Bongseonsa is a head temple of the

Jogye Order The Jogye Order, officially known as the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗), is the leading order of traditional Korean Buddhism, with roots dating back 1,200 years to the late Silla period. Around ...

Korean Buddhism Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, they ...

. It stands in Jinjeop-eup,

Namyangju Namyangju (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. To the east is Gapyeong County, to the west is Guri, and to the north is Pocheon. Namyangju was originally a southern part of Yangju-gun, but was separated into Namyangju-gun in April ...

, a short distance east of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

province,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It was built by National Preceptor Beobin in 969, under the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

dynasty. At that time it bore the name "Unaksa." The current name dates to 1469, when

Queen Jeonghui Queen Jeonghui (; 8 December 1418 – 6 May 1483), of the Papyeong Yun clan, was a posthumous name bestowed on the wife and queen of Yi Yu, King Sejo. She was Queen of Joseon from 1455 until her husband's death in 1468, after which she was hono ...

of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

changed the temple's name at the time that her husband

King Sejo Sejo (; 7 November 1417 – 23 September 1468), personal name Yi Yu (), sometimes known as Grand Prince Suyang (), was the seventh monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He was the second son of Sejong the Great and the uncle of King Danj ...

was buried nearby. The name can be interpreted as "temple of revering the sage." Thereafter, the temple continued to have a close relationship with the queens of Joseon. Bongseonsa has been burned down and rebuilt several times, due to the 16th-century Seven Year War, 17th-century

Manchu invasions of Korea During the 17th century, there were two Manchu invasions of Korea: *Later Jin invasion of Joseon (1627) *Qing invasion of Joseon The Qing invasion of Joseon () occurred in the winter of 1636 when the newly established Qing dynasty invaded the ...

, and 20th-century

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

References

External links

Official site, in Korean
{{coord, 37, 44, 50, N, 127, 11, 00, E, region:KR_type:city_source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title 969 establishments Buildings and structures in Gyeonggi Province Buddhist temples of the Jogye Order Buddhist temples in South Korea Namyangju 10th-century establishments in Korea

See also

References

External links