Guryongsa, Chiaksan

Temple · Gangwon

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In short

A temple whose founding legend has a single written charm dry up the pool where nine dragons lived.

The Bogwangru pavilion at Guryongsa on Chiaksan, Wonju. — Trainholic / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Quick facts

Address: 500 Guryongsa-ro, Socho-myeon, Wonju-si, Gangwon

About this place

Guryongsa stands on Chiaksan in Socho-myeon, Wonju. It is handed down that Uisang founded it in 668. The encyclopedia adds, however, that since there is no clear record of the temple until the Joseon period, it is quite possible the tale linking it to an eminent monk was made up when the temple was founded at some later date. By the founding legend, the ground where the temple now stands was a deep pool in which nine dragons lived; when Uisang set about building, the dragons brought thunder and lightning and rain to stop him and filled the mountain with water. Uisang drew a single charm and put it into the pool, whereupon the water suddenly dried up; one of the dragons went blind, and the other eight split the ridge in front of Guryongsa into eight pieces and fled. Around the temple are the scenic Geobukbawi rock and the Guryong pool. It has the Bogwangru pavilion, and its painting of the three bodhisattvas is designated a Treasure.

Origin and history

It is handed down that Uisang founded the temple in 668. The encyclopedia adds, however, that since there is no clear record of the temple until the Joseon period, it is quite possible the tale linking it to an eminent monk was made up when the temple was founded at some later date.

By the founding legend, the ground where the temple now stands was a deep pool in which nine dragons lived. When Uisang set about building, the dragons brought thunder and lightning and rain to stop him, and filled the mountain with water.

Uisang drew a single charm and put it into the pool, whereupon the water suddenly dried up. One of the dragons went blind, and the other eight split the ridge in front of Guryongsa into eight pieces and fled.

Around the temple are the scenic Geobukbawi rock and the Guryong pool.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
A tradition, and a caveat
Uisang is handed down as founder in 668, but the encyclopedia notes that with no clear record until Joseon the tale may well be a later invention.
folk tradition
Origin
A pool dried by one charm
When the dragons filled the mountain with rain, Uisang drew a single charm and put it in the pool, and the water suddenly dried up.
folk tradition
What people do here
Geobukbawi and the Guryong pool
The scenic Geobukbawi rock and the Guryong pool lie around the temple.
documented history

This temple’s founding record carries a doubt alongside it. Having written that Uisang is handed down as founding it in 668, the encyclopedia adds that with no clear record until the Joseon period, the tale tying it to an eminent monk was quite possibly made up when the temple was founded later. The claim and a judgement on the claim sit in the same place.

This site holds one other case of the shape. Hanaoka Jinja in Sapporo is a shrine that wrote its own origin as “probably” and “it seems”. But there the institution blurred its own account; here a reference work attached a caveat to the institution’s claim.

The legend, by contrast, is exact. Nine dragons fill the mountain with rain, a single charm dries the pool, one dragon goes blind, and eight split the facing ridge into eight pieces as they flee. The nine of the temple’s name and the eight pieces of the ridge account for each other inside the story.

What survives on the ground keeps the story’s names too. Geobukbawi rock and the Guryong pool are counted among the sights around the temple.

Claims and evidence levels 2

Uisang is handed down as founding the temple in 668, though the encyclopedia notes the attribution may be a later tale for want of records before Joseon. folk tradition
By the founding legend a single written charm dried the pool of nine dragons, one of which went blind while eight split the facing ridge and fled. folk tradition

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