Buseoksa Temple [UNESCO World Heritage]

About this place

Buseoksa was founded in 676, the 16th year of King Munmu of Silla, by the Venerable Uisang, patriarch of the Haedong Hwaeom school of Buddhism, on royal command, becoming the head temple of the Hwaeom sect. While studying in Tang China, Uisang heard news of Tang Gaozong's planned invasion of Silla, returned home to alert the king, and founded this temple to unify national sentiment through the principles of Hwaeom Buddhism. The temple's name, meaning 'floating stone,' derives from a large rock to the west of the main hall that hovers without touching the rock beneath. During the Goryeo period it was also known as Seondallsa or Heunggyosa. The Goryeo-era restoration is recorded in a 1916 ink inscription. Among the courtyard's Unified Silla relics are a stone lantern before the main hall (Muryangsujeon), a stone seated Buddha, three-story pagoda, flagpole support, and stone foundation. Goryeo relics include Muryangsujeon (the oldest wooden building in Korea), the Josadang shrine hall, a clay seated Buddha, shrine murals, Goryeo wooden printing blocks, and Wonyung Monk's stele. The clay seated Buddha enshrined in Muryangsujeon is the oldest surviving clay statue in Korea.