Jeongyangsa, also romanized Chŏngyang-sa, (정양사, 正陽寺, N 38.6321, E 128.0628) was a Korean Buddhist temple on

Mount Geumgang Mount Kumgang () or the Kumgang Mountains is a mountain massif, with a peak, in Kangwon-do, North Korea. It is located on the east coast of the country, in Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, formerly part of Kangwŏn Province, and is part of the ...

(금강산,金剛山). This temple was known as the best scenic spot in the Mount Geumgang area. Located at an altitude of 848m, it overlooks the

Pyohunsa P'yohun-sa (표훈사, 表訓寺) is a Korean Buddhist temple located on Mount Kumgang, North Korea. Founded in the 7th century under the kingdom of Silla, it is the only one of Mount Kumgang's four great temples to have survived the Korean War ...

temple, located 1km eastwards and 200m below, on the banks of the Donggeumgang River. There were several buildings such as Banyajeon (般若殿, enshrining the Beopgi Bodhisattva as the main Buddha), Yakjeon (藥師殿, an hexagonal hall), Heolseongru (헐성루, 歇惺樓, a small pavilion on the right side of the temple grounds, to see the 12000 peaks of the mountain), Yeongsanjeon, and Nahanjeon, as well as a three-story pagoda and stone lanterns. The #12 (1932) of the "Joseon historical site walk" contains several views of each temple around Mt. Geumgang, Jeongyangsa among them. Some of them can be accessed throug
Namu_wiki
These pictures taken during the Japanese colonial period are precious since many of these buildings are no longer extant. During the Korean war, the

Bombing of North Korea Air forces of the United Nations Command carried out an extensive bombing campaign against North Korea from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean War. It was the first major bombing campaign for the United States Air Force (USAF) since its inception in ...

dropped a total of 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of napalm, on Korea. "Every installation, facility, and village in North Korea ecamea military and tactical target", and the orders given to the Fifth Air Force and Bomber Command was to "destroy every means of communications and every installation, factory, city, and village". As a result, Heolseongru, Yeongsanjeon, Myeongbujeon, Seungbang and Nahanjeon have been destroyed by the US bombings of the area. The other buildings were damaged, but were restored afterwards and classified as the #99 National Treasure (North Korea).

Paintings

Jeongyangsa was depicted by many Korean painters. Among them: * Jeong Seon, , 18th century, pale color on paper, 22.1 x 61.0 cm *

Kim Ha-jong Kim Ha-jong(김하종, 金夏鐘), 1793–after 1875, was a Joseon court painter. His ho was Yudang, 유당, 蕤堂. He is known for the ''Album of Sea and Mountains'' (Haesan-docheop, 해산도첩,海山圖帖), which contains 25 paintings, eac ...

, as #09 of the Haesando Album, 1815 *

also released a as #10 of the same Album, 1815

References

Sources

* EncyKor * 15 volumes. * . 10 volumes, 2800 pages. What is said about Jeongyangsa can be accessed through thi
Naver link
* * * The National Treasure (North Korea) page here is supposed to provide a fair English translation of this list.

External links

Carta
Buddhist temples in North Korea {{Buddhism-stub