Their faces are so familiar and realistic that Koreans today recognise them as resembling people from the province in which the statues were found. It is likely the statues were modelled on real people, says Kim. In Buddhist tradition, sacred statues and ritual items are never deliberately broken or discarded like rubbish they are treated with reverence, often ritually buried amid much ceremony. By then, Confucianism had replaced Buddhism as the state religion. It is believed they were deliberately smashed by Confucian scholars during anti-Buddhist purges around the 15th century during the Joseon dynasty. Many showed signs of wilful damage, including heads broken from their bodies. There were probably many more since arhats are traditionally depicted in a group of 500. Altogether, 328 sculptures were discovered, of which 317 were arhat statues. They range in height from 25-40 centimetres and were carved from granite quarried about 10 kilometres from where they were found. The statues are more than 700 years old and are believed to have been created during the Goryeo Dynasty between the 10th-14th centuries – the golden age of Buddhism in Korea. She was captivated.Īrhats are not gods, but humans who have attained a high spiritual state, according to tradition. At an international museum conference in Kyoto in 2019, she encountered her former university teacher who gave her a little book with Buddhist teachings, poetry and images of figures. It is the first time the statues have left Korea.įor Min-Jung Kim, the Powerhouse’s curator of Asian Arts and Design, her discovery of the arhats was as fortuitous as the farmer’s. Some of the statues are coming to the Powerhouse in an exhibition that gives a contemporary resonance to these ancient sacred figures. Together they express the spectrum of human emotion. Many are joyful, tranquil and pensive, but some appear grumpy or sad. Most were of sacred beings known as arhats wise, compassionate beings considered to be the first disciples of the Buddha.Įach statue has a different face. Credit:Louie Douvisīut the greatest treasures to emerge from the soil 150 kilometres south-east of the capital Seoul were more than 300 carved stone figures. Each statue has a different face, expressing the gamut of human emotions.
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