Yeonhwasa Temple (Seoul)

About this place

Yeonhwasa is a directly affiliated branch temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, nestled at the foot of Mount Cheonjangsan in Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Hoegi-dong, situated right in the heart of eastern Seoul, got its name from the fact that Hoereung—the tomb of the deposed Queen Yun, the birth mother of Yeonsangun—was said to have been there; today, a small temple built as her spirit temple (wonchal) stands on that site. It was called Yeonhwasa (Lotus Flower Temple) in the sense that the fundamental nature of all sentient beings is like a pure lotus flower blooming from the mud; later it was also called Myoryeon. Both names symbolize the purity of the lotus, and the name seems to have been given in the sense of the lotus's function of 'birth by transformation,' as a place of practice where Yeonsangun prayed for the repose of his birth mother Lady Yun and sought to guide the aggrieved soul, who had died a violent death, to a better rebirth. Today, since Hoereung was relocated to Samreung in Seosamneung and Kyunghee Girls' Middle and High Schools were established on the site, its old appearance can no longer be found, but it carries on as a small temple below that site. Now, rather than the typical form of a temple surrounded by dense woods, it has been transformed into an urban temple; yet within it remain many Buddhist paintings created by numerous court ladies as a spirit temple not only for the deposed Queen Yun but also for Queen Seonui, allowing one to trace its vestiges as a royal spirit temple.