Daeungjeon Hall of Baegyangsa Temple, Jangseong

Baegyangsa Temple was first built by Yeohwan in 632, the 33rd year of King Mu of Baekje, and underwent numerous rounds of construction and changes of name afterwards. It took on its present name, Baegyangsa, after Hwanyang rebuilt it in 1574, the seventh year of King Seonjo of Joseon. It is said that, while Hwanyang was living at the temple and reciting the Lotus Sutra every day, a white sheep would often come to listen to the recitation, and so the temple's name was changed to Baegyangsa ('White Sheep Temple'). The Daeungjeon Hall was built in 1917, when the temple was rebuilt, and it enshrines a Sakyamuni Buddha triad, a Buddha statue ten cheok tall (a cheok being a traditional unit of about 30 cm), and a painting of the Dragon-Headed Avalokitesvara. To the right hang sixteen paintings of arhats shown in amusing poses, such as threading a needle or scratching their backs. The hall is five bays across the front and three bays to the side, with a hip-and-gable roof whose sides form the shape of the character 八 (eight), and it ranks among the larger Buddhist halls. A staircase is set at the centre of a two-tiered platform built of long stones. The Daeungjeon Hall of Baegyangsa was built in the early Japanese colonial period, and it shows a retreat from the ornate dapo (multi-cluster bracket) style of the late Joseon period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jangseong, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산