Oseam or Oseam Temple is a small

Korean Buddhist temple Buddhist temples are an important part of the Korean landscape. Most Korean temples have names ending in ''-sa'' (), which means "monastery" in Sino-Korean vocabulary, Sino-Korean. Many temples participate in the Templestay program, where visitors ...

located in the area of Mangyeongdae Pavilion,

Seoraksan Seoraksan (), or Mount Sorak, is the highest mountain in the Taebaek mountain range in the Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea. It is located in the Seoraksan National Park, near Sokcho. After the Hallasan volcano on Jeju Island and ...

, Gangwon Province, South Korea. It is an annex of

Baekdamsa Baekdamsa () is a Buddhist temple in Inje County, Gangwon-do (South Korea), Gangwon province, South Korea.It was originally built in the 7th century, but due to war and natural disasters, the temple has been rebuilt numerous times since then. The ...

Temple which is the head temple of the third district in 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 ...

. Oseam was first established as ''Gwaneumam'' (觀音庵) by Monk

Jajang Jajang (590–658) was a monk born Kim Seonjong, into the royal Kim family, in the kingdom of Silla. He is credited with founding the temple of Tongdosa in 646 CE, near in what is now Busan, South Korea, and played a significant role in th ...

in 643, the 12th year of Queen Seondeok's reign during the

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

Kingdom and Monk Bou (普雨) reconstructed the temple in 1548 during the King Myeongjong 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 ...

. The temple name was changed to Oseam after Monk Seoljeong (雪淨) rebuilt it in 1643 during the King Injo's reign. A famous tale regarding Monk Seoljeong and the name has been handed down.

The origin of a name

Seoljeong was raising his orphaned brother's son at the temple, but he left for Yangyang to prepare for the winter. He left the temple after cooking meals for his four-year-old nephew, who would be alone for a few days. It had snowed all night after the market had started. When he came back in March next year, he found a child who was believed to have died, hanging a wooden tablet and calling for the Avalokitesvara. It is said that a five-year-old boy called the Gwaneum Rock " Five Years Rock " to tell the tale of the superhuman strength of Avalokitesvara.The origin of the name of Oseam
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In popular culture

Korean film oseam is based on a myth associated with the temple.

References

Buddhist temples in South Korea Buildings and structures in Gangwon Province, South Korea Inje County Seoraksan Tourist attractions in Gangwon Province, South Korea {{SouthKorea-Buddhist-temple-stub

The origin of a name

In popular culture

See also

References