Gapsa Temple Samseonggak Shrine

Gapsa Temple is said to have been first built by the monk Ado in 420, the first year of King Guisin of Baekje, and rebuilt by Uisang in 679, the nineteenth year of King Munmu of Unified Silla. It was subsequently repaired and expanded many times through the Goryeo and Joseon periods, down to the present. The Samseonggak Shrine enshrines the Three Sages (Samseong): Chilseong, Sanshin and Dokseong. The building is called a gak (pavilion), not a jeon (hall), because all three deities were adopted from outside Buddhism. Chilseong is the Buddhist adaptation of the Taoist Big Dipper, a star governing long life. Sanshin is a native folk deity of the Korean people who appears together with a tiger and brings success in all things, while Dokseong refers to a saint who achieved enlightenment alone. It is usual to enshrine the Three Sages in separate buildings, one for each, but here they are distinctively housed together within a single Samseonggak.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gongju, Chungnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료