This is the earliest extant Korean representation of the Buddha Tejaprabha. According to the Great and Holy Bodhisattva Sri Lakshmi’s Discourses on the Teaching for the Removal of Calamities by Turning the Dharma Wheel (Daeseongmyo Gilsang bosal seol jejae gyoryeong beomnyun 大聖妙吉祥菩薩說除災敎令法輪), the Buddha Tejaprabha governs the celestial realm and emits wondrous light from the pores of his body. The worship of the Buddha Tejaprabha was popular during the Tang 唐 (618–907), Song 宋 (960–1279), and Yuan 元 (1271–1368) dynasties in China.

The iconography of this painting of the Buddha Tejaprabha was influenced by Daoist imagery. At the center of the composition, the Buddha rides in a carriage pulled by an ox. The deity’s right hand is raised and his left hand, placed in front of his abdomen, holds a golden wheel. All members of his retinue are identified by names which are written in cartouches. Among the Eleven Luminaries depicted in the painting, the planet Venus (Geumseong 金星) is represented as a female figure with a crown ornamented with a bird, and Mercury (Jinseong 辰星) wears a crown with an ox. These two depictions correspond with passages in the Indian Astrology of the Nine Luminaries (Beomcheon hwara guyo 梵天火羅九曜) and the Cutting Off the Evil of the Seven Planets (Chiryo yangjae gyeol 七曜讓災決).

The smaller figures standing along the edges represent the twenty-eight constellations in Chinese astrology. As each of the constellations is accompanied by an animal, the painting shows influence from Buddhist iconography of the Northern Song 北宋 (960–1127) and Yuan 元 periods. This observation is strengthened by the fact that the names of the Six Stars of the Three Terraces are identical to those in the Chinese Treatise on Astronomy (Cheonmun ji 天文志). However, the names of the two attending bodhisattvas—the Bodhisattva who Banishes Calamities (Sojae bosal 消災菩薩) and the Bodhisattva who Appeases Calamities (Sikjae bosal 息災菩薩)—are not found in Chinese imagery of the Buddha Tejaprabha. This difference suggests that Goryeo 고려 高慮 Buddhists adapted and changed Chinese iconography.

The use of the subject of Tejaprabha continued in Korea into the early Joseon 조선 朝鮮 period (1392–1910), with evidence apparent in two paintings preserved in Japan: the Six Buddhas Preaching in Sairaiji 西來寺, dated to the fifteenth century, and the Descent of Buddha Tejaprabha in the collection of the Koryo Museum of Art 高麗美術館, dated to 1569.[1]

The principal colors are red and green, which appear somewhat muted due to significant pigment abrasion. The painting can be dated to the early fourteenth century based upon coloration and figural representations. Above the ox, the ferocious figure bearing a sword in one hand and a lasso in the other appears to be Acala-vidyaraja. This may be the earliest datable example of the deity in a Korean Buddhist painting and requires further study.

—Chung Woothak, Professor Emeritus, Dongguk University, Seoul

Note:
[1] For images of the paintings, see Bak Eungyeong 박은경, Joseon jeongi bulhwa yeongu 조선 전기 불화 연구 (Seoul: Sigongart, 2008), 79, fig. I-56 (Sairaiji 西來寺), 84, fig. I-58a (Koryo Museum of Art 高麗美術館).