Jogyemun Gate of Beomeosa Temple, Busan

Beomeosa Temple, renowned as one of the three great temples of Gyeongsangnam-do, is said according to the Samguk yusa to have been first built by the monk Uisang in the 18th year of King Munmu of Unified Silla (678). It is also known as one of the temples whose monks took up arms and fought directly when Japanese forces invaded in the past. The date when this gate was built is not known, but it is presumed to have been erected together with the other buildings of the temple when the monk Myojeon rebuilt them in the sixth year of King Gwanghaegun of Joseon (1614). It was restored to its present form by the Buddhist master Baegam in the fifth year of King Jeongjo (1781). The gate has a front of three bays, and its roof, seen from the side, is a gabled roof shaped like the Chinese character 人 (person). The bracket sets supporting the roof eaves are of the dapo style, set both above the columns and between them. Unusually, short columns are raised on tall stone bases, and all the timber elements are painted with dancheong, the traditional multicoloured decoration. Because it embodies the principle that all Buddhist teachings converge as one, the Jogyemun Gate of Beomeosa Temple, Busan is also called Samhaetalmun, the Gate of Threefold Liberation. It combines the functional value of an ilju-mun, a temple's outer gate supported by a single row of columns, with a structural rationality achieved through the fitting arrangement and joinery of all its members, producing a visually stable form and design. It expresses the structural beauty of traditional Korean architecture so well that it can be judged a masterpiece among Korea's ilju gates. The calligraphy on the boards to the left and right of the Jogyemun Gate, reading "Geumjeongsan Beomeosa" and "Seonchal daebonsan", was written by the calligrapher Kim Seong-geun, who is a figure included in the Report on the Investigation of Pro-Japanese, Anti-National Acts, compiled under the Special Act on the Investigation of Pro-Japanese, Anti-National Acts Committed under Japanese Colonial Rule.

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Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Treasure · 보물