Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

After experiencing destructive invasions by the Japanese army in 1592 and by the Qing troops in the winter of 1636, the government of Joseon conducted a nationwide commemoration project for the loyal vassals in order to reconstruct the Confucian ruling order. As a result of this effort, a vast number of loyal subjects and righteous people were honored by the posthumous investiture with official titles and by the establishment of shrines with a royal charter in honor of them. Affected by this periodical tendency, from the 18th century, the Buddhist community carried forward a plan to build shrines with a royal charter for Samyeongdaesa Yujeong and Seosandaesa Cheongheo Hyujeong, great Zen masters who led various volunteer armies against the Japanese during the Imjin War. In the 14th year of King Yeongjo's reign (1738), Pyochungsa (“shrine of fidelity displayed”) was constructed for the first time in Miryang in honor of Yujeong and it soon gained a royal charter from the government. As a result of this success, Buddhist community at the time realized the possibility of the establishment of shrines with a royal charter in honor of Yujeong and Hyujeong. Following this, the monks in the Daedunsa Temple, which stands on the slopes of Duryun Mountain in Haenam and is currently called Daeheungsa Temple, realized the necessity of a shrine with a royal charter to be built for Hyujeong. Thus, they asked King Jeongjo in the 12th year of the king's reign (1788) to grant the shrine a royal charter. They appealed to the throne that their temple is most appropriate to be granted with a royal charter since Hyujeong's garments and alms bowl are preserved there and that it is the center of Cheongheo School. The king responded favorably, sending a plaque with the name “Pyochung (Ch. 表忠)” on it. After that, the monks in the Bohyeonsa Temple in Myohyang Mountain constructed a shrine in honor of Hyujeong and asked King Jeongjo to grant the shrine a royal charter for a reason that their temple was where Hyujeong resided and passed away. The king also responded favorably, sending a plaque with the name “Suchung (Ch. 酬忠)” in the 18th year of his reign, along with granting Seosandaesa Hwasangdangmyeong Byeongseo (Ch. 西山大師畵像堂銘幷序) in the king's own handwriting to Pyochungsa in Duryun Mountain and Suchungsa in Myohyang Mountain. The monks of the Geonbongsa Temple in Geumgang Mountain heard the news of the Bohyeonsa Temple and also pleaded for the grant of a royal charter for a reason that their temple was where Yujeong joined the sangha and trained Buddhism. But the king at this time did not accept their request. The monks of the Geonbongsa Temple built Suchunggak shrine in honor of Yujeong without a royal charter and erected his epitaph in the 24th year of King Jeongjo's reign (1800). This marks the end of the Buddhist movement in the 18th century of appealing for the bestowment of a royal charter in honor of the loyal and righteous Buddhist monks.