Yeonjudae

Quick facts

Address

San 12-4 Jungang-dong, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do

Spiritual entities

Uisang (義湘, 625–702)

About this place

Yeonjudae stands on Yeonjubong on Gwanaksan in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. Uisang founded it in 677 under the name Gwanaksa; in 1392 Yi Seong-gye rebuilt the Uisangdae, and his brother-in-law Kang Deuk-ryong called it Yeonjudae. The name comes from Kang Deuk-ryong, Seo Gyeon, Nam Eul-jin and others, who looked from here toward Songdo, longing for the fallen Goryeo dynasty, and wept. It was designated a Gyeonggi provincial monument in 1973.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes Yeonjudae as a hermitage on Yeonjubong on Gwanaksan in Gwacheon, founded by the Unified Silla monk Uisang. He founded it in 677 and named it Gwanaksa.

In 1392 Yi Seong-gye rebuilt the Uisangdae, and his brother-in-law Kang Deuk-ryong called it Yeonjudae. The name is said to come from Kang Deuk-ryong, Seo Gyeon and Nam Eul-jin, who looked from here toward Songdo, longing for the Goryeo dynasty, and wept.

It was designated a Gyeonggi provincial monument in 1973. The surviving halls include the main hall, the Gwaneumjeon, the Yeongsanjeon, the Yeonjudae itself, and a Samseonggak, along with the Hyoryeonggak enshrining a portrait of Grand Prince Hyoryeong.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Founded in 677 as Gwanaksa

  Said to have been founded by Uisang, under the name Gwanaksa.

  documented history

• Origin

  The name Yeonjudae

  Said to come from Kang Deuk-ryong, Seo Gyeon and Nam Eul-jin, who looked toward Songdo longing for Goryeo, and wept.

  folk tradition

• Power spot

  The hall at the cliff edge

  Alongside the main hall, Gwaneumjeon and Yeongsanjeon stands the Yeonjudae itself, with the Hyoryeonggak holding a portrait of Grand Prince Hyoryeong.

  documented history

What people came here to ask for, the state record does not say. It gives the founding, the renaming and the origin of the name, and stops. That is why this page carries no petition.

What remains instead is the name. Yeonju means longing for one’s lord, and it came from men who climbed this cliff after the dynasty changed and wept toward the old capital. On a site rebuilt by the founder of the new dynasty, the grief of those who would not accept it survives as the name.

One thing worth adding: a good deal of writing presents this as a place to pray for examinations or advancement. That account is not in the state record.

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. 관악산 연주암(冠岳山 戀主庵) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)
2. 아산 이충무공 유허 — 국가유산포털 — Korea Heritage Service (accessed 2026-08-12)