Chapter 70

70

* * * *

The crossroads of Eastern and Western civilizations, Gandhara.

A place said to be named by combining Gand (meaning fragrance) and Har (meaning land).

In 326 BC.

After Alexander the Great set out from Macedonia, conquered Greece, defeated Thrace and Illyria, occupied Triballia and Media, and reached from the Hellespont to the Red Sea, taking all of Asia into his hands, the region was occupied.

For 300 years, it was ruled by Greek kingdoms and influenced by Greek Hellenistic culture, leading to the blossoming of a unique form of Buddhist art that blended Eastern and Western cultures.

It was there that the Buddha statue began.

Gandhara art, which flourished from the 1st to the 5th century in the region centered around the ancient state of Gandhara, including the Taxila area to the east, the Swat area to the north, and parts of Afghanistan to the west.

The traces of that ancient art, which flourished in stone, came to an end in the mid-5th century with the invasion of the Hephthalites. I sometimes explore these traces.

The Buddha statues that began in Gandhara spread to various parts of the world, and although they continue to be produced in diverse forms and types, most follow Indian art, making it difficult to find the technical finesse and realistic Buddha statues that were important characteristics of Gandhara art.

I often imagine.

One day, a skilled sculptor suddenly appears and creates a Buddha statue that embodies the characteristics of Gandhara art, rather than one derived from Indian art.

When I have such thoughts, I realize that while the types of Buddha statues have become more diverse, their forms have become quite limited.

Land of fragrance.

Land of scent.

Distant past, Gandhara.

I long for your land today.

– Excerpt from Yang Seong-gu's [Lessons with a Sculptor]

* * * *

Reddit.

A social networking service (SNS) and community with over 400 million users per month, making it the largest in the United States.

One of the named users on Reddit stumbled upon Gang Seok by chance, leading to a developed discussion.

As can be inferred from the fact that Reddit has over 400 million users, it is a community where countless people post and disappear like spitting out words.

However, it was surprising that a discussion that started last night was still being brought up, even in a subreddit that doesn't rank highly on Reddit.

Moreover, the controversy wasn't limited to Reddit.

Foreign community sites, especially those involved in the arts, spread the news of Gang Seok's live streaming on platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

There were various reasons why Gang Seok attracted attention.

His bold hand movements, which made one wonder if he was the only one with a [Ctrl+Z] ability.

His speed, which naturally increased due to his lack of hesitation, unmatched by anyone else.

His exquisite craftsmanship, as precise as a machine, and his handsome appearance, which was as impressive as his sculptures.

The cameras placed in various locations provided different views of the scene, adding to the visual enjoyment.

Of course, the discussion was only happening overseas.

The place where the content [Gang Seok] was being consumed the fastest was, of course, South Korea. They all gathered in Gang Seok's live streaming room and chatted away, without needing to talk about other things.

Managing the chat room naturally became the responsibility of the viewers.

When someone started typing a long message, a Super Chat quickly appeared.

While it couldn't be perfectly maintained, it was a rule the chat room people set for themselves as the live streaming real-time viewers approached 20,000.

1. No spamming (no more than three consecutive chats, long messages only once)

2. No profanity

3. Avoid irrelevant comments

4. No changing topics once a discussion starts (discussions should last no more than 10 minutes)

These four rules were agreed upon by everyone.

The discussion, which had been quiet for a moment due to the watermelon juice, slowly resumed.

Even with 20,000 viewers, the chat was slow but rich in content.

In the screen, the statue Gang Seok was sculpting had strikingly narrow eyes.

As someone once said, the eyes hold the soul, and looking into the narrow eyes, even though the sculpture wasn't complete, they were vivid and continued to draw the gaze.

It was sacred.

Looking into those eyes, which seemed to draw you in, made one feel reverent.

Or perhaps, it made one feel calm.

Watching Gang Seok sculpt the Buddha statue, various impressions filled my mind.

