Ongnyongsa Temple Site, Gwangyang

Ongnyongsa Temple, on Baekgyesan Mountain (505 m above sea level) in Gwangyang, is said to have been founded in the early eighth century, during the Unified Silla period. It is the site where State Preceptor Seongak Doseon lived for thirty-five years (864–898) and trained several hundred disciples. According to legend, the temple site was once a large pond inhabited by nine dragons that tormented the local people. State Preceptor Doseon drove the dragons away, but a white dragon alone refused to obey; he blinded it with his staff and boiled the pond water to expel it, then built the temple on ground purified with charcoal. The camellia forest around the site is said to have been planted to strengthen the land's weak energy when the temple was built, and there is also an anecdote that a tea field was cultivated there for the disciples' physical and mental training. The temple burned down and was abandoned in the late Joseon period. Excavation uncovered building foundations and more than ninety fragments of inscribed steles, as well as bones and a coffin believed to be those of State Preceptor Doseon. It is an important site for understanding the funerary customs of eminent monks of the time.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gwangyang, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Historic Site · 사적