Jikjisa, Hwangaksan

Quick facts

Address

95 Jikjisa-gil, Daehang-myeon, Gimcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do

About this place

Jikjisa stands on Hwangaksan in Daehang-myeon, Gimcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and is the head temple of the eighth district of the Jogye Order. Ado is said to have founded it in 418. Three accounts are given of the name Jikjisa; one of them is that the reverend Ado, having founded Dorisa in Seonsan, pointed his finger at Hwangaksan and said that over there was ground where a great temple would stand, and that it was called Jikjisa for this. By a temple record written in 1681 by Jo Jong-jeo, its scale at that time ran to eight halls, three pavilions, twelve chambers, three repositories and four gates, with three hundred and fifty-two bays in the main rooms alone, and twenty-six attached hermitages. The Samyeonggak enshrines the portrait of Samyeongdang, leader of the monk-soldiers in the Japanese invasions of the 1590s; it was built to keep in mind the purpose of a man who left home for the monastic life at this temple at fifteen and did great things for the country.

Origin and history

Ado is said to have founded Jikjisa in 418.

Three accounts are given of the name Jikjisa. One of them is that the reverend Ado, having founded Dorisa in Seonsan, pointed his finger at Hwangaksan and said that over there was ground where a great temple would stand, and that it was called Jikjisa for this.

By a temple record written in 1681 by Jo Jong-jeo, its scale at that time ran to eight halls, three pavilions, twelve chambers, three repositories and four gates, with three hundred and fifty-two bays in the main rooms alone, and twenty-six attached hermitages.

The Samyeonggak enshrines the portrait of Samyeongdang, leader of the monk-soldiers in the Japanese invasions of the 1590s. It was built to keep in mind the purpose of a man who left home for the monastic life at this temple at fifteen and did great things for the country.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Over there a great temple will stand

  One account says the reverend Ado, having founded Dorisa in Seonsan, pointed at Hwangaksan and said that over there was ground where a great temple would stand, and that the name came from this.

  folk tradition

• What people do here

  Three hundred and fifty-two bays

  A record of 1681 by Jo Jong-jeo gives eight halls, three pavilions, twelve chambers, three repositories and four gates, with three hundred and fifty-two bays in the main rooms alone and twenty-six attached hermitages.

  documented history

• Origin

  Where Samyeongdang left home

  The Samyeonggak enshrines the portrait of Samyeongdang, who left home for the monastic life at this temple at fifteen and led the monk-soldiers in the 1590s.

  documented history

This temple’s name came from a finger. By one of the three accounts handed down, the reverend Ado, after founding Dorisa in Seonsan, pointed at Hwangaksan and said that over there was ground where a great temple would stand — and so it became Jikjisa, pointing straight at.

The place that finger was pointing from is also on this site. Dorisa in Gumi is the temple Ado founded, and it is handed down as the first temple in Silla. The two temples’ records point at each other.

Gyeongsang’s old temples narrow to a few founders’ names. This one and Dorisa are Ado; Buseoksa in Yeongju and Beomeosa in Busan are Uisang.

The scale survives as figures. The 1681 record gives eight halls, three pavilions, twelve chambers, three repositories and four gates, three hundred and fifty-two bays in the main rooms alone, and twenty-six attached hermitages. Samyeongdang left home for the monastic life here at fifteen, and the Samyeonggak was built to keep his purpose in mind.

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. 황악산 직지사(黃嶽山 直指寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)