Buseoksa Temple

Buseoksa was founded on the slopes of Bonghwangsan in 676 by the Silla monk Uisang, and it is home to Muryangsujeon, the best-known example of Goryeo-era wooden architecture in Korea. Instead of levelling the hillside, the builders raised stone terraces and set the halls on them step by step, so the climb from the entrance gate to Muryangsujeon is an architectural experience in itself. In 2018 the temple was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the "Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea".

History: the centre of Hwaeom Buddhism

The Samguk Sagi records that Uisang founded Buseoksa on royal orders. Uisang had studied Hwaeom (Huayan) Buddhism in Tang China and made this temple the base for spreading it in Korea, which is why he became known as "the Venerable of Buseok" and the school as the "Buseok school". By the end of Silla it was one of the great Hwaeom temples. When the monk Wonung became abbot in 1372, under King Gongmin of Goryeo, most of the buildings were rebuilt; Muryangsujeon is dated to 1376 and the Josadang shrine to 1377.

The legend of the floating stone

Buseok means "floating stone". According to the Samguk Yusa, a Chinese woman named Seonmyo fell in love with Uisang while he was studying in China and turned into a dragon to protect his ship on the way home. When people tried to stop him building the temple, she lifted a huge rock into the air and drove them away. That rock, the Buseok, lies just west of Muryangsujeon, and a small shrine to Seonmyo stands nearby.

What to see

• Muryangsujeon (National Treasure): the Goryeo hall dedicated to Amitabha Buddha, famous for its gently swelling columns and clean roofline. Inside, the clay seated Buddha, also a National Treasure, faces east rather than the usual south.
• Stone lantern in front of Muryangsujeon (National Treasure): a Silla-period lantern admired for its proportions.
• Josadang (National Treasure): the shrine to Uisang. The murals that once decorated it are also designated National Treasures.
• Anyangnu and the terraces: climb the stone terraces and pass under the Anyangnu pavilion to reach the courtyard of Muryangsujeon. From Anyangnu you look out over ridge after ridge of the Sobaeksan range.
• Three-storey pagoda and flagpole supports: Silla stonework designated as Treasures.

What the records inside Muryangsujeon say

During repairs in 1916, an ink inscription was found stating that the hall had been rebuilt in early Goryeo and burned by enemy raiders in 1358. The present building is the one rebuilt afterwards under Wonung, and it ranks among the oldest wooden buildings in Korea. Unusually, the clay Buddha inside faces east rather than towards the entrance, so once inside you turn sideways to face it.

More to explore

• The terraces: stone terraces climb the slope in many levels, and the terraces and stairs are often explained as the nine stages on the path to enlightenment.
• Jaindang: a small hall housing stone seated Buddhas (Treasure) brought from a ruined temple site about 1.5 km east of Buseoksa.
• Beomjongnu: a two-storey pavilion with the path running beneath it. A ridge-beam inscription found during repairs in 1957 shows it was rebuilt in 1843.
• Goryeo woodblocks: the temple keeps Goryeo-period printing blocks of the Avatamsaka Sutra, designated as Treasures.

Good to know

By the late Silla period, when the scholar Choe Chi-won was writing, Buseoksa was counted with Hwaeomsa on Jirisan and Haeinsa on Gayasan among the great temples of the Hwaeom school. Uisang's disciples and later masters such as Hyecheol and Muyeom studied here or served as abbots. Historians still debate why Uisang chose such a remote mountain site, with several explanations linked to the politics of his time.

Why Uisang hurried home

Uisang went to Tang China in 661 and spent almost ten years studying Hwaeom thought under the master Zhiyan at Zhixiang Temple on Mount Zhongnan, south of Chang'an. When he set off home in 670, one reason, according to tradition, was to warn King Munmu that the Tang were planning to attack Silla. Buseoksa was founded six years later. In the Goryeo period the temple was also known as Seondalsa or Heunggyosa.

Tripto tips

• Admission: free and open all year, with a car park. The walk from the entrance gate to Muryangsujeon is uphill, so wear comfortable shoes.
• Time needed: about an hour for the main halls, 90 minutes to two hours if you include Josadang and the floating stone.
• Best time: autumn foliage season is the most popular, and late afternoon views from Anyangnu are lovely.
• Getting there: the temple is some way from central Yeongju, so a car is easiest. If you take the bus, check the timetable in a map app before you set off. Many visitors combine it with Sosu Seowon in a day trip.