At first glance, it was like looking at the largest tree in the middle of a forest, and on closer inspection, it was like looking at the moon shining in the night sky. From a distance, it was like the sun shining in a clear sky, and when you approached, it felt warm like a lantern. When you got even closer, it was vast like the sea.

In a word, it was holy.

Even with most of the limbs still buried in the stone, the emotion felt through the screen from just the eyes was remarkable.

People were excitedly watching the live stream, wondering what it would look like when completed.

So many people watched Gang Seok sculpt, captivated. To the point where there were stories about how coin karaoke and mobile game sales nationwide had dropped.

The term "prodigy" had been used for a long time, and occasionally, there were even grand claims that Gang Seok might be Korea's Michelangelo.

The current discussion in the chat room was whether the statue Gang Seok was sculpting was a Buddha statue or not. Since Gang Seok didn't say, no one knew.

It was a discussion without a clear answer.

People watched familiarly as he wielded the grinder, cutting through the marble with its impressive cloud patterns, and typed meaningless chats.

Among the countless people, there was also Choi Yul-mok, the director of the sculpture academy [Land] in Seogyodong. He slowly typed on the keyboard with a two-finger method.

"Our Gang Seok, much love... oh, hic, hic, ah, here it is. Hello, Se, yo."

He was sitting in front of the academy computer, pressing the keyboard and moving the mouse to try out the Super Chat feature. It was a small pleasure for him these days.

He had been sending Super Chats every day for almost ten days using the emergency funds he had saved. It was impressive that his wife hadn't found out. If she did, neither the academy computer nor his neck would be safe.

"Let's see, let's see, ah... here it is."

Just as he was about to complete the final step, Gang Seok suddenly crouched down in the screen. Choi Yul-mok, who had his phone in front of the computer screen, was startled and looked at the screen.

"What?"

Suddenly, Gang Seok started swinging the grinder like a drill, as if trying to break through the floor. Choi Yul-mok stretched his neck like a turtle, bringing his face close to the screen.

"What!!!"

If he worked on the bottom part of the stone without laying it down, the statue would fall over, even if the upper body wasn't fully carved.

He couldn't not know that...

Choi Yul-mok, with a pale face, pressed his face against the screen.

The chat room was flooded with Super Chats saying it shouldn't be done.

Most of them were people who had sculpted before and were showing off in the live stream room.

Choi Yul-mok's scream echoed.

"Ah, nooo!"

Of course, the scream didn't reach the screen.

Ignoring the chaos, Gang Seok calmly brought the grinder to the bottom of the stone.

Whirrr!

The monster grinder, tuned by Yang Seong-gu, mercilessly dug into the marble.

* * * *

Four hours after Gang Seok started working on the bottom.

It was midday in the United States and early morning in Korea.

Under the bright lights, Gang Seok was swinging the grinder like an instrument.

Like a delicate needle, Gang Seok was poking and carving the stone with the grinder.

Ultimately, Gang Seok's statue maintained its form without collapsing.

As a white onyx with properties similar to glass, it had been carved deeply, like a spinning top, with a square top and a triangular bottom for a long time.

Gang Seok's statue stood as if it had always been that way, performing a miracle.

Yang Seong-gu, watching from the hanok floor, stroked his beard and smiled. His eyes were on Gang Seok's live stream chat room.

"Hmm."

The chat was quickly scrolling up.

The rules they set for themselves had long been forgotten.

Weight.

Understanding the center of gravity is not something that can be grasped by simple sensory perception.

But as if to say that understanding was unnecessary, Gang Seok moved the grinder.

It couldn't be explained in words.

Common sense had long become a meaningless echo.

There were many expressions for something that couldn't be explained, but most people watching the live stream today thought of the same word.

Genius.

It wasn't just because he was fast.

It wasn't just because he sculpted in a novel and unique way.

He had already surpassed the realm of ordinary people.

A person who accomplished the impossible.

A chat from one of the viewers suddenly appeared.

From that moment, the chat room became abruptly quiet.

People were captivated. They watched in awe as a human walked towards an unknown world they could never reach.

Only short cheers and Super Chats quietly appeared.

.

.

.

Another month passed.

Gang Seok's live streaming viewers steadily increased to 40,000. It was an incredible number. Even a tightly packed live stream couldn't have such excellent quality.

It had only been a month and ten days.

By then, not only YouTube and domestic and foreign communities but also news outlets occasionally mentioned Gang Seok. He was a nineteen-year-old.

Before the start of the early admission process for his senior year of high school, Gang Seok had become a prodigy high school student attracting attention from Korea and the world.

"Hey!"

"Mr. Yang Seong-gu! Please open the door!"

"We know you're in there!"

"Please open the door!"

"Can we have a quick interview?"

"We know you're in there!"

Bang, bang, bang. The sound of knocking on the door made Yang Seong-gu frown.

He had built a hanok in a remote mountain to avoid such attention, but now it had become noisier than any city center since it was known that Gang Seok was there.

'Once Gang Seok completes the statue, we should leave this place.'

Yang Seong-gu crossed his arms, looking straight ahead.

"Mr. Gang Seok! Can we have a quick interview?"

"I'm Oh Min-deok from LBS! Can you talk to me for a moment?"

Despite the chaos outside, Gang Seok was calmly looking at the statue.

He had put down the grinder and was now using a hammer and chisel. With his head tied in a headband, he was looking at the statue with burning reddish-brown eyes.

His attitude, as if only the statue and himself existed in the world, truly moved people.

'Beautiful.'

Yang Seong-gu looked at his back.

Being able to watch this in person, not through a camera, was a blessing. Thinking of the many pieces of white onyx shattered by Gang Seok's hammer, Yang Seong-gu nodded. It wasn't a waste.

At that moment.

Gang Seok, who had been hammering in the mist, carefully lowered the hammer and chisel from the statue. It was the moment the pupils were carved into the narrow eyes.

Removing the chisel from the eyes that fiercely stared at him, Gang Seok slowly, very slowly, took a step back.

As he moved, the mist cleared.

It was a truly perfect moment.

It was a beautiful scene that even those watching Gang Seok on the screen gasped. At that moment, the eyes were more focused on the sculptor who completed the statue than on the statue itself, as Gang Seok's face was filled with joy.

When Gang Seok took seven steps back and covered one of the camera lenses.

The statue was revealed without any obstruction.

The statue was barefoot, with a skirt-like lower body, a shoulder cloth (kashaya) on the upper body, and a large robe covering both shoulders.

Behind it was a halo, and the seated Buddha was in the gesture of fearlessness (Abhaya Mudra), with the right hand raised to shoulder height, fingers extended, and the palm facing forward. It was a gesture to reassure beings not to fear during the Buddha's teachings.

At that moment, a sense of peace naturally came over the heart.

The clouds began to part as if a hole had been opened in the sky. Light flooded in, a wave of orange light, and Gang Seok regained his sense of time.

It was sunset.

Late afternoon.

Gang Seok slowly turned his head. The sunset was raining down on the statue's shoulders.

The light gradually spread over the shoulders.

The Buddha carved in marble embraced the light.

Onyx.

A type of marble with a unique property of transmitting light, the white onyx, which had been hidden in the mist, was now tinged with a mysterious amber color, neither crimson nor yellow.

Like a lantern.

A Buddha in the twilight of life, aged and frail.

The face of the stone Buddha, who had endured the pain of death while spending the rainy season in the Bamboo Grove, was vividly revealed.

Someone watching the scene let out a sigh of admiration.

"Ah..."

The narrow eyes met the camera lens.

Those watching the statue through the lens felt as if they were looking into the eyes of a Buddha who had become a flame in the midst of suffering.

Looking into the vivid eyes, it seemed they understood.

There was truth in those eyes.

71. September 8, White Dew (白露)