Daeheungsa, Duryunsan

Quick facts

Address

400 Daeheungsa-gil, Samsan-myeon, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do

About this place

Daeheungsa stands on Duryunsan in Samsan-myeon, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, and is the head temple of the twenty-second district of the Jogye Order. In 1655 Heobaek Myeongjo brought the jade almsbowl of the master Seosan from Myohyangsan and handed it to this temple. In 1788 a plea was made that the name Pyochung be bestowed; King Jeongjo granted the temple the name Pyochungsa, and in the fourth month of the following year, 1789, sent a rites officer to conduct the offerings. The Daedunsaji was compiled in about 1818, in four volumes and two books, by Wanho Yunu, Aam Hyejang and Choui Uisun among others, under the scholarly influence of Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, who was then living in exile. Among its hermitages are Bungmireugam, Nammireugam and Iljiam.

Origin and history

In 1655 Heobaek Myeongjo brought the jade almsbowl of the master Seosan from Myohyangsan and handed it to this temple.

In 1788 a plea was made that the name Pyochung be bestowed. King Jeongjo granted the temple the name Pyochungsa, and in the fourth month of the following year, 1789, sent a rites officer to conduct the offerings.

The Daedunsaji was compiled in about 1818, in four volumes and two books, by Wanho Yunu, Aam Hyejang and Choui Uisun among others, under the scholarly influence of Dasan Jeong Yak-yong, who was then living in exile.

Among its hermitages are Bungmireugam, Nammireugam and Iljiam.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  The name Pyochung and state rites

  When the name Pyochung was asked for in 1788, King Jeongjo granted the temple the name Pyochungsa and, in the fourth month of the following year, sent a rites officer to conduct the offerings.

  documented history

• Origin

  A jade bowl from Myohyangsan

  In 1655 Heobaek Myeongjo brought the jade almsbowl of the master Seosan from Myohyangsan and handed it to this temple.

  documented history

• What people do here

  The making of the Daedunsaji

  It was compiled in about 1818 in four volumes and two books by Wanho Yunu, Aam Hyejang and Choui Uisun among others, under the scholarly influence of Jeong Yak-yong in exile.

  documented history

What brought state rites to this temple was one man’s name. In 1788 the name Pyochung was asked for, King Jeongjo granted it, and in the fourth month of the next year a rites officer was sent to make the offerings. A shrine inside a temple became a site of state ceremony.

A shrine of the same name stands in Gyeongsang. Pyochungsa in Miryang is the temple that took over the name of the shrine honouring the great master Samyeong. The master Seosan, honoured here, was Samyeong’s teacher — so teacher and pupil each received the same name, Pyochung.

One object travelled a long way. In 1655 Heobaek Myeongjo brought the jade almsbowl of the master Seosan from Myohyangsan and handed it to this temple.

One of the temples attached to this one is Muwisa in Gangjin. The Amitabha triad wall painting in its Geungnakbojeon is dated to 1476 by the inscriptions at its lower left and right.

There is a thread of tea and of writing here as well. The Daedunsaji was put together in about 1818, in four volumes and two books, by Wanho Yunu, Aam Hyejang and Choui Uisun and others, under the scholarly influence of Jeong Yak-yong in exile. Jeong Yak-yong and Choui are both recorded among those who came to Sujongsa in Namyangju, Gyeonggi.

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. 두륜산 대흥사(頭輪山 大興寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)