Bogwangsa, Goryeongsan

Quick facts

Address

349 Bogwangsa-gil, Gwangtan-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do

About this place

Bogwangsa stands on Goryeongsan in Gwangtan-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do. It is handed down that Doseon founded it by royal command in 894, and under Goryeo it was one of the temples sited to shore up the land. The Goryeo national master Wonjin Seunghyeong and, in early Joseon, Muhak Jacho are said to have raised it again. In 1740 King Yeongjo made it the prayer temple of Soryeongwon, the tomb of Lady Choi of the Sukbin rank, who bore him. The temple has a royal shrine hall that holds her spirit tablet.

Origin and history

It is handed down that Doseon founded Bogwangsa by royal command in 894, and under Goryeo it was one of the temples sited to shore up the land.

The Goryeo national master Wonjin Seunghyeong and, in early Joseon, Muhak Jacho are said to have raised it again.

In 1740 King Yeongjo made it the prayer temple of Soryeongwon, the tomb of Lady Choi of the Sukbin rank, who bore him.

The temple has a royal shrine hall that holds her spirit tablet.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  The prayer temple of Soryeongwon

  In 1740 King Yeongjo made this the prayer temple of Soryeongwon, the tomb of Lady Choi of the Sukbin rank, who bore him.

  documented history

• Power spot

  A hall holding a mother’s tablet

  The temple has a royal shrine hall that holds the spirit tablet of Lady Choi.

  documented history

• What people do here

  Founded by Doseon on royal command

  Doseon is said to have founded the temple by royal command in 894, and under Goryeo it was one of the temples sited to shore up the land.

  folk tradition

The tombs that Gyeonggi’s temples guard are usually a king’s. Bongseonsa in Namyangju stands again for Sejo’s tomb, Silleuksa in Yeoju for Sejong’s. What this temple attends is the grave of a concubine. In 1740 King Yeongjo made it the prayer temple of Soryeongwon, and Soryeongwon is the tomb of Lady Choi, who bore him.

The royal shrine hall holds that mother’s spirit tablet. The son who reached the throne set it there, so what is honoured here is not a line of succession but one woman.

The temple’s own record runs much further back. Doseon is said to have founded it by royal command in 894, and under Goryeo it was one of the temples sited to shore up the land. The national master Wonjin Seunghyeong and, later, Muhak Jacho are said to have raised it again — the same Muhak whose name is kept at Hoeamsa in Yangju.

Related guides

• How to visit a Korean templeHands together and hands folded, how the bows work, and what to do at the threshold of a hall. Starting with what is different from visiting a Japanese shrine.
• The small hall behind the main one — sansingak and samseonggakUphill from the main hall of a Korean temple stands a smaller one, and inside it an old man with a tiger. This is where the indigenous religion sits, inside the Buddhist institution.
• Templestay — a night at a templeA programme that puts you inside a temple’s own timetable for a day or two. What you do, which type to book, and what to be ready for.
• Prayer sites and the one wishThe three great Gwaneum sites, the five relic halls, and the crowds before the entrance exam. Where the saying about one wish comes from, and where the record stops.

Sources

1. 보광사(普光寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)