Pyochungsa, Jaeyaksan

Quick facts

Address

1338 Pyochung-ro, Danjang-myeon, Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do

About this place

Pyochungsa stands on Jaeyaksan in Danjang-myeon, Miryang-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. It is the temple that began as Jungnimsa, founded by Wonhyo, and was rebuilt by Hwangmyeon in the reign of King Heungdeok of Silla under the new name Yeongjeongsa. The shrine that offers rites to the great master Samyeong was given the standing of an academy of the day and inscribed Pyochung Seowon, and was commonly called Pyochungsa; because the temple had been the shrine’s guardian, the character for shrine in that name gave way to the character for temple. To the left and right of the shrine a Seon hall and a teaching hall were built, in the same arrangement as the east and west study halls of a Confucian school or academy.

Origin and history

Pyochungsa is the temple that began as Jungnimsa, founded by Wonhyo, and was rebuilt by Hwangmyeon in the reign of King Heungdeok of Silla under the new name Yeongjeongsa.

The shrine that offers rites to the great master Samyeong was given the standing of an academy of the day and inscribed Pyochung Seowon, and was commonly called Pyochungsa. Because the temple had been the shrine’s guardian, the character for shrine in that name gave way to the character for temple.

To the left and right of the shrine a Seon hall and a teaching hall were built, in the same arrangement as the east and west study halls of a Confucian school or academy.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Taking the name of what it guarded

  The shrine honouring the master Samyeong was inscribed Pyochung Seowon and commonly called Pyochungsa; because the temple had guarded it, the character for shrine gave way to the character for temple.

  documented history

• What people do here

  Laid out like an academy

  To the left and right of the shrine a Seon hall and a teaching hall were built, in the same arrangement as the east and west study halls of a Confucian school or academy.

  documented history

• Origin

  From Jungnimsa to Yeongjeongsa

  Jungnimsa, founded by Wonhyo, was rebuilt by Hwangmyeon under King Heungdeok of Silla and renamed Yeongjeongsa.

  folk tradition

This temple’s name was settled by the change of a single character. The shrine that offers rites to the great master Samyeong was hung with the board Pyochung Seowon and commonly called Pyochungsa; because the temple had guarded that shrine, the character meaning shrine gave way to the character meaning temple. A temple took over the name of the thing it was keeping.

The layout follows the same circumstance. A Seon hall and a teaching hall were built to the left and right of the shrine, in the arrangement of the east and west study halls of a Confucian school or academy. The form of an academy sits inside a Buddhist temple.

The master Samyeong, honoured here, left home for the monastic life at Jikjisa in Gimcheon. The Samyeonggak at that temple holds the portrait of a man who took that step there at fifteen. The temple where he ordained and the temple where he receives rites both stand in Gyeongsang.

The temple’s earlier names are two. It was Jungnimsa, founded by Wonhyo, and became Yeongjeongsa when Hwangmyeon rebuilt it under King Heungdeok. Wonhyo also stayed at Bunhwangsa in Gyeongju and is the man who renamed Girimsa.

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. 재약산 표충사(載藥山 表忠寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)