Pyochungsa Temple, Cheongju

Pyochungsa was originally called Samchungsa, the Shrine of the Three Loyal Subjects. It was built in 1731 to honour Yi Bong-sang, the Chungcheong Army Commander; Nam Yeon-nyeon, a garrison commander; and Hong Rim, an aide-de-camp, all of whom died as martyrs when Yi In-jwa and others raised a rebellion centred on the Cheongju region in 1728, the fourth year of King Yeongjo. The shrine was granted a royal plaque in 1736. In 1728 Yi In-jwa and others led the Musillan, the Musin Rebellion. On 15 March of that year, rebel forces smuggled weapons into Cheongju hidden inside a funeral bier, and under cover of darkness opened the gate of the walled town and rushed the garrison. Yi Bong-sang, taken by surprise, and Hong Rim, who tried to stop the attackers, were both killed on the spot, and Nam Yeon-nyeon, dragged before the rebels, also died a martyr's death after rebuking them. The court honoured the three loyal subjects by building Samchungsa inside the north gate of the walled town. The shrine survived intact even when the Daewongun ordered the demolition of Confucian shrines and academies across the country. In 1939, when the centre of Cheongju was expanded, Pyochungsa was relocated to the site of the grave of the virtuous woman Hae-wol. Hae-wol was a low-status concubine of Hong Rim; carrying his unborn child at the time of his death, she could not follow him in death, and later gave birth to a son. When the boy died at the age of seven, she then took her own life to follow him. The yeollyeomun, the gate honouring a virtuous woman, built for Hae-wol was relocated together with Pyochungsa, and her grave was moved further east to the foot of Wausan Mountain. At Pyochungsa, passing through the samun, a three-gated entrance, leads to the shrine building, three bays wide and two bays deep, with a double-eaved matbae, or gabled, roof. To its east stand the Samchungsa Historical Stele, erected in 1731, and the yeollyeomun for Hae-wol. In front of the samun stands a stele recording the relocation of Pyochungsa, erected in 1942. The Musillan of 1728 was an event that laid bare the ills of factional politics. In its aftermath King Yeongjo carried out the Tangpyeongchaek, a policy of impartial appointment across political factions, to build up a loyal power base, while in the localities the balance of power shifted greatly as forces divided between those who had joined the rebellion and those who suppressed it. Pyochungsa is noted as a representative heritage site of Cheongju, the main stage of the Musillan, which marked a major turning point in Korean history in the early eighteenth century.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Cheongju, Chungbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물