Baekje (18 BCE – 660 CE), or Paekche, was a kingdom in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje sculpture has been a subject of much interest among historians, archaeologists and all those interested in the subject of sculptures.
The native and foreign regimes ruling China during the period of Northern and Southern Dynasties clearly inspired Baekje sculpture of the 6th century. The southern dynasties were influential in the development of northern sculpture and the fact that few images from the southern regimes have survived.
One of the most frequent types of images that were made throughout the century are single-mandorla triads. The similarities between the triads found in the former Baekje and Goguryeo kingdoms suggests that the introduction of such images came from both Goguryeo itself as well as China. The statue now at the National Museum of Korea has robes draped in the same style as the Yong’a Buddha. However, minute differences clearly makes this one stand apart from Goguryeo.
|
A Baekje soapstone seated Buddha discovered at the Kunsu-ri temple site in Buyeo displays the soft roundness and static nature of the early Baekje style during the second half of the sixth century. Unlike the Ttukseom seated Buddha, the Kunsu-ri Buddha features the robes of the Buddha draped over the rectangular platform and does away with the lions common in earlier images. The symmetrically stylized drapery folds is followed in later Japanese images, such as the Shakyamuni Triad in Horyu-ji. Like the Ttukseom Buddha, the Kunsu-ri Buddha follows early Chinese and Korean conventions displaying the dhyana mudra. |
|
This particular mudra is notably absent in subsequent Japanese Buddhist sculpture which perhaps indicates that the iconography was out of style in Korea by the time Buddhist sculpture began arriving in Japan in the mid-sixth century. The seated Buddhas of the late sixth century begin to do away with the meditation gesture in favor of the wish-granting gesture and protection gesture. An example of this kind of seated Buddha is the Paekche triad now at the Tokyo National Museum and is followed by subsequent Japanese images, such as the aforementioned Shakyamuni Triad in Horyu-ji.
A standing Bodhisattva now at the Buyeo National Museum was excavated from Kunsu-ri (Gunsu-ri) which shows the influence of Southern Liang art. The standing Kunsu-ri Bodhisattva also exhibits attributes very different from its contemperaneous Eastern Wei prototypes, such as an emphasis on the headgear and broad face and different iconographic styles employed. The smile of the image is a typical example of the famous Baekje smile commonly found on images from Baekje in both the sixth and seventh century.
Buddhistsculptures.com brings to you a storehouse of information on Buddhist sculptures, including the Korean Buddhist sculpture.
|
