Jeongsusa, Manisan

Quick facts

Address

142 Haeannam-ro 1258beon-gil, Hwado-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Incheon

About this place

Jeongsusa stands on Manisan in Hwado-myeon, Ganghwa-gun, Incheon. The master Hoejeong raised it in 639, the eighth year of Queen Seondeok of Silla, and the master Hamheo rebuilt it in 1426; seeing clear water rising to the west of the building, he changed the name to Jeongsusa, the temple of pure water. The hall is a Daeungbojeon enshrining an image of Sakyamuni. During repairs in 1957 a record was found that had been written during a repair in 1689, and by that record the hall had been newly rebuilt in 1423. It now measures three bays across the front and four along the side, but is taken to have been a building of three bays on both front and side, without the porch. The roof is a gable roof, shaped like the character for person when seen from the side, and the bracketing sits only on the columns, appearing differently at front and rear. The hall of Jeongsusa is designated a Treasure.

Origin and history

The master Hoejeong raised Jeongsusa in 639, and the master Hamheo rebuilt it in 1426. Seeing clear water rising to the west of the building, he changed the name to Jeongsusa.

The hall is a Daeungbojeon enshrining an image of Sakyamuni. During repairs in 1957 a record was found that had been written during a repair in 1689, and by that record the hall had been newly rebuilt in 1423.

It now measures three bays across the front and four along the side, but is taken to have been a building of three bays on both front and side, without the porch. The roof is a gable roof, shaped like the character for person seen from the side, and the bracketing sits only on the columns, appearing differently at front and rear.

The hall of Jeongsusa is designated a Treasure.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  A name from clear water

  Rebuilding in 1426, the master Hamheo saw clear water rising to the west of the building and changed the name to Jeongsusa.

  documented history

• Origin

  A date found during repairs

  Repairs in 1957 turned up a record from a repair of 1689, by which the hall had been newly rebuilt in 1423.

  documented history

• What people do here

  A porch added later

  The hall now runs three bays by four, but is taken to have been three bays on both front and side, without the porch.

  documented history

This temple’s name came out of something seen. Rebuilding in 1426, Hamheo saw clear water rising to the west of the building and changed the name to Jeongsusa. It was not the water’s existence that became the name but the noticing of it.

Several Ganghwa temples got their names this way. Jeondeungsa from a jade lamp given by a queen consort, Baeknyeonsa from a white lotus that fell. This is an island where things decide names.

The building’s age also came out of opening it up. Repairs in 1957 turned up a record from a repair of 1689, and that record said the hall had been rebuilt in 1423. This site holds other buildings dated the same way: at Bukjijangsa in Daegu a dismantling produced a ridge-beam record that changed the building’s name, and at Gaesimsa in Seosan an ink inscription established three repair dates.

The porch now visible was not there from the start. The hall is taken to have been three bays on front and side originally.

Manisan, where this temple stands, also carries Chamseongdan on this site.

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. 강화 정수사 법당(江華 淨水寺 法堂) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)