Mokpo City Promotes Documentation of Dalseongsa Jizang Bosal Samjon Statue and Siwang Statue

Mokpo's First and Only Treasure, Preservation Plan Through Documentation Project

At Yudalsan Dalseongsa Temple, there are statues of the Three Bodhisattvas of Ksitigarbha and the Ten Kings of the Underworld. Photo by Mokpo City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seunghyun Jeong] Mokpo City in Jeollanam-do announced on the 3rd that it will promote a documentation project for the ‘Mokpo Dalseongsa Wooden Jizo Bodhisattva Triad and Ten Kings Group (Treasure No. 2011),’ the region’s first and only treasure.

The Dalseongsa Wooden Jizo Bodhisattva statue was previously a tangible cultural asset of Jeollanam-do but was upgraded to a treasure in January 2019, including the Ten Kings statues and the relics inside.

The city plans to start this project in May, with a total budget of 172 million KRW, including 120.4 million KRW in national funds, and complete it by May next year.

This project will secure basic data on the original form of the Buddha statues through scientific investigations of their preservation status, such as the assembly method and production techniques of the statues, analysis of the gold leaf layer components, and wood species analysis, as well as precise measurements using 3D scanning.

A preservation environment survey of the Dalseongsa Myeongbujeon Hall will be conducted simultaneously to examine factors that may affect the preservation of the statues.

Through this, it is expected to preserve cultural properties with historical and cultural preservation value, establish a foundation for repair or restoration in case of emergencies, and utilize the data for academic and research purposes.

The Dalseongsa Wooden Jizo Bodhisattva Triad and Ten Kings Group were created in 1565 (the 20th year of King Myeongjong’s reign) and consist of the Jizo Triad (Jijang Samjon Sang), the Ten Kings (Siwang), the magistrate (Pangwan), the messenger (Saja), the creation dedication text, and the restoration dedication text.

In particular, the creation and restoration dedication texts record the exact creation year of 1565 and the restoration years of 1719 and 1946, giving it significant meaning in the history of Buddhist sculpture.

The Jizo Bodhisattva Triad is rare as it is the only work from before the Imjin War that preserves both the Jizo Triad and the Ten Kings statues. The Jizo Bodhisattva statue is posed in a playful (Yuhui) posture with the right leg placed over the left knee, which is a rare form of Buddhist statue from the early Joseon period, giving it high artistic value.

Meanwhile, in Buddhism, the place where people go after death is called Myeongbu (the underworld), and the core figures there are Jizo Bodhisattva and the Ten Kings.

Jizo Bodhisattva is the bodhisattva who saves sentient beings suffering in hell. The Ten Kings are ten kings who judge the sins of the deceased: seven kings who judge every seven days for 49 days after death, and three kings who judge at 100 days, one year, and three years.

Among the Ten Kings, seven kings were introduced in the movie ‘Along with the Gods,’ where actor Lee Jung-jae played Yeomra Daewang, one of the Ten Kings, who oversees the fifth seven-day period’s Hell of Tongue-Pulling (Balseol Hell: where sinners’ tongues are pulled out with pincers).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.