Hanging Painting of Yongbongsa Temple (The Vulture Peak Assembly)

This is the painting of Buddha's discourse on the Vulture Peak and the Buddhist hanging scroll painting refers to a large painting for Buddhist outdoor ritual ceremony. Sakyamuni Buddha (Historic Buddha) sits at the center. Eight Bodhisattvas and 10 disciples attend around Sakyamuni Buddha. The hand gesture of Sakyamuni Buddha is touching the earth; the right hand placed upon the right knee and left to the navel. Manjushri (Munsu, the Lord of the Great Wisdom) and Samantabhadra (Boheyon, the lord of the Truth) are flanked by the Sakyamuni Buddha with holding lotus flowers. Avalokitesvara (Gwanum) wears a crown in Buddha and other Bodhisattvas hold a kundika (water sprinkler), a stura, a lotus, and a ceremonial sceptre. The four heavenly guardians who protect the Buddhism, Indra (Jeseokcheon, King Sakra), and Brahma-deva (King of the Brahma, Beomcheon) also attend. The guardians in the West and South attend on the right side of the Sakyamuni Buddha. While the guardians in the North and East sit to the left side of the Buddha. Indra (Jeseokcheon, King Sakra) is depicted as the typical Bodhisattvas with wearing a crown and putting his hands together like a prayer. Brahma-deva (King of the Brahma, Beomcheon) is depicted as a king with wearing official attire. 10 disciples attend the upper part of the painting and unidentified Bodhisattvas attend left and right side of the Buddha. The red and green colors are mainly applied, besides lime-green and red purple colors express calm and gentle atmosphere. This Buddhist painting was to pray for repose of the short-lived son of King Sukjong. Firstly it was painted in A.D.1690 by seven monk painters including Haesuk, Hanil, Cheorin and Sutak. Whereafter it was modified in A.D.1725 and wrote the inscription on the lower part of the painting. And it was repaired once again in A.D.1987. Relatively smaller size of Sakyamuni Buddha and a deviation from a strict composition of placing characters are distinctive in this Buddhist painting. Therefore, this painting is regarded as a valuable material to comprehend Buddhist paintings in the 17th and 18th century.

Source: Korea Heritage Service signboard ↗ · collected 2026-10-08