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A Study on the Buddha Images Carved on the Cliff in Dojeon-ri, Sanchung

김순정 1

1한국문물연구원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The Rock Cliff Buddha Images of Dojeon-ri were carved on the cliff surface of the Yangcheon River, which flows through Sancheong-gun, Gyeongsangnam Province. The 32 Buddha images all sit on the lotus pedestals and have circular haloes behind the heads and bodies. There are many different ways of dressing and finger signs with the covered-shoulders style dressing method and the Gongsu type finger sign dominating among them. Unlike the Buddha images with a feeling of massiveness in the 9th century, they are planar throughout the bodies and have schematized clothes creases, which suggests that they must have been built around the 10th century. The inscriptions are found in three to five columns on the right or left side of the Buddha images. Most of them are severely worn out and thus difficult to read. In the 10th century when the Buddha images were built, the powerful clans were active throughout the era of confusion. People chose Buddhism for their spiritual peace, and the period saw a large number of Buddhist rituals. The Buddhas whose names were checked were the main Buddhas of the Rock Cliff Buddha Images of Dojeon-ri are Amitabha and Bhaisajyaguru, which are good examples of Buddhas people believed in for seeking out fortune in this world. The cliff stands along the river, which must have been used as the main traffic route for years. The cliff surface must have been regarded as the ideal place to carve Buddha images as a result of a combination of Buddhism that was popular in those days, the faith of mountains and rivers, and faith of rocks.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.