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Clay Seated Buddha of Buseoksa, Yeongju

Also called: Buseoksa Clay Buddha

A Goryeo Buddha modelled in clay, enshrined in Muryangsujeon at Buseoksa. The largest and oldest surviving clay Buddha in Korea, it carries on the Unified Silla style.

Clay seated Buddha of Buseoksa, Yeongju — the clay figure in Muryangsujeon, seated facing east
Clay seated Buddha of Buseoksa, Yeongju — the clay figure in Muryangsujeon, seated facing east

Bernard Gagnon · CC0 · Source

Enshrined in Muryangsujeon at Buseoksa, this 2.78 m figure is a sojobul, a Buddha modelled in clay — the largest and oldest of its kind to survive. It is dated to Goryeo, and its composed face, imposing body and robe baring one shoulder carry on the Unified Silla style typified by the main Buddha of Seokguram.

Muryangsujeon is the hall of Amitabha, so this is an Amitabha — yet its hands make the earth-touching gesture of Sakyamuni at his enlightenment. It sits not in the middle of the hall but on the west side facing east, expressing the belief that Amitabha dwells in the Pure Land of the West. A National Treasure, it is the emblem of Buseoksa together with the jusimpo-style Muryangsujeon.

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States and rulers at the time
Goryeo — Munjong
Places
Buseoksa Temple, Yeongju

Before and after

Earlier
1033 Goryeo’s Thousand-li Wall
Later
1055 Choe Chung’s Academy and the Rise of Private Schools

Themes that include this event

  • Changes in Buddhist StatuesAD 539 – 1100

    From a Goguryeo gilt-bronze Buddha in Northern Wei style and "the smile of Baekje" to the Seokguram Buddha, Balhae’s twin Buddhas, early Goryeo iron Buddhas and colossal regional stone figures