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Buddhist Painting of Yongmunsa Temple, Yecheon (The Eight Great Events)

예천 용문사 팔상탱 ( 醴泉 龍門寺 八相幀 )

Heritage Search Detail
Classification Treasure
Name of Cultural Properties Buddhist Painting of Yongmunsa Temple, Yecheon (The Eight Great Events)
Quantity 4
Designated Date 2001.10.25
Age The 35th year of the reign of King Sukjong of Joseon (1709)
Address Jikjisa Museum 89, Bugam-gil, Daehang-myeon, Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do

This is a painting about the life of Shakyamuni Buddha -- from birth to death -- portrayed in eight scenes. The painting is composed of four cuts, each of which contains two scenes. The first cut is about Shakyamuni Buddha descending from Tushita Paradise to this Saha World and Shakyamuni Buddha being born through the flank of Maya Devi in Lumbini. The second cut concerns the four scenes of human existence (Prince Siddhartha feeling the transience of life after observing the people suffering from agony) and deals with his leaving home despite his parents’ opposition. The third cut contains a scene of Shakyamuni engaging in self-discipline with mountain deities in Snow Mountain and withstanding temptations and threats of devils in the process. The last cut depicts a scene of Shakyamuni giving his first sermon in Sarnath and entering nirvana under the twin sala trees. Overall, the painting displays a relatively simple composition focusing on the main scenes, using chiefly red and greenish-blue colors on yellow soil-colored ground. This painting follows the images and styles of the early Joseon Period (1392-1910). We can see that it contains characteristics distinguished from those of its kind and which were made after it.