Jeongup Bohwa-ri Twin Standing Stone Buddhas

About this place

Two standing stone Buddhas stand side by side on a hillside in Jeongup, Jeonbuk. These Baekje-period statues are significant for being the southernmost granite standing Buddhas made in Baekje, and for displaying the 'right-shoulder-bared' (ugyeonpyeondan) style of robe. The taller Buddha on the right is largely intact apart from a broken halo at the back and the loss of the lower pedestal section. The head is smooth with a topknot-style ushnisha, similar to the Buyeo Gunsuri Stone Seated Buddha — a hallmark of Baekje Buddhist sculpture. The sculptural style also closely resembles the Buyeo Gunsuri Stone Seated Buddha and the Taean Dongmun-ri Cliff-Carved Trinity. The most distinctive feature is the robe worn with the right shoulder exposed (ugyeonpyeondan), revealing also the inner garment (seunggakgi) and lower skirt. The smaller Buddha on the left, missing its right arm, shares the same characteristics. The robing style and sculptural technique clearly reflect features of late Baekje statues. The right-shoulder-bared robe style that appeared in the late Three Kingdoms period is known to have spread widely via the triple-bend (samgok) posture gilt-bronze standing Buddha of Silla, but the discovery of this statue confirmed that Baekje also employed this robe style from an early date. The statues are estimated to date to the mid-7th century, the late Baekje period.