Unmunsa, Hogeosan

Quick facts

Address

264 Unmunsa-gil, Unmun-myeon, Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do

About this place

Unmunsa stands on Hogeosan in Unmun-myeon, Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. In 557 a holy monk whose name is not known was practising here, and from 560 buildings were put up and the temple founded under the name Daejakgapsa. In 600 Wongwang returned from study in Sui China and stayed three years at Daejakgapsa, rebuilding it. Later, when he had moved to Gaseulgapsa and was practising there, the hwarang Gwisan and Chuhang came and asked him for words that would serve as a lesson for a lifetime to men living in the world, and he composed the five worldly precepts for them. After King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo, repaying the merit of Boyang, granted five hundred gyeol of land to the Ogapsa and bestowed on Jakgapsa the name-board Unmun Seon Temple, it has been called Unmunsa. Since being selected in 1958 as a specialist seminary for nuns, Unmunsa has been known as an institution for the education of nuns and the study of the scriptures. Among natural monuments there is the drooping pine at the entrance to Unmunsa.

Origin and history

In 557 a holy monk whose name is not known was practising here, and from 560 buildings were put up and the temple founded under the name Daejakgapsa.

In 600 Wongwang returned from study in Sui China and stayed three years at Daejakgapsa, rebuilding it. Later, when he had moved to Gaseulgapsa and was practising there, the hwarang Gwisan and Chuhang came and asked him for words that would serve as a lesson for a lifetime to men living in the world, and he composed the five worldly precepts for them.

After King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo, repaying the merit of Boyang, granted five hundred gyeol of land to the Ogapsa and bestowed on Jakgapsa the name-board Unmun Seon Temple, it has been called Unmunsa.

Since being selected in 1958 as a specialist seminary for nuns, Unmunsa has been known as an institution for the education of nuns and the study of the scriptures. Among natural monuments there is the drooping pine at the entrance to Unmunsa.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Five precepts, because two people asked

  The hwarang Gwisan and Chuhang came to Wongwang at Gaseulgapsa and asked for words that would serve as a lesson for a lifetime to men living in the world, and he composed the five worldly precepts for them.

  documented history

• Origin

  A name given by a king

  After King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo, repaying the merit of Boyang, bestowed on Jakgapsa the name-board Unmun Seon Temple, it has been called Unmunsa.

  documented history

• What people do here

  A specialist seminary for nuns

  Selected in 1958 as a specialist seminary for nuns, Unmunsa is known as an institution for the education of nuns and the study of the scriptures.

  documented history

A rule that lasted came out of a question asked here. Wongwang stayed three years at this temple and then moved to Gaseulgapsa to practise, and the hwarang Gwisan and Chuhang came and asked him for words that would serve as a lesson for a lifetime to men living in the world; the five worldly precepts were his answer. The order is not a rule laid down and then followed, but two people asking and an answer coming into existence.

The temple’s name came from a board a king gave it. Its first name was Daejakgapsa; after King Taejo Wang Geon of Goryeo repaid the merit of Boyang and bestowed on Jakgapsa the name Unmun Seon Temple, it became Unmunsa.

What the temple does now is teach. Selected in 1958 as a specialist seminary for nuns, it is known as an institution for the education of nuns and the study of the scriptures. Among this site’s Korean places, it is the first whose living function is a school run by and for women in the monastic life.

At the entrance stands a drooping pine, designated a natural monument.

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. 호거산 운문사(虎踞山 雲門寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)