Iron Buddha of Jokjo Temple

The Iron Buddha of Jokjo Temple is preserved at the Koryo Museum in Kaesong, North Korea.[1] The Buddha statue is located in Showroom Number Three in the Kyesong Temple complex of the Museum. It was moved from the site of the Jokjo Temple which is located in Pakyon-ri, Kaesong.[2]

Iron Buddha of Jokjo Temple
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
적조사쇠부처
Hancha
寂照寺쇠부처
Revised RomanizationJeokjosa-soebucheo
McCune–ReischauerChŏkchosa-soebuch'ŏ

History

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The iron statue depicts a seated Buddha (called 적조사쇠부처 or ch’ŏlbul) and weighs over a ton. It was moved in 1925 from the Chŏkjo-sa temple site (寂照寺) in Kaesŏng Pakyŏn-li to the Kyŏngbuggung Palace museum in Seoul. In September 1935 it returned to the Kaesŏng Provincial Museum, where it was located in the main exhibition hall. Photos exist of the statue with both hands broken off (taken circa 1935 and again in the 1950s), when it was seated on a high pedestal. It now rests in the Museum with both hands restored, sitting on a lower and less decorated granite pedestal.[3]

References

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  1. ^ tmc133 (February 7, 2008). "Koryo Museum". flickr.com. Retrieved August 5, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Koryo History Museum in Kaesong". Korean Central News Agency. Pyongyang: Korean Central News Agency. June 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  3. ^ Scheidhauer, Ruth (2011). "V.IV.II, BETWEEN UNITY AND DEMARCATION: HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE KAESŎNG KORYŎ MUSEUM". A HISTORIOGRAPHY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE INTERPRETATION AND POLICY IN KAESŎNG, DPR KOREA AND THEIR POSSIBLE IMPACT ON INTER-KOREAN RAPPROCHEMENT (PDF) (thesis for PhD). Institute of Archaeology, University College of London. Retrieved August 5, 2014.