Yongjusa

Temple · Korea

Hwasan Yongjusa · Galyangsa

Family & Home

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

The temple King Jeongjo refounded beside his father’s grave, holding the woodblocks of the sutra on what children owe their parents.

Daeungbojeon, the main hall of Yongjusa, built in 1790 beside the royal grave it was founded to guard. — DayeunJung / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Quick facts

Address: Songsan-dong, Taean-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do

About this place

Yongjusa is in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. Founded in 854 as Galyangsa, it burned in 952 and lay in ruins until 1789, when Jeongjo moved his father Sado Seja’s grave from Seoul to Hwaseong as the Hyungnyungwon and rebuilt the temple beside it. Nominally it was a hall for preparing offerings; in practice it was a new tomb-guardian temple. Its bronze bell became a National Treasure in 1964, and the woodblocks of the Sutra of Great Parental Benevolence a Treasure in 2012.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records that the temple was founded in 854 as Galyangsa, burned in 952 and remained only as a site.

In 1789 Jeongjo moved his father’s grave from Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul to Hwaseong and laid it out as the Hyungnyungwon. He then rebuilt Galyangsa beside it — put forward as building a hall for preparing offerings, but amounting, the encyclopedia says, to founding a new tomb-guardian temple.

The Yongjusa bronze bell was designated a National Treasure in 1964, and the woodblocks of the Sutra of Great Parental Benevolence a Treasure in 2012.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
Beside a father’s grave
In 1789 Jeongjo moved his father’s grave to Hwaseong as the Hyungnyungwon and rebuilt Galyangsa beside it.
documented history
Power spotFamily & Home
The Parental Benevolence woodblocks
Woodblocks of the sutra on the kindness of parents, designated a Treasure in 2012.
folk tradition
Power spot
The Yongjusa bell
Designated a National Treasure in 1964.
documented history

What connects this temple to family is circumstance rather than a sentence in the record — unusually solid circumstance. A son built it beside his father’s grave, and the woodblocks of the sutra on parental kindness are kept there as designated heritage.

The state record does not say the temple takes filial piety as its theme, and the temple’s own site does not answer over https, so what it says it is for could not be checked. This page therefore carries family at the weight of something transmitted. If the temple’s own words turn up, the weight can rise.

Claims and evidence levels 4

The temple was founded in 854 as Galyangsa, burned in 952, and remained only as a site until the late eighteenth century. documented history
In 1789 Jeongjo moved his father’s grave to Hwaseong as the Hyungnyungwon and rebuilt Galyangsa beside it; the encyclopedia describes this as amounting to founding a new tomb-guardian temple. documented history
The Yongjusa bronze bell was designated a National Treasure in 1964, and the woodblocks of the Sutra of Great Parental Benevolence a Treasure in 2012. documented history
The temple’s association with family rests on circumstance — a son’s foundation beside his father’s grave, and the parental-benevolence woodblocks held there — rather than on a statement by the temple or the state record. folk tradition

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.