Gwanchoksa, Banyasan

Temple · Chungcheong

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

Where a stone Maitreya took thirty-seven years to carve and could not be stood up until someone watched two children playing in mud.

The Eunjin Mireuk, the standing stone Maitreya of Gwanchoksa in Nonsan. — G41rn8 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick facts

Address: 25 Gwanchok-ro 1beon-gil, Nonsan-si, Chungcheongnam-do

About this place

Gwanchoksa stands on Banyasan in Nonsan. Its standing stone Maitreya bodhisattva reaches 18 metres, the largest stone Buddha figure in the country, and is generally called the Eunjin Mireuk. An ink inscription found in the cavity of the urna shows that it was made around 968, in the Goryeo period. By the stele recording the temple’s history, a great stone was found on Banyasan under King Gwangjong; in 970 the master Hyemyeong began the work with a hundred masons and completed the figure thirty-seven years later, in 1006; but it was too large to raise, and it was only after seeing two children playing with mud by a river that they were able to stand it up. The image was designated a Treasure on 21 January 1963 and was later raised to National Treasure, its standing in Goryeo devotion and in the history of Buddhist sculpture having been reassessed.

Origin and history

The standing stone Maitreya bodhisattva here reaches 18 metres, the largest stone Buddha figure in the country, and is generally called the Eunjin Mireuk. An ink inscription found in the cavity of the urna shows that it was made around 968, in the Goryeo period.

By the stele recording the temple’s history, a great stone was found on Banyasan under King Gwangjong, and in 970 the master Hyemyeong began the work with a hundred masons, completing the figure thirty-seven years later in 1006. It was too large to raise, however, and only after seeing two children playing with mud by a river were they able to stand it up.

The image was designated a Treasure on 21 January 1963 and was later raised to National Treasure, its standing in Goryeo devotion and in the history of Buddhist sculpture having been reassessed.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
Thirty-seven years, a hundred masons
By the stele, the master Hyemyeong began work in 970 with a hundred masons and completed the figure thirty-seven years later in 1006.
documented history
Origin
Raised after watching a game
The figure was too large to stand up until, the account says, two children were seen playing with mud by a river.
folk tradition
What people do here
From Treasure to National Treasure
Designated a Treasure on 21 January 1963, it was later raised to National Treasure after a reassessment of its standing.
documented history

This figure has the time it took written down. Begun in 970 with a hundred masons and finished in 1006 — thirty-seven years. But what the record goes on to give is not completion; it is a difficulty. It was too large to raise.

The method came from children. Only after seeing two of them playing with mud by a river, the account says, could it be stood up. No other page on this site records an engineering problem solved by watching a game.

The dates come from two places. One is the ink inscription in the urna cavity, around 968; the other is the stele’s 970 to 1006. The two do not agree, and each is left here as its own source has it. Where Gapsa, Gaesimsa and Muryangsa in the same province cannot produce a founding date at all, this place has two.

Its grade rose once as well. Designated a Treasure in 1963, it became a National Treasure after its standing in Goryeo devotion and in the history of Buddhist sculpture was reassessed.

Claims and evidence levels 2

An ink inscription in the urna cavity shows the figure was made around 968; the temple stele gives the work as running from 970 to 1006. documented history
The figure was too large to raise until, the stele records, two children were seen playing with mud by a river. folk tradition

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.