Hoeamsa Temple Site, Yangju

This is the site of Hoeamsa Temple, said to have first been built in the fifteenth year of King Chungsuk of Goryeo (1328) by the Indian monk Jigong, who had come to Korea by way of Yuan China. It is thought, however, that a temple already existed on this site even before Hoeamsa was built. According to the Record of the Rebuilding of Hoeamsa at Cheonbosan, written by Yi Saek in the early Joseon period, in the second year of King U of Goryeo (1376) Jigong's disciple Naong began building the temple on a grand scale, trusting the saying that "if a temple is built here, the Buddhist teaching will flourish greatly." Up to the early Joseon period it is said to have been the largest temple in the country. King Taejo, Yi Seong-gye, had the monk Muhak — a disciple of Naong and Taejo's own teacher — stay at this temple, and after handing over the throne he himself lived here in religious practice. Under King Seongjong, at the command of Queen Jeonghui, consort of King Sejo, the temple was greatly enlarged, a project said to have taken thirteen years. It later became the foremost temple in the country with the support of Queen Munjeong during the reign of King Myeongjong, but after Queen Munjeong's death it was burned down under the anti-Buddhist policy of the time. About 500 metres up the hill from this site stands the present-day Hoeamsa Temple, and in its vicinity a number of important cultural heritage items remain. These include the Stele for State Preceptor Seongak at Hoeamsa Temple Site (treasure), erected in the Goryeo period and inscribed with an account of Naong's life; the stupa and stone lantern of Jigong (Gyeonggi-do Tangible Cultural Heritage); the stupa at Hoeamsa Temple Site (treasure); and the stupa and stone lantern of Naong (Gyeonggi-do Tangible Cultural Heritage), together with, from the Joseon period, a twin-lion stone lantern (treasure), a stele for State Preceptor Muhak (Gyeonggi-do Tangible Heritage), a stupa pagoda at Hoeamsa Temple Site (Gyeonggi-do Tangible Heritage), a royal envoy's stele (Gyeonggi-do Tangible Cultural Heritage), a millstone (Gyeonggi-do Folk Cultural Heritage), a flagpole support, and the foundation stones of former buildings. It is notable that although this temple stands in mountainous rather than level terrain, it has a south corridor of the kind normally found in temples built on flat ground, showing a layout typical of Goryeo-period palaces and temples.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yangju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Historic Site · 사적