Tongdosa (, "Salvation of the World through Mastery of Truth")Le Bas, Tom :"South Korea" pg 244, Insight Guides, 8th edition 2007 is a head temple of the Jogye Order of

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 ...

and in the southern part of Mt. Chiseosan near

Yangsan Yangsan () is a city in Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea. It borders Ulsan to the northeast, Gijang-gun and Geumjeong-gu in Busan to the southeast, Gimhae to the southwest, and Miryang to the northwest. City Hall is located in Nambu-dong, ...

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

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 ...

. Tongdosa is one of the Three Jewels Temples and represents

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. ( Haeinsa, also in South Gyeongsang Province, represents the

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

or Buddhist teachings; and Songgwangsa in

South Jeolla Province 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 ...

represents the

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

or Buddhist community.) Tongdosa is famous because there are no statues outside of the Buddha at the temple because the "real shrines of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

" (relics) are preserved at Tongdosa. Courtyards at the temple are arrayed around several

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

s that house the Buddha's relics.

Origins

Tongdosa was established by the monk Jajang-yulsa after returning from Tang China in 646 AD, during the reign of Queen Seondeok of Silla. It thrived throughout the

Later Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla (, ), is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, after 668 CE. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang alliance conquered Baekje and the southern part of Goguryeo in the ...

and

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 unificat ...

periods (918-1392), when Buddhism was the

state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

, and remained strong even during

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

. Tongdosa is reputed to house several relics of the Buddha himself, including a

robe A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoil ...

, a begging bowl, and a bone from his skull, all relics that Jajang-yulsa brought back from the travels to Tang China he undertook in 636 to study with ten other monks. Only one building, the

Mahavira Hall A Mahavira Hall, usually simply known as a Main Hall, is the main hall or building in a traditional Chinese Buddhist temple, enshrining representations of Gautama Buddha and various other buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is encountered throughou ...

(main

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

worship hall), survived the

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98) Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

in the late 16th century; the other buildings were rebuilt later that period. In the mid 15th century at the height of its prosperity, Tongdosa is said to have had hundreds of buildings and thousands of monks. For over 1,300 years Tongdosa's Beopdeung (temple candle) has never gone out.

Legend

Legend has it that at the time of Tongdosa's founding there were nine evil

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

s living in a big pond. Jajang-yulsa enjoined the dragons to leave by reciting a magic texts. They refused to leave so Jajang-yulsa inscribed the

Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

for fire on a sheet of paper and tossed it skyward while using his long stick to splash the pond. The water began to boil. The dragons could not endure the heat so three tried to escape and flew off, became disoriented, and died by colliding into a

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

called Yonghyeolam ("dragon blood rock"). Five of the dragons flew southwest into a valley now called Oryonggok ("five dragon valley"). The last dragon, blinded by the heat, made a vow to Jajang-yulsa that if he spared his life and allowed him to stay in the pond forever, the blind dragon would always guard the temple. Jajang-yulsa granted the dragon's request and the dragon was allowed to stay as protector of the temple. Nine Dragons Pond, now called Guryongji, still stands beside the main temple hall.

Temple today

Korea's largest temple, Tongdosa, is often called "the temple without a Buddha" because it contains no outdoor statues of the Buddha; rather it is arranged around several

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, circum ...

s which contain Jajang-yulsa's relics of the historical Buddha. The road that meanders up to the temple wanders through a forest called "Pine trees dancing in the wind". 65 buildings separately house a shrine for virtually every major Buddhist deity. The temple does not seem especially large because many of the buildings are dispersed throughout the surrounding mountainside. 13 hermitages can be found on the temple complex grounds. The buildings are varied in architectural style with many left unpainted or faded. One of the buildings contains a fine mural depicting a boat escorting the deceased into paradise. A museum on the temple grounds displays an excellent collection of artwork. Today at this temple there are 19 local treasures and 794 local cultural properties. Korea-Tongdosa-03

Approaching the entrance the first bridge one sees is Samseongbanwol — Three Arch Bridge — meaning three stars and a half moon, sometimes also called the One Mind Bridge. The Chinese character is composed of four strokes; when applying the strokes to the name of the bridge, the long stroke stands for a half moon and the others, three stars. The first gate to the temple, Iljumun, is called the One-Pillar Gate because when viewed from the side the gate appears to be supported by a single pillar. This symbolizes the support of the world and the one true path of enlightenment. Iljumun is the boundary between the spiritual world and the secular world. Korea-Tongdosa Purimun 3358a-06

The following gate is the Gate of the Guardians of the Four Directions or Four Heavenly Kings, each of whom watches over one cardinal direction. They are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil, each able to command a legion of supernatural creatures to protect the Dharma (Buddhist teachings). Next comes the third gate of the temple, Purimun, known as the Gate of Non-Duality. The world across this gate is one of non-duality, where there is no distinction between the Buddha and human beings, being and non-being, good and evil, and fullness and emptiness. During Purimun's long history the gate has been rebuilt many times. The present Gate of Non-Duality was constructed in the late Joseon Dynasty and was built to line up straight with the One Pillar Gate, Guardian Gate, and Daeungjeon (main Dharma hall). The gate of Non-Duality is the left most structure in the first picture at the top of the page. Purimun, the Gate of Non-Duality, is designated South Gyeongsang Provincial Tangible Cultural Property #252. Korea-Tongdosa-02

Tongdosa is one of five temples in Korea, known as Jeokmyeolbogung, which enshrine the relics of the Buddha that Jajang-yulsa returned from China. Tongdosa is the ‘Buddha Jewel Temple’ because it enshrines Sari Jinsin (the Buddha’s relics) in the Geumgang Gyedan (Diamond Altar), a platform for the ceremony prevailing Buddhist precepts, behind Daeungjeon (main Dharma Hall). There is no image of the Buddha or Bodhisattvas, as is typically found in a worship hall, in Tongdosa. Instead a Buddhist altar that spans east to west inside along the front with a window, in the place of a Buddha image, looks out on the Geumgang Gyedan (Diamond Altar). Tongdosa's Daeungjeon is National Treasure #290.

Gallery

Image:Korea-Tongdosa-04.jpg, Single Arch Bridge Image:Korea-Tongdosa-08.jpg, First or One Pillar Gate at the entrance to Tongdosa Image:Korea-Tongdosa-09.jpg, Daeungjeon, the Main Worship Hall, National Treasure #290 Image:Korea-Tongdosa-10.jpg, One of the Halls having little or no paint Image:Korea-Tongdosa-05.jpg, Tongdosa Steles and Stupas Image:Korea-Tongdosa-12.jpg, Stone Lantern and Gate Image:Korea-Tongdosa-13.jpg, Museum Pieces Image:Korea-Tongdosa-11.jpg, Stone Lantern

References

External links