Daeheungsa, sometimes called Daedunsa, is a main temple of the

Jogye Order The Jogye Order, officially the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗), is the representative order of traditional Korean Buddhism with roots that date back 1200 years to the Later Silla National Master D ...

Korean Buddhism Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, the ...

. Daeheungsa is located on the slopes of Duryunsan (Duryun Mountain) in Samsan Township,

Haenam County Haenam (''Haenam-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. The capital of Haenam-gun is Haenam-eup (Haenam town). The economy of the county is based mainly on agriculture, with rice and radish being the two most common crops. Hist ...

, in the province of

Jeollanam-do South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

near the southern limit of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Origins

Daeheungsa is believed to date to the

Three Kingdoms period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

(4th-9th centuries CE), although no exact record of its founding has survived some think Daeheungsa was founded by Adohwasang (Monk) in 514. Originally this temple was called Handeumjeol, after the mountain's original name, Mount Handeum. Chinese characters were eventually used, which caused it to be called Daedum, and from there the name changed again to Daeheungsa. The mountain's name was later changed to Mount Duryun. Daeheungsa received little attention until 1592 when

Seosan Daesa Hyujeong (, 1520-1604), also called Seosan Daesa (서산대사, 西山大師) was a Korean Seon master. As was common for monks in this time, he travelled from place to place, living in a succession of monasteries. Buddhist monks had been forced to ...

(monk) organized and trained a guerilla army of 5,000 monks at the temple, to help defend the Korean people during the Imjin War(Japanese invasions).

Treasures

Cultural Properties #48

Daeheungsabungmireugammaaeyeoraejwasang (North rock-cut seated Maitreya Buddha of Daeheung Temple) is a rock cliff Buddha carved out of a large natural wall of rock, believed to date from the early years of the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

Dynasty (918-1392), based on the overall sculpture style and by the way the lower part of the body is out of proportion with the larger upper part. The

mudra A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

, or symbolic hand gesture, is that of expelling devils. The robe is tied on the left shoulder which is rather uncommon. One distinctive feature of this Buddha statue is the beobeui (sacerdotal robe), typical of this era. The hands look weak and the form of the legs is very awkward.

Treasure #320

Three Storied Stone Pagoda of Daeheungsa is a 4.3 meter/14.1 foot high stone pagoda typical of the

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

Dynasty period that stands in front of Eungjinjeon (hall). This pagoda is very neat and elegant in its construction.

Treasure #1347

Stupa of Seosan Dasae of Daeheungasa is the reliquary for preserving the sarira (pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters) of the monk Seosan Dasae. He is renowned as the monk who lead an army that defeated invading Japanese forces. This 2.6 meter/8.5 foot high

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

is believed to have been erected in 1648.

Features

Daeheungsa is very famous for the long walkway to the entrance which wanders through a beautiful forest at the foot of Duryun Mountain. Inside Cheonbuljeon (Thousand Buddha Hall) can be seen 1,000 smiling Buddha statues. The tiny Buddhas represent the Buddha that is omnipresent any time in the past, present, and future as well as that anyone can be a Buddha anytime anyplace. Records indicate that Cheonbuljeon burned down in 1811 and was rebuilt in 1813. The temple is known as a historical center of Korean tea culture.

Gallery

File:Daeheungsa 11-03896.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03921&2.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03926.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03927&8.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03916.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03878.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03882.JPG File:Daeheungsa 11-03905.JPG

References

External links

Official siteKoreaTemple profile
{{Authority control Buddhist temples in South Korea Haenam County Buddhist temples of the Jogye Order Buildings and structures in South Jeolla Province World Heritage Sites in South Korea