Iconography of the Contemplating Buddha Figure in East Asia

Dr Heyryun Koh (University of Würzberg)

Lecture

This lecture is a new exploration of the iconography of the contemplating Buddha figure, referred to as Korean Sayu사유 Buddha.Two of the National Treasures of Korea (numbers 78 and 83) are Maitreya Sayu Buddha figures, which Dr Heyryun Koh will interpret and analyse in reference to two Buddhist sutras. The first will concern the visualisation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya's rebirth in the heavenly paradise Tusita (T452). The second will explore the Doctrinal Essential of the Sutra of Rebirth Maitreya in the Tusita heaven (T1773/299).This talk will also examine the potential meaning of the crowns of both Buddha figures, as well as the reasons why they both smile so beautifully.

About the lecturer

Heyryun Koh has been a dispatched professor from the Korea Foundation, carrying out her duties at the Koreanicum of the Institute for East Asian Cultural History (Sinology) at the University of Würzburg, since the late 2019. From May 2017, she was associate researcher at the Institute for Art History of the University of Heidelberg. Before that, she completed her studies at Ewha University in Seoul and the Universities of Zhejiang and Hamburg. In Feb 2003, she finalised her PhD at the University of Heidelberg.

From November 2003 to 2006 she worked as a assistant Professor at the Sinology Department of the LMU Munich. In 2007, she was appointed professor at the University of Busan, Dankuk in Korea. Since 2017, she has led a project that focuses on the relations between Korea and Japan during the colonial era. This project is conducted by the Research Institute of the Korean Independence Movement of the Independence Hall Korea.