Bogwangmyeongjeon Hall of Wibongsa Temple, Wanju

Wibongsa Temple has two accounts of its founding: one that it was built by the monk Seoam in 604, the fifth year of King Mu of Baekje, and another that at the end of the Silla period a man named Choe Yong-gak saw three phoenixes playing on the temple site and named it Wibongsa ("Temple Encircled by Phoenixes"). It is said that in 1358, the eighth year of King Gongmin of Goryeo, the monk Naong greatly enlarged the temple, and that in 1466, the twelfth year of King Sejo of Joseon, the monk Seokjam repaired it. Judging from its construction technique, the Bogwangmyeongjeon Hall of Wibongsa Temple is presumed to have been built around the 17th century, and the wooden signboard inscribed "Bogwangmyeongjeon" is said to have been written in 1828, the twenty-eighth year of King Sunjo of Joseon. The hall measures three kan across the front and three kan along the side, and its roof is a hip-and-gable roof (paljak) that forms the shape of the character 八 ("eight") when viewed from the side. It is built in the dapo style, in which decorative bracket clusters supporting the eaves are placed not only atop the columns but also between them. The interior ceiling is finished as a "well ceiling" (umuljeoncheong), a grid pattern in the shape of the character 井 ("well") that conceals the space above. Above the altar a canopy (datjip) decorated with clouds, dragons and orbs shaped like magic jewels has been installed, lending a solemn atmosphere to the Buddha statue. The various Buddhist paintings on the rear interior wall, including the White-robed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, together with the gilt dancheong (traditional decorative colouring) that has been relatively well preserved, create a calm and cosy atmosphere inside the hall. It is valued as a cultural heritage that preserves excellent traditional colouring techniques and provides valuable material for the study of wooden Buddhist hall architecture of the Joseon period.

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Where it is

Region

Wanju, Jeonbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물