Gulsansa Temple Site, Gangneung

In the middle of the fields at Haksan-ri, south of Gangneung, two stone pillars 5.4 m tall rise out of the rice paddies. They are the largest flagpole supports in Korea, and the temple that once flew its banner here was Gulsansa, a leading Seon (Zen) monastery of late Silla. Its founding master, Beomil, is still worshipped today as the Mountain Guardian God of Daegwallyeong at the Gangneung Danoje Festival, so these field-bound stones are tied to one of Korea's best-known folk festivals.

History: one of the Nine Mountain Schools

Gulsansa is where Master Beomil (810–889) founded the Sagulsan school, one of the Nine Mountain Schools of Seon that emerged in late Silla. Its influence spread across the east coast, inland Gangwon and parts of today's North Gyeongsang. Sources differ on the founding date: 847 or 851. The temple flourished under Goryeo with the support of local lords but disappears from records after the early Joseon period, when it was probably abandoned.

For centuries the site lay buried under farmland. In 1936 a flood exposed pillar bases and a roof tile inscribed with the temple's name, confirming its location. After Typhoon Rusa caused heavy damage in 2002, rescue excavations showed that the complex measured 140 m east–west and 250 m north–south, with a main hall, monks' quarters, cloisters and a pagoda site. It became a national Historic Site in 2003.

What to see

• Flagpole supports (Treasure): at 5.4 m, the tallest in the country. The roughly dressed, undecorated stones feel less like Buddhist sculpture than prehistoric standing stones. Two holes, high and low, held the flagpole in place, and tool marks are still visible near the base.
• Stupa (Treasure): an octagonal stupa on higher ground, thought to hold Beomil's relics. On the eight sides of its middle base, celestial musicians play eight different instruments, including an hourglass drum, a lute, a mouth organ, a harp and a transverse flute. See how many you can identify.
• Seated stone Buddha: a Vairocana Buddha in early Goryeo style. Of the three stone Buddhas kept here, the two complete ones sit in a small hermitage and a headless one stands by a well.

Beomil's birth legend and the Danoje Festival

Beside the site are a stone well and a rock called Hakbawi (Crane Rock). A Gangneung gazetteer compiled around 1728 tells how a young woman of Gulsan, drawing water from the well, saw the sun floating in her gourd dipper and gave birth thirteen months later. She abandoned the baby at Crane Rock, but when she saw a wild boar suckling him and a crane sheltering him with its wings, she took him back and raised him. The child was Beomil.

The Daegwallyeong guardian god at the heart of the Gangneung Danoje Festival is Beomil himself. During the festival rites, the procession carrying the deity down from Daegwallyeong stops at the village shrine of Haksan, his birthplace. Gangneung Danoje was inscribed on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005.

Tripto tips

• Access: the remains are scattered across open fields and the village, free to visit at any time. The flagpole supports and the stupa are about 400 m apart, so walk between them along the village lanes.
• Time needed: 40–60 minutes to see the pillars, stupa, Buddha and well.
• Getting there: the site is in Haksan-ri, Gujeong-myeon, south of central Gangneung. Public transport is limited, so a car or taxi is easiest. Haeparang Trail Route 38 (Gangneung Baugil Section 6) also leads towards Haksan village if you want to arrive on foot.
• Best time: after rice planting, when the fields are green, or in autumn as the rice ripens. Time your visit with the Danoje Festival around the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to see Beomil's story come alive.
• Combine with: Ojukheon and Seongyojang House are a short drive away and make a good Gangneung history day.