- The Korea Times

The golden 33-meter-tall Mireuk-bul and Palsang-jeon Hall / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

By Dale Quarrington

I've been twice bitten while visiting Beopju Temple before. In 2011, the batteries in my old camera ran out and then a lightning storm struck. Then in 2015, I visited the temple with a less-than-enthusiastic travel companion who wanted to wrap things up to see something more "exciting." So this third time around this past summer, I made sure that the skies were clear, the batteries were fully charged and I had a travel companion as excited as I was to visit Beopju Temple.

Beopju Temple is located in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, in Songnisan National Park. Its name means "Dharma Residence Temple" in English. According to the "The Survey of the Geography of Korea," Beopju Temple was first established in 553 by the monk Uisin. The temple was rebuilt in 760 by the famed monk Jinpyo and his disciple Yeongsim.

Later, during the 918-1392 Goryeo Kingdom, the temple underwent considerable reconstruction. The reason for this was due to royal patronage. At one point during the early 1100s, over 30,000 monks gathered at Beopju Temple to pray for the dying Uicheon-guksa (1055-1101). And during the late Goryeo period, three kings ― King Chungnyeol (r. 1274-1308), King Chungsuk (r. 1313-30, 1332-39) and King Gongmin (r. 1351-74) ― all visited Beopju Temple.

Beopju Temple continued to maintain close relations with the royal family even during the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom. In fact, it received royal patronage from King Sejo (r. 1455-68). However, and like countless other structures throughout the Korean Peninsula at this time, Beopju Temple was largely destroyed by fires in 1592 and 1597 during the 1592-98 Imjin War. Finally, between 1605 and 1626, the major temple buildings were rebuilt.

Later, after the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of Korea, President Park Chung Hee financed the completion of a 29-meter-tall cement statue dedicated to Mireuk-bul (the Future Buddha) that was completed in 1963. Further government funding resulted in an all-out repair and restoration of most of the temple buildings at Beopju Temple. In the early 1970s, the temple had been chosen as the setting for part of Bruce Lee's movie, "Game of Death." In fact, the historic Palsang-jeon Hall had been chosen as the specific filming location because of the five floors of the wooden structure. These five floors were meant to symbolize the five different martial arts in the film. However, before the movie could be completed, Bruce Lee died tragically at the young age of 32.

Palsang-jeon Hall and the 33-meter-tall Mireuk-bul / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

In 1998, the massive "Golden Maitreya [Mireuk-bul] Statue of National Unification" was completed after the 29-meter-tall cement statue of the Mireuk-bul was taken down in 1986. The new statue stands an impressive 33 meters in height. In 2002, it was plated with gold. In total, Beopju Temple is home to an astounding three National Treasures, 12 Korean Treasures, one historic site and one scenic site.

Of these numerous treasures, there were a few that truly stood out, like Palsang-jeon in the center of the temple grounds. Palsang-jeon, National Treasure No. 55, is the only historic wooden pagoda still standing in Korea. The current wooden pagoda was built after the Imjin War ended in 1598. The wooden structure is set upon a large stone base with four sets of stairs on each of the four sides of the wooden pagoda. In total, Palsang-jeon stands five stories in height. The exterior walls are adorned with beautiful, but fading, dancheong (Korean traditional decorative coloring on wooden buildings). The entire weight of the pagoda is supported by one massive wooden pole that runs through the center of the structure; there are four supporting beams that help keep the pagoda erect. Inside Palsang-jeon are four altars, each with two of the eight murals from the Palsang-do (The Eight Scenes from the Buddha's Life Murals), from which the structure gets its name.

Another beautiful highlight at Beopju Temple, and to the rear of Palsang-jeon, is the Twin Lion Stone Lantern, National Treasure No. 5. It's assumed that this stone structure was first built in 720. The stone lantern features a pair of lions standing on their hind legs with an octagonal base. These twin lions face each other, and they support the weight of the upper lantern chamber. The twin lions have large manes and muscular legs. Both the base and the upper stone are decorated with carved lotus flowers. As for the stone light chamber, it is octagonal in design, and contains four windows. Because of the conventional octagonal pillar design of Silla stone lanterns, the Twin Lion Stone Lantern is a radical departure from the more traditional design of this period. In fact, it is Korea's oldest existing stonework carved with a lion.

Twin Lion Stone Lantern / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

One more highlight of Beopju Temple, which is often overlooked, especially since it's situated to the southwest of the massive golden Mireuk-bul statue, is the Neungin-jeon Hall. "Neungin" means "One Able in Generosity" in English. The shrine hall dates back to 1624. The exterior walls to this hall are adorned in simple dancheong colors, while the interior houses a triad centered by Seokgamoni-bul (Historical Buddha). And behind this triad is a window that looks out onto a stone stupa. Housed inside this stone stupa is a single sarira (crystallized remains) of the Historical Buddha from Tongdo Temple that King Gongmin of Goryeo had transported to Beopju Temple in 1362 after the Red Turban Army had been defeated. The stupa stands 3.5 meters in height and definitely shouldn't be overlooked with all the other more obvious highlights.

Neungin-jeon Hall / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

But these three personal highlights at Beopju Temple in no way encompass all that a visitor can see, enjoy and explore at this famed temple. In fact, there are simply too many things to list in this article from the main hall, including the various shrine halls, the stone artifacts, the 11 hermitages that surround the temple throughout its sprawling grounds and the neighboring Songnisan National Park. This is one of those temples that should be at the top of anyone's travel itinerary.

Dale Quarrington has visited over 500 temples throughout the Korean Peninsula and published three books on Korean Buddhism. He runs the website, Dale's Korean Temple Adventures.