Oseam or Oseam Temple is a small Korean Buddhist temple located in the area of Mangyeongdae Pavilion, Mount Seorak, Gangwon Province,

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 ...

. It is an annex of Baekdamsa Temple which is the head temple of the third district in the Jogye Order. Oseam was first established as ''Gwaneumam'' (觀音庵) by Monk

Jajang Jajang (590–658) was a monk born Kim Seonjong, into the royal Kim family, in the kingdom of Silla. He is credited with founding the temple of Tongdosa in 646 CE, near in what is now Busan, South Korea, and played a significant role in th ...

in 643, the 12th year of Queen Seondeok's reign during 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 o ...

Kingdom and Monk Bou (普雨) reconstructed the temple in 1548 during the King Myeongjong of the

Joseon Dynasty 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 r ...

. The temple name was changed to Oseam after Monk Seoljeong (雪淨) rebuilt it in 1643 during the

King Injo Injo of Joseon (7 December 1595 – 17 June 1649), born Yi Jong, was the sixteenth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He was the grandson of King Seonjo and son of Prince Jeongwon. He was the king during the Later Jin invasion of Joseon, in ...

's reign. A famous tale regarding Monk Seoljeong and the name has been handed down.

The origin of a name

Seoljeong was raising his orphaned brother's son at the temple, but he left for Yangyang to prepare for the winter. He left the temple after cooking meals for his four-year-old nephew, who would be alone for a few days. It had snowed all night after the market had started. When he came back in March next year, he found a child who was believed to have died, hanging a wooden tablet and calling for the Avalokitesvara. It is said that a five-year-old boy called the Gwaneum Rock " Five Years Rock " to tell the tale of the superhuman strength of Avalokitesvara.The origin of the name of Oseam
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In popular culture

Korean film oseam is based on a myth associated with the temple.

References

Buddhist temples in South Korea Buildings and structures in Gangwon Province, South Korea Inje County Seoraksan Tourist attractions in Gangwon Province, South Korea {{Buddhist-temple-stub

The origin of a name

In popular culture

See also

References