Myeongbujeon Hall of Tongdosa Temple, Yangsan

Tongdosa Temple, together with Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon and Songgwangsa Temple in Seungju, is one of Korea's three jewel temples, and its precincts are broadly divided into three areas: Sangnojeon (upper courtyard), Jungnojeon (middle courtyard) and Hanojeon (lower courtyard). Myeongbujeon Hall, in Sangnojeon, stands to the south-east of Daeungjeon Hall. It is said to have been built in the eighteenth year of King Gongmin of Goryeo (1369), and according to the Record of the Repair of Myeongbujeon Hall (Myeongbujeonjungsugi), it burned down in the twenty-fourth year of Emperor Gojong of Joseon (1887) and was repaired the following year (1888) by the monk Hoseong. The hall has a frontage of five bays and a depth of two bays, with a hip-and-gable (paljak) roof whose side profile resembles the Chinese character for "eight" (八). It is built in the dapo style, with decorative bracket sets placed both atop the columns and in the spaces between them to support the roof. Many of the detailed elements making up these bracket sets are omitted, an eclectic technique commonly seen at the end of the Joseon period. Enshrined inside is a statue of Jijang bosal (Kṣitigarbha), the bodhisattva who saves sentient beings from hell, surrounded by statues of the Ten Kings (siwang), including Yeomna, the king who judges the dead in the underworld. Myeongbujeon Hall at Tongdosa is a valuable heritage example of the architectural style of Myeongbujeon halls from the end of the Joseon period (nineteenth century).

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yangsan, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산