Bulgapsa, Moaksan

Temple · Jeolla

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

A temple said to be Baekje’s first — a claim its own encyclopaedia declines to accept.

A watercolour of temple roofs seen obliquely among wooded hills, with ridges receding into mist. — AI-generated illustration

Quick facts

Address: 450 Bulgapsa-ro, Bulgap-myeon, Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do

About this place

Bulgapsa stands on Moaksan in Bulgap-myeon, Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do. There is an account that Malananta founded it in 384. Malananta came to Baekje in 384 and preached to the king and to the people, and that was the beginning of Buddhism in Baekje. The record states, however, that it seems unlikely Malananta actually stopped at Yeonggwang and founded Bulgapsa before entering Hanseong, the Baekje capital. The founding date of Bulgapsa is not exactly known.

Origin and history

There is an account that Malananta founded the temple in 384. Malananta came to Baekje in 384 and preached to the king and to the people, and that was the beginning of Buddhism in Baekje.

The record states, however, that it seems unlikely Malananta actually stopped at Yeonggwang and founded Bulgapsa before entering Hanseong, the Baekje capital.

The founding date of Bulgapsa is not exactly known.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
The account of Malananta
There is an account that Malananta, who brought Buddhism to Baekje in 384, founded this temple.
folk tradition
Origin
What the record concludes
The record states that it seems unlikely Malananta stopped at Yeonggwang and founded Bulgapsa before entering the capital, and that the founding date is not exactly known.
documented history
What people do here
The beginning of Buddhism in Baekje
Malananta came to Baekje in 384 and preached to the king and to the people, and that was the beginning of Buddhism in Baekje.
documented history

This temple has one large claim to make, and the record does not accept it. The tradition says that Malananta, who brought Buddhism to Baekje, built this temple in 384. But the record says it seems unlikely he stopped at Yeonggwang to found Bulgapsa before entering Hanseong, the capital, and adds that the founding date is not exactly known.

Gyeongsang holds a claim of the same shape. Dorisa in Gumi is handed down as the first temple in Silla, and there the record repeats the tradition as it stands. Here it does not. Two claims to be first, one encyclopaedia, two different verdicts — and each page carries the verdict it was given.

Malananta himself is not a legend. His coming to Baekje in 384 and preaching to the king and the people was the beginning of Buddhism there. What is disputed is whether he built this temple.

Claims and evidence levels 2

The record holds it unlikely that Malananta founded Bulgapsa in 384, and states that the temple’s founding date is not known. documented history
Tradition holds that Malananta, who brought Buddhism to Baekje, founded this temple on arriving in 384. folk tradition

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