The mid-Goryeo period covers around 200 years from the mid-eleventh century of King Munjong’s 文宗 reign(1046~1083) through 1270 when the military regime collapsed. Compared to the entire Goryeo period, relatively few Buddhist sculptures are known from this period. However, Goryeo Buddhist sculpture of this period are noteworthy in that they display new forms and techniques imported from Song China(960~1279): Bodhisattvas seated in royal ease position (Skt. rajalilasana, K. yunwangjwa 輪王座), new forms of jewelled crowns, prevalence of wooden and drylacquered Buddhist statues, inlaid crystal eyeballs, and the application technique of gamtang used for applying strands of hair or yeongnak 瓔珞 (strings threaded with decorative elements such as pearls, jade, or metal).
Representative Bodhisattvas in royal ease position are Gilt Bronze Seated Bodhisattvas at Goseongsa 高聲寺 in Gangjin and at Daeheungsa 大興寺 in Haenam, Jeollanam-do, both of which are located along the sea route to China. Typical examples of Buddhist statues produced using new techniques include Seated Wooden Bodhisattvas at Bongjeongsa 鳳停寺 (produced in 1199) and at Bogwangsa 普光寺 in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Seated Dry-Lacquered Bodhisattva at Cheongnyangsa 淸凉寺 in Bonghwa, also Gyeongsangbuk-do. These sculptures display great sculptural beauty and sophistication, which is due to the mixture of various new techniques used for the production of their crowns and yeongnak, such as the elaborate and exquisite creation of strands of hair and yeongnak glued onto the wood or lacquer surface, in laying pupils with rough crystals, and the precise making of jewelled crowns using sheets of copper. These technical characteristics are presumed to have reached Goryeo from Song China via sea route, and augmented by the sensitivities and sophisticated skills inherent in Goryeo people. Various sculptures of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (K.Gwaneum, C.Guanyin) were also produced, as the Guanyin cult related to Mt. Putuoshan 補陀山 of southern China was introduced to Korea via this sea route.
Buddhist sculptures of the Goryeo dynasty share with those of the Song dynasty not only formal and stylistic characteristics but also production techniques. This suggests that Goryeo craftsmen did not produce their sculptures merely by copying from Chinese pictorial models. Extant historical documents support this suggestion with records about craftsmen’s frequent travels between Goryeo and Song and about instances of bringing Buddhist sculptures that traveling Goryeo sculptors made in-situ in China. Buddhist sculptures known from this period reflect the ardent passion of Goryeo people for active and direct introduction of new Chinese culture. They dispatched envoys to China in order to make copies in 1076 of murals at Xiangguo si 相國寺 in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song, or in order to recruit Chinese craftsmen to duplicate the drylacquered statue of Buddha enshrined in Heungwangsa 興王寺 in Gaegyeong, which had earlier been brought from the Song during the Yuanfeng 元豊 era(1078~1085). The episode of Goryeo artist Yi Nyeong 李寧 (d.u.) who accompanied envoy Yi Jadeok 李 資德(1071~1138) to the Northern Song and who was praised by Emperor Zhezong 哲 宗(r. 1085~1099) for his artistic competence well illustrates the close cultural exchange between the two countries. Furthermore, frequent travels of Song merchants to the Korean Peninsula brought the shift of the major port to Mingzhou 明州(today Ningbo 寧 波) of Zhejiang Province and the importance of the sea-trade route to Southern China.