Hwagyesa, Samgaksan

Quick facts

Address

117 Hwagyesa-gil, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul

About this place

Hwagyesa stands in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul. Under King Gwangjong of Goryeo the master Tanmun founded Bodeogam at Buheo-dong on Samgaksan, near the present temple. In 1522 the master Sinwol, in agreement with Yi, Prince Seopyeong, moved it to the present site, built three halls and fifty kan of monks’ quarters, and renamed it Hwagyesa. When fire destroyed everything in the ninth month of 1618, Dowol rebuilt it the following year with a donation from the Grand Prince Deokheung, birth father of King Seonjo, completing the work in the third month of the year after. In 1866 Yongseon and Beomun repaired the decayed buildings with a donation from the Heungseon Daewongun. Hwagyesa is known for its overseas propagation centred on the international Seon centre opened by Seungsahn in 1984. Its main hall is designated tangible heritage of Seoul, and the bronze bell made by the monk Sain is designated a Treasure.

Origin and history

Under King Gwangjong of Goryeo the master Tanmun founded Bodeogam at Buheo-dong on Samgaksan, near the present temple.

In 1522 the master Sinwol, in agreement with Yi, Prince Seopyeong, moved it to the present site, built three halls and fifty kan of monks’ quarters, and renamed it Hwagyesa.

When fire destroyed everything in the ninth month of 1618, Dowol rebuilt it the following year with a donation from the Grand Prince Deokheung, birth father of King Seonjo, completing the work in the third month of the year after. In 1866 Yongseon and Beomun repaired the decayed buildings with a donation from the Heungseon Daewongun.

Hwagyesa is known for its overseas propagation centred on the international Seon centre opened by Seungsahn in 1984.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Two donations, 250 years apart

  The temple was rebuilt after the 1618 fire with the Grand Prince Deokheung’s donation, and repaired in 1866 with the Heungseon Daewongun’s.

  documented history

• Origin

  From Bodeogam to Hwagyesa

  In 1522 the master Sinwol moved the temple to its present site with Prince Seopyeong, built three halls and fifty kan of quarters, and renamed it Hwagyesa.

  documented history

• What people do here

  The international Seon centre of 1984

  The temple is known for its overseas propagation centred on the international Seon centre opened by Seungsahn in 1984.

  documented history

The men who twice raised this temple up held the same title. After the fire of 1618, the Grand Prince Deokheung, birth father of King Seonjo, gave the donation for its rebuilding; in 1866 the Heungseon Daewongun gave the donation for the repair of its decayed buildings. Some two hundred and fifty years apart, two men in the same office paid for the same temple.

The later of the two appears on another page of this site. Yonggungsa on Yeongjongdo in Incheon is the temple he renamed in 1864, after praying there for ten years. The repair here is 1866 — two years between them.

The temple itself moved once. It began as Bodeogam at Buheo-dong on Samgaksan, and in 1522 the master Sinwol, in agreement with Prince Seopyeong, moved it to the present ground, built three halls and fifty kan of quarters, and it became Hwagyesa.

There is recent history too. Seungsahn opened an international Seon centre here in 1984, and the temple came to be known for the overseas propagation centred on it.

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. 삼각산 화계사(三角山 華溪寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)