That Doesn’t Look Like Bodhi Dharma At All
Observers of Reed Surfing to Cross The Sea would be baffled indeed. For a painting that claims to have depicted the Bodhi Dharma, the man in the work does not resemble the famous Buddhist monk at all. What could be the reason behind this surely deliberate error? Why the reimagining of such a famous face?
The Bodhi Dharma is a Buddhist monk whose story is half-steeped in legend. He allegedly lived during the 5th or 6th century and spread Chan Buddhism to China. In other depictions, he is easily recognized by his copious beard and decidedly un-East Asian features — he is rumored to have hailed from somewhere else, likely Central Asia or the Indian subcontinent. Instead of the reserved face above (with moderate facial hair), the actual Bodhi Dharma probably looked more like this:
Yet we cannot just automatically assume that the painter had no idea what he was doing. The artist behind this remarkably Korean version of the Bodhi Dharma was none other than Kim Hongdo himself, the eponymous hero of this Medium series.
To understand Kim’s choice, we must first look into a famous tale attributed to the Bodhi Dharma. After an encounter with Emperor Wu of Liang (founding emperor of the Liang dynasty of the Southern dynasties and a fervent follower of Buddhism), the Bodhi Dharma found their opinions to be in conflict and subsequently crossed a river to the Shaolin Monastery, where he ended up starting the famous Shaolin kung fu. However, this painting’s name indicates that the water under the monk’s feet is that of the ocean.
This was a conscious choice on Kim’s part, one that also aligned with the cultural zeitgeist of middle-to-late Joseon dynasty art. Supported by the wave of Joseon-centrism that had taken hold of the peninsula as the Neo-Confucian order, originally a Chinese import, was studied and developed further by Joseon scholars, Kim wanted to show the famed Dharma coming by sea to his very own Joseon, reimagining the lore for his own purposes. This period in the Joseon dynasty was also influenced by material wealth as the country recovered from two previous wars — as a result, artists like Kim were adequately financially supported.
Given cultural free rein, Kim gave the Bodhi Dharma’s face the Joseon treatment — such a Korean face fit his message of a flourishing Joseon, and would appear more familiar and relatable to viewers. Like many of Kim’s works, Reed Surfing to Cross the Sea is a triumph, a pinnacle of Joseon dynasty art.
