Clay Four Guardian Kings of Songgwangsa Temple, Wanju

Artisan Monks Yeoin and Geumsan sculpted the Four Guardian(i.e. Heavenly) Kings in clay, an artistic endeavor that began in 1636 and ended in 1649.

In the aftermath of the Japanese Invasion of 1592 and the Manchurian Invasion 1636, which put the nation’s very existence under threat, many Buddhist monasteries enshrined the Four Heavenly Kings, affirming their faith in them in order to attain the power of the heavenly kings to protect the suffering country. The Four Heavenly Kings, taking charge respectively of the Eastern World (Dhrtarastra holding a mandolin), the Western World (Virupaksa holding a dragon and a magic pearl), the Southern World (Virudhaka holding the sword of wisdom), the Northern World (Vaisravana holding a pagoda and the staff of dharma), decided on the four phases of life and the fortunes of the inhabitants of the world by thoroughly examining their good and evil actions and determining their karmic consequences.

The Four Heavenly Kings of Songgwangsa reflect well the technique of making clay sculptures and the physical characteristics, balance, and form of Heavenly King sculptures, thus making them representative of Korea’s Four Heavenly Kings statues. The size of the Heavenly Kings reaches 4.25 m. They have martial figures, and their faces resemble a compassionate Bodhisattva. The feet press down on a demon. These special characteristics of the Four Heavenly Kings are perfectly embodied in the Songgwangsa clay figures.

When the statues were researched in 1994, many things were discovered inside them such as containers of votive objects, a list of donors, scriptures on printing woodblocks and filling papers of spaces inside of the sculptures.

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