Juklimsа Hermitage

About this place

Juklimjungsa is a national memorial site created to honor the spirit of patriotism and Buddhism of Patriarch Baek Yong-seong (Baek Yongseong). Patriarch Baek Yong-seong was one of the 33 Representatives of Independence who signed the Declaration of Independence on March 1, 1919, representing the Buddhist community. He was born on May 8, 1864, at 252 Jungnim-ri, Beonam-myeon, Jangsu-gun. Patriarch Yongseong founded the Daegaksa temple of the Seon (Zen) school to popularize Buddhism, and established Hwagwawon, reviving pioneering Buddhist practice. As a representative of the independence movement, he dedicated his life to both the independence movement and the transmission of traditional Buddhism. The birthplace sacred site of Patriarch Baek Yong-seong — Juklimjungsa — includes the ancestral home, the main Buddha hall (Daewungjeon), the Yongseong Education Hall, the Yongseong Memorial Hall, monks' quarters, a pavilion, and a relics exhibition hall. Inside the Yongseong Education Hall are paintings of the Seven Tathagatas, the Three Transmissions, the 69 patriarchs, the Seven Masters, as well as 104 arhats, patriarchs, dharma masters, national teachers, and vinaya masters on the inner and outer walls, with a painted biography of Patriarch Yongseong on the exterior walls.