Bunhwangsa Temple Seokjeong

This is a Silla-period well, also known as Hogungnyong-byeoneojeong, meaning "the well where the state-protecting dragons were turned into fish." The outside of the well's rim is octagonal and 70 cm high, while the inside is circular, a form said to represent the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism and the truth of won-yung, or perfect, unobstructed interfusion; the square lattice inside the well represents the Four Noble Truths, the fundamental doctrine of Buddhism. The Samguk yusa records the following legend: in the eleventh year of King Wonseong, an envoy from Tang China came to Silla, transformed the kingdom's state-protecting dragons into three fish, caught them, and set off for home. The next day two women appeared before King Wonseong and said that they were the wives of two state-protecting dragons living in Dongji and Cheongji ponds; the Tang envoy and men of Haseo had chanted spells to turn their husbands and the state-protecting dragon living in the octagonal well of Bunhwangsa Temple into small fish, placed them in a bamboo tube, and carried them off, and they begged the king to rescue them. The king sent men to pursue the Tang envoy, recovered the fish, and released each one back into its own well to live.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료