Skip Navigation

Heritage Search

Cultural Properties Materials

Stone Standing Buddha of Yongdeoksa Temple

용덕사석조여래입상 ( 龍德寺石造如來立像 )

Heritage Search Detail
Classification Cultural Properties Materials
Name of Cultural Properties Stone Standing Buddha of Yongdeoksa Temple
Quantity
Designated Date 2001.09.16
Age
Address

This stone Buddha statue is enshrined at Mireukjeon Hall at Yongdeoksa Temple in Yidong-myeon, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si.

The statue has a shaved head with a low yukgye (a topknot symbolizing the wisdom of Buddha) and an oval face with relatively realistic facial features and small ears. The neck is marked with thick, clear, belt-shaped samdo (three lines symbolizing the wisdom of Buddha). The right hand is lifted to the chest and is holding a lotus bud-shaped boju (precious marble). The left hand is in the yeowonin mudra (a hand gesture signifying a promise to fulfill the desires of mankind) with the hand lowered and the palm facing outward. Based only the hand seal, it is difficult to tell exactly what type of Buddha is being portrayed.

The beopeui (outer garment of a monk) hangs over the figure’s shoulders and wraps down around the entire body. The fabric drapes in a U-shape fold at the chest, and divides both legs at the femoral region, forming long U-shape folds and draping below the knees. This expression of fabric was popular around the 8th century of the Unified Silla Period is also seen on several well-known statues, including: the Stone Standing Amitabha Buddha of Gamsansa Temple; and the Standing South-Facing Buddha of the Stone Buddhas in Four Directions created in 719 and preserved at Gulbulsa Temple Site in Gyeongju. The proportions of the body, face, and drapery are all representative of the Buddha statue style of the Unified Silla Period. However, judging from the flat expression and lack of volume of the body, the schematized, hard lines of the fabric, and the ambiguous hand seal, however, the statue is assumed to be a work from the Early Goryeo Period that has preserved the Buddhist statue style of the Unified Silla Period.