Shilleuksa (also written as Silleuksa and Shilleuk-sa) is a
Korean Buddhist
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, the ...
temple situated against a low hill on the north side of the river Namhan, three kilometers east of
Yeoju in
Gyeonggi Province
Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the ...
, approximately one-hour southeast of
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
. The only riverside temple in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, Shilleuksa is a sacred pilgrimage site and a repository of seven Treasures. A 500-year-old aromatic juniper tree and a 600-year-old ginkgo tree stand on the temple grounds.
Founded in circa 580 by
Silla Dynasty monk
Wonhyo
Won Hyo (617 – April 28, 686) was one of the leading thinkers, writers and commentators of the Korean Buddhist tradition. Essence-Function (), a key concept in East Asian Buddhism and particularly Korean Buddhism, was refined in the syncretic ...
, Shilleuksa was enlarged, burned, and rededicated several times. Shilleuksa was made a prayer sanctuary to the royal mausoleum of
King Sejong the Great in 1469 (himself moved from Seoul that year), during the reign of King Seongjong. Often referred to as the "wall temple" because of an impressive brick
pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoi ...
towering high above, Shilleuksa is small by standard measure.
Treasures
A six-tier brick pagoda overlooks the river, one of a handful of brick pagodas in the country (T. #226). Nearby is a Silla Dynasty memorial stone stela (T. #230) whose inscription concerns a library that once stood on the premises of the preservation of wood printing blocks of the sutras. In the center courtyard is a seven-tier marble pagoda (T. #225) from th