair was also inherited by Sangjeong from Taewon and Jinyeol, who was a sculptor-monk from the early 18th Century. The work of Sangjeong and Taewon showed differences in the volume and thickness of statues, strength of unevenness on the wrinkles of clothing, drapes on the right side of chest, and details of the ears. The current study identified the original styles of each individual sculptor and attempted to categorize the fourteen pieces of ten Buddhist statues reflecting the styles of Sangjeong into Sangjeong-style or Taewon-style.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
• /
• v.98
• /
• pp.130-153
• /
• 2020

Using stylistic analysis and historical documents, this paper examines the production details of images enshrined in Myeongbujeon (Hall of the Underworld) at Magoksa Temple in Gongju, focusing on the wooden seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the stone Ten Kings of Hell. Inside Myeongbujeon, the wooden seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is placed at the center, flanked by standing images of Mudokgwiwang and Domyeong-jonja, with images of the Ten Kings and their attendants along the walls. All of these images were transferred to Magoksa Temple in the latter half of the 1930s. The wooden seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva came from Jeonghyesa Temple in Cheongyang, the other sculptures came from Sinheungsa Temple in Imsil, and a painting of the Ten Kings came from Jeongtosa Temple in Nonsan. The wooden seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is known to have been produced in 1677, around the same time as the stone sculptures of the Ten Kings. A close analysis of the details of the bodhisattva sculpture-including the facial features, body proportions, and drapery characteristics-strongly suggests that it was produced in the 1620s or 1630s by the monk sculptor Suyeon (who was active in the early half of the seventeenth century) or his disciples. In particular, the rendering of the drapery on the lower half of the body closely resembles Buddhist sculptures produced by Suyeon that are now enshrined at Bongseosa Temple in Seocheon (produced in 1619) and at Sungnimsa Temple in Iksan (produced at Bocheonsa Temple in Okgu in 1634). According to the votive inscription, the stone sculptures of the Ten Kings and their attendants were produced in 1677 under the supervision of the monk sculptor Seongil. However, these are the only known Buddhist images produced under Seongil, and no details about other monks involved in the production have ever been found, making it difficult to speculate about their lineage. Historical records do suggest that Seongil worked on other projects to produce or repair sculptures with disciples of the monk sculptors Hyehi or Unhye, indicating amicable relations between the two groups. Unlike most such images in the Honam or Yeongseo regions, the Ten Kings at Magoksa Temple are made from stone, rather than wood or clay. Also, the overall form and the drapery conform to statues of the Ten Kings that were popularly produced in the Yeongnam region. Thus, the images are believed to be the work of monks who were primarily active in Yeongnam, rather than Honam. In the future, a systematic investigation of wooden seated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva images and stone Ten Kings of Hell images produced in the Chungnam region could illuminate more details about the production of the images at Magoksa Temple, and perhaps shed light on the conditions that led to the production of stone Buddhist sculptures in the Honam area during the late seventeenth century.

• Conservation Science in Museum
• /
• v.12
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2011

The seated stone Buddha(Bon5190) of National Museum of Korea initially consisted of some 90 fragments, making it difficult to guess its overall appearance. Under a restoration work which lasted four months, the fragments were joined together, giving shape to a seated Stone Buddha in Bhumisparsa(earth touching) mudra and an associated figure of Bodhisattva missing the face. The statue was made from a single stone block by digging out the center. Traces of lacquer coating and a gilded layer above the lacquer coat were found in various parts. Polarizing microscopy and XRD analysis revealed that the stone was zeolite, a mineral formed through diagenesis of volcanic glassy ashes from trachytic tuff (Nuldaeri) and dacitic tuff (Guryongpo). In Korea, zeolite deposit found mostly in Gyeongsangbuk-do, in places like Yeonil, Guryongpo, Gampo and Ulsan. The restored statue of seated Buddha proved very similar in appearance to the seated stone Buddha of Deoksa Temple in Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do (housed in Yeongsanjeon Hall). The scroll inside the statue, containing information about the background and circumstances of creation of this Buddhist sculpture, indicates that the monk Seung-ho took part in it as the head sculptor-monk.