Haeinsa Temple is the second of the Three Jewels Temples of Korea,
representing the Teaching. HaeinĦħmeans reflection on a smooth sea.ĦħHaein
Samadhi is a state of meditation in which an enlightened person sees everything
as it is; a world in which all dualities cease. Such a world has a surface
like that of a calm sea.
When the queen of King Aejang (r. 800-809) became ill with a tumor,
the king asked Master Sunung and Master Ichong to help her. They tied one
end of a string to the tumor, the other to a tree and chanted special verses.
Miraculously, as the tumor withered, the tree died. Out of gratitude for
the monks' services, the king built Haeinsa Temple.
During the Korean War, many guerrillas hid in Haeinsa and so the order
was given for the temple to be bombed. The pilot flew over the buildings,
trying to judge where
best to drop his bomb. As he gazed down at the magnificent halls, he could
not bring himself to destroy such a lovely place. He was court-martialed
and imprisoned. After the war, however, he became a national hero.
After passing through the three gates, there is a large courtyard. Continuing
up the next flight of stairs, you arrive at the Main Hall, constructed
in 1818 on the foundations of the one built by Master Sunung and Master
Ichong. Inside, there are seven statues. The wooden Vairocana, the Manjusri
and the Samantabhadra statues were all carved from a large ginkgo tree
during the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910). There are many paintings in the
hall, including Ich'adon with the milk spurting out of his neck, Wonhyo
and Uisang. The paintings of the Buddha's life, found behind the main statues,
are highly detailed and rather unusual.
Behind the main shrine, up a steep flight of granite stairs, are two
long buildings which house the wood-blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana, the
Buddhist texts.
Constructed in 1488, the buildings escaped the fires which burnt down the
rest of the temple in 1817.
The Tripitaka Koreana was carved in the 13th century in a temple on
Kanghwado Island. It was believed that the possession of these wood-blocks
