Pyohunsa Temple - Mount Kumgang North Korea (10449400303)

P'yohun-sa (표훈사, 表訓寺) is a

Korean Buddhist temple Buddhist temples are an important part of the Korean landscape. This article gives a brief overview of Korean Buddhism, then describes some of the more important temples in Korea. Most Korean temples have names ending in ''-sa'' (사, 寺), whic ...

located on

Mount Kumgang Mount Kumgang () or the Kumgang Mountains is a mountain massif, with a peak, in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, formerly part of Kangwŏn Province, and is part of the ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. Founded in the 7th century under the kingdom of

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 ...

, it is the only one of Mount Kumgang's four great temples to have survived the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. It is listed as the #97

National Treasures of North Korea A National Treasure (국보; 國寶 : ) is a tangible artifact, site, or building deemed by the Government of North Korea to have significant historical or artistic value to the country. History The first list of Korean cultural treasures was des ...

History

Pyohunsa was founded in 670 under the fervently Buddhist kingdom of

, who viewed the Kumgang mountains as sacred. Enlarged over the years, it underwent many successive restoration, including one in 1778. Eventually it became known as one of the Four Great Temples of Mount Kumgang, along with Changansa, Singyesa and Yujomsa. Pilgrims were soon flocking to the temple, and eventually, it financed the construction of the smaller Chongyang Temple further up the mountain to accommodate the excess. During the Japanese colonial period, Mount Kumgang became a major tourist site, and the temple (known by its Japanese pronunciation as Hyōkun-ji) received many visitors to admire its beautiful setting and architecture. Because of this, it underwent significant restoration work funded by the Japanese administration. Pyohunsa was the only one of the four great temples of Mount Kumgang to survive the Korean War. The others were completely destroyed by US bombings of the area, though Singyesa has since been rebuilt. Today, it is still a major point of interest for any visitor to Mount Kumgang. In the temple's cemetery stands the Stupa of the Venerable Sosan, a Buddhist hermit who organized bands of monks to fight back the invading armies of Japanese warlord

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

during the

Imjin Wars The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The river i ...

. The stupa is listed as Cultural asset #306.

Structure

Several of the 20 original halls are no longer extant. Among the remaining ones, are: :Banyabojeon, 반야보전 (般若寶殿), the Main Hall, :Myeobujeon, 명부전, :Yeongsanjeon, 영산전, :Seven Stars Pavilion, 칠성각, :Eosil Pavilion, 어실각 (御室閣), :Neungparu, 능파루 (凌波樓), :Pandobang, 판도방 (判道房)

Joseon period paintings

Pyohunsa was depicted by several Korean painters. Among them: *

Jeong Seon Jeong Seon ( ko, 정선) (1676 – 20 April 1759) was a Korean landscape painter, also known by the pen name Kyomjae. His ''cha'' was Wonbaek and another ''ho'' was Nangok. His works include ink and oriental water paintings, such as ''Inwangjes ...

as a part of *:〈Geumgangnaesanchongdo 金剛內山總圖〉 in the 《1711 Pungakdo Album, 신묘년풍악도첩, 辛卯年楓岳圖帖》 *:〈 Pungaknaesan chongramdo〉 (1740s) * Choi Buk, fl 1755-85 *

Kim Hong-do Gim Hongdo (김홍도, born 1745, died 1806?-1814?), also known as Kim Hong-do, most often styled Danwon (단원), was a full-time painter of the Joseon period of Korea. He was together a pillar of the establishment and a key figure of the new ...

<표훈사 (表訓寺)> as #43 in the 《Geumgang Four Counties Album 금강사군첩(金剛四郡帖)》, 1788

Notes

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110724174145/http://www.koreanbuddhism.net/jokb/press/view.asp?article_seq=955&page=1&search_key=&search_value= * http://www.cybernk.net * EncyKor * . 10 volumes, 2800 pages. What is said about Pyohunsa can be accessed through thi
Naver link
(표훈사).

History

Structure

Joseon period paintings

Notes

References

See also