Bongseoru Pavilion of Yongmunsa Temple, Namhae

Yongmunsa Temple was founded in 802 (the third year of King Aejang of Silla) by the monk Wonhyo under the name Bogwangsa Temple, but was destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasions of 1592-98. In 1661 the monk Hakjin moved the buildings of the nearby Bogwangsa Temple to a site above Yongyeon Pond, naming it Yongmunsa Temple as he rebuilt it. After the Japanese invasions the temple became known as a centre for national protection, and during the reign of King Sukjong (1674-1720) a royal prayer hall was established there; four further renovations followed. Bongseoru Pavilion still preserves inscriptions including a preface dated 1720 and a record of reconstruction dated 1833, from which it can be judged that the pavilion was first built in 1720 and rebuilt in its present form in 1833. Bongseoru Pavilion stands on the main axis into the temple precinct, reached from the entrance by passing through the Iljumun Gate (a temple's outer single-pillar gate), crossing Cheonwanggyo Bridge and passing Cheonwanggak, the gate housing guardian deities. The approach from the Iljumun Gate to Cheonwanggak runs on a south-easterly axis, while the temple buildings beyond Bongseoru are arranged on a north-south axis, so the pavilion occupies the pivotal point where the approach axis turns into the layout axis. Bongseoru is a two-storey building with a hipped-and-gabled roof, seven bays wide and four bays deep, built so that visitors pass beneath the upper floor to enter; the lower-storey columns are raised unusually high to overcome a steep change in level. These lower columns appear to have been replaced with stone pillars during a recent repair, altering their original form, though two stone pillars at the rear of the west side of the lower storey, thought to be original, are unusually formed by stacking three lump-shaped stone tiers vertically. The lower storey is open at the front, while at the rear, apart from the central passage, storage space has been partitioned off with walls. The upper floor is a large lecture hall with a wooden floor of tie-beam construction. The walls are fitted with hinged lattice shutters on the front and sides; the rear, facing Daeungjeon Hall, appears originally to have been open, though a three-part lattice door has been fitted there in recent years. A single row of columns runs along the centre of the pavilion. The roof frame is a king-post-less seven-purlin structure of comparatively large scale, with an exposed rafter ceiling whose four corners are well formed with fan rafters. The bracket set is of the single-arm type typical of the late Joseon period, with gently curved brackets on the interior columns and a plank-type support beneath the ridge purlin. The decorative colour painting on the beams has faded considerably but its original pattern can still be made out without difficulty, and the exposed ceiling has been repainted.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Namhae, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료