Buncheong Ware Taken Abroad During Japanese Colonial Era to Become a Treasure After 100 Years

Seven Items, Including Flat Bottle Repatriated in 2018, Proposed for Treasure Designation

Includes Beomeosa Murals and Mountain and Water People Album

Buncheong ware incised line-patterned pyeonbyeong (flat bottle).

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on April 30 that it will designate seven items as Treasures: the Buncheong Ware Incised Line Pattern Flat Bottle, murals in the Main Hall of Beomeosa Temple in Busan, the mural of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva in the Main Hall of Naesosa Temple in Buan, the Iron Seated Buddha Statue at the Jingu Temple Site in Imsil, the Wooden Standing Statues of Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva at Wibongsa Temple in Wanju, the Paintings of Sakra and Celestial Dragons at Heungguksa Temple in Yeosu, and the Mountain and Water People Album by Lee Kyungyun. The administration will collect opinions from various sectors over the course of a month and will confirm the designation after a review by the Cultural Heritage Committee.

The Buncheong Ware Incised Line Pattern Flat Bottle is estimated to have been produced in the Jeolla region during the 15th to 16th centuries. The bottle was first shaped on a potter’s wheel, then its body was flattened and its base was trimmed. Using an incising technique, patterns were carved onto the white slip surface with a sharp tool after applying a white slip. Abstract line patterns in a free and spontaneous composition are expressed on both the front and back and on both sides of the bottle. During the Japanese colonial period, the piece was purchased by a Japanese collector and taken abroad, but in 2018, a Korean collector acquired it through a public transaction and repatriated it to Korea.

Mural of the Main Buddha Hall at Beomeosa Temple, Busan.

The murals in the Main Hall of Beomeosa Temple consist of four Buddhist paintings on the east and west interior walls. Centered around the Yeongsan Assembly scene on the back wall of the central altar, the painting of the Medicine Buddha Triad is placed on the east wall and the Amitabha Buddha Triad on the west wall, realizing the world of three Buddhas. This faith in the three Buddhas is a tradition that emerged during the reconstruction of Buddhism after the devastation of the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598. Above the side doors, the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva painting is located on the east, while the paintings of Bodhidharma and Huike’s Transmission are on the west. A Cultural Heritage Administration official explained, “Beomeosa’s Main Hall is unique in that murals depicting the spatial world of the three Buddhas and those of Avalokiteshvara and Bodhidharma coexist in a single space.”

Mural of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in the Main Hall of Naesosa Temple, Buan.

The mural of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva in the Main Hall of Naesosa Temple is painted on the rear wall behind the main altar. It depicts the White-robed Avalokiteshvara, draped in white clothing up to the head, welcoming Sudhana on the rocky cliffs of Mount Potalaka. The Taeguk pattern at the center of Avalokiteshvara’s crown is the same as the one found in the hanging scroll at Gaeeamsa Temple, created by the Uigyeom school, indicating a high possibility that the same group of monk-painters produced this mural as well.

The Iron Seated Buddha Statue at the Jingu Temple Site is estimated to have been created in the late 9th to early 10th century, during the late Unified Silla period. Although the hands and some parts of the body are missing, the statue exhibits balanced proportions and refined sculptural techniques. The inverted triangular face, small and neat chin and mouth, and slender eyes are typical features of late 9th-century iron Buddha statues. The slender waist, full chest, and soft robes reflect the sculptural traditions of the golden age of Unified Silla.

Iron Seated Buddha Statue at Jingu Temple Site in Imsil.

The Wooden Standing Statues of Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva at Wibongsa Temple are two of the statues created in 1605 to be enshrined at Bukam Hermitage of Wibongsa. They are currently enshrined in the Bogwangmyeongjeon Hall at Wibongsa. Five monk sculptors, including Won-o, participated in their creation. Won-o was a representative master who was active in the early formation of the monk sculptor school after the Japanese invasions. These statues were stolen in 1989 but were recovered in 2016. The crowns and ritual objects that were lost during this period have recently been recreated and are now enshrined together. A Cultural Heritage Administration official added, “These are the earliest dated standing Bodhisattva statues made immediately after the Japanese invasions.”

The Paintings of Sakra and Celestial Dragons at Heungguksa Temple are central altar paintings (jungdan taenghwa) enshrined in the Main Hall. One scroll depicts Sakra, and another features Celestial Dragons, forming a pair. Completed in 1741, the paintings were the result of a collaboration led by the head monk-painter Geungcheok, who inherited the painting style of Uigyeom, along with several other monk-painters.

Jeon Kyungyoon, PIl Sansuinmuldojeop.

The Mountain and Water People Album by Lee Kyungyun consists of landscape and figure paintings attributed to Lee Kyungyun (1545–1611), a mid-Joseon literati painter. The first to ninth pages feature landscapes and figure paintings attributed to Lee Kyungyun; pages ten to thirteen contain gold-ink landscape paintings by unknown artists; and pages fourteen to twenty-two include bird-and-flower and figure paintings by unidentified painters. The album also contains poems and a colophon written by renowned scholar Choe Rip (1539–1612) between the winter of 1598 and the first month of 1599. A Cultural Heritage Administration official commented, “This album provides insight into the exchange of literati culture, artwork collection and appreciation, and the formation of painting albums in the mid-Joseon period.”

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