Goyang Bukhansan Mountain Seoamsa Temple Site

The site lies near the water gate of Bukhansanseong Fortress. After repeated foreign invasions, including the Japanese invasion of 1592 and the Manchu invasion of 1636, the royal court came to the view that a mountain fortress should be built on Bukhansan Mountain, a natural stronghold, to defend the outer approaches to the capital. After prolonged discussion, construction of Bukhansanseong Fortress was decided upon in 1711, the thirty-seventh year of King Sukjong, and work proceeded from the fourth to the ninth month of that year. Construction was led mainly by soldiers of the Samgunmun, the three central military garrisons (Hullyeondogam, Geumwiyeong and Eoyeongcheong), but large numbers of monks from temples across the country were also mobilised. After the fortress was completed, eleven temples were established within its walls to garrison monk soldiers for its defence and upkeep. Alongside military facilities, these temples were staffed with eleven monk commanders, eleven head monks and 350 monk soldiers in total. The monks were drafted in rotation from each province and took turns defending the fortress for two-month terms. The monks of Seoamsa Temple were mainly responsible for defending the nearby water gate. This arrangement continued for about two hundred years, until the monk-soldier system was abolished in 1894. Seoamsa survived into the Japanese colonial period but is said to have been buried and reduced to ruin in a great flood in 1925. Excavation confirmed that the temple site, covering roughly 10,000 pyeong (about 33,000 square metres), once contained a Daeungjeon Hall, a shrine to the mountain spirit, Sesimnu Pavilion and a weapons storehouse. Roof-tile fragments with wave patterns, blue-and-white porcelain fragments, inscribed tiles and plain white porcelain fragments from the Joseon period were excavated there.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Goyang, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료