Chilseonggak Pavilion of Jingwansa Temple

Chilseonggak Pavilion of Jingwansa Temple is a wooden, tile-roofed building standing beside the temple's Nahanjeon Hall. Although repaired several times, it retains relatively well the original form from the time of its founding. It is a small structure, three bays across the front and one bay deep, raised on a single-tier stone platform. Square pillars rest on cornerstones in the plain mindori style, without bracket sets, and stepping stones are placed before the doors to make the threshold easy to cross. The roof is a gabled (matbae) roof, with double eaves at the front and single eaves at the rear, and fire-prevention walls (hwabangbyeok) are built into both gable ends. Inside, an altar set against the rear wall enshrines a painting of the Seven Stars, a seated stone Buddha image, and a portrait of the monk Myeongho. The ceiling is a coffered (umul) ceiling, and two thick main beams, separated by a king post, support the purlins that carry the heavy weight of the roof. Jingwansa Temple underwent a major reconstruction in the early 1900s, but during the Korean War every building was destroyed except Nahanjeon Hall, Dokseonggak Pavilion and Chilseonggak. Chilseonggak thus survived that war intact, and has been confirmed to have been built in 1907, the first year of the Yunghui era. Chilseonggak enshrines the Seven Star Spirit, a folk deity absorbed into Buddhism: the Big Dipper was widely worshipped among the people as a god who grants wealth and talent, governs lifespan, and sends rain for a bountiful harvest. In this way Chilseonggak is a representative building showing the syncretic character of Korean Buddhism, which absorbed various elements of folk belief and gave them Buddhist form.

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Where it is

Region

Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료