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Gayasan Mountain |
2008-01-01 |
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Famous mountain with prestigious Hainsa Temple
Gayasan Mountain National Park is famous for its scenic beauty all year round and houses the prestigious temple Hainsa in a comfortable and peaceful valley of Gayasan Mountain. There are few places in Korea where people can enjoy not only the natural attractions but also historical heritages, and Gayasan Mountain National Park is one of those few places. Gayasan Mountain stretches throughout Hapcheon-gun and Geochang-gun in Gyeongnam and Seongju-gun and Goryeong-gun in Gyeongbuk but the mountain is usually called "the famous mountain in Hapcheon" as most tourists come to the Hapcheon-gun area, where the great Hainsa Temple is located.
The summit of Gayasan Mountain, Sangwangbong peak, stands more than 1,430 meters above sea level in the middle of high peaks such as Duribong, Danjibong, Namsan-jeilbong and Bigyesan ridges, which present a sublime scenic view with great harmony. This mountain is covered with a thick forest with more than 380 kinds of trees and various plants including huge pine and fir trees, and the attractive mountain valleys including Hongryudongcheon feature wonderful attractions all year round. Pink azaleas in spring, dark green foliage and cool refreshing cascades in the valleys in summer, colorful leaves in autumn and wonderful wintry scenes can be found on the mountain according to season.
Gayasan Mountain is famous for its prestigious temple Hainsa. There may be some people who do not know Gayasan Mountain but there are few people who do not know where Hainsa Temple is. For those who do not know much about Gayasan Mountain, if you explain to them that it is the mountain where Hainsa Temple is located, they will exclaim, "Oh, then I know the mountain! Is that what the mountain is called!"
Beopbo-jongchal (法寶宗刹: prestigious head temple for Buddhistic law) Hainsa Temple is one of the three most prestigious head temples in Korea together with Bulbo-jongchal (佛寶宗刹: prestigious head temple for Buddhism) Tongdosa Temple in Yangsan Gyeongnam and Seungbo-jongchal (僧寶宗刹: prestigious head temple for Buddhistic disciples) Songgwangsa Temple in Suncheon Jeonnam. The ancient Hainsa Temple was built in the 3rd year of King Aejang (AD802) during the Shilla dynasty.
Many invaluable cultural heritages including Tripitaka Koreana (Palman-daejanggyeong)
Hainsa Temple has a unique story of its founding. The queen of King Aejang became sick very seriously and no medicine was found that could cure her illness. Then the two great monks Suneung (順應) and Ijeong (利貞), who had returned from the Dang kingdom in China after diligent and hard discipline there, prayed to treat the illness of the queen, and she was cured mysteriously. Then King Aejang became very happy because of their successful treatment, and supported them when they founded Hainsa Temple.
The pride of Hainsa Temple is the Goryeo-daejanggyeong (Tripitaka Koreana) that is commonly called Palman-daejanggyeong in Korean. This Tripitaka Koreana was nominated as National Treasure No.32 and was created during the period from the 23rd year (1236) to the 38th year (1251) of King Gojong during the Goryeo kingdom, by installing Daejang-dogam (head office for Tripitaka production) in Ganghwa Island and Bunsa-dogam (local office for Tripitaka production) in Jinju. This Tripitaka Koreana is composed of 1,516 kinds of wooden inscription blocks with 6,815 volumes and a total number of as many as 81,258 units. The white birch trees gathered from Jejudo Island, Geojedo Island and Wando Island were mostly used for the Tripitaka inscription. And the wooden blocks had been salted in seawater to prevent decay and dried under the shade for a long time before they were used for the inscriptions. The Tripitaka Koreana was stored at the Daejanggyeong-pango (warehouse of Tripitaka) near Seomun (West Gate) in Ganghwado Island at first. Then it was moved to Seonwonsa Temple in Ganghwado Island, and then it was moved to its current location in Hainsa Temple in the 7th year of King Taejo (1398) during the Choseon kingdom.
The warehouse that preserves the Tripitaka Koreana is called Janggyeong-panjeon in Korean. It was built as two houses, one to the South, called Sudarajang, and the other one to the North, called Beopbojeon. They are one story houses and their scale is the same, 60.5 meters wide and 35 meters deep. The Janggyeong-panjeon were not burnt at all--mysteriously--in spite of seven fires that occurred at Hainsa Temple. Though they were discovered so many years ago, their scientific systems, such as efficient ventilation, effective moisture prevention, proper balance of temperatures and well-designed arrangements, have preserved the Tripitaka Koreana well over the years. This Janggyeong-panjeon, which is National Treasure No.52, was designated as a world cultural heritage by the UNESCO in 1995.
In addition, Hainsa Temple keeps more than 200 cultural heritages including Goryeogakpan 2,725 blocks (National Treasure No.206), Goryeogakpan 110 blocks (Treasure No.734) and Wongyeongwangsabi (royal monk monument, Treasure No.128) of Banyasa Temple.
Many traces of Goun Choi Chiwon, a famous scholar of Shilla kingdom
It is recommended you climb up to the summit Sangwangbong from Hainsa Temple. The mountain trail is smooth enough for the typical tourists to climb up to the summit without much toil. It takes only about two hours from Hainsa Temple to reach the summit Sanwangbong. However, it takes a little more effort in winter, as climbers will need winter climbing equipment such as Eisen (crampons).
Gayasan Mountain still bears several traces of Goun (孤雲: lonely cloud) Choi Chiwon, a famous scholar in Shilla dynasty. You can find evidence of his life at Nongsanjeong Pavilion, where he enjoyed reading and playing Baduk games, the Munchanghu-yujeokbi (monument stone) that memorializes his academic achievements, the poem stone Seokgak upon which he had his poem inscribed, and Haksadang, which enshrines his portrait.
Yongmun-pokpo Cascade is one of the most attractive places on Gayasan Mountain. This cascade bears a legend that dragons used to live here in ancient days. It is not very high at only 7 meters in height. But its silk-like waterfall and wonderful rocky cliffs show off a picturesque scene. In winter, the icy cascade is also wonderful to behold. |
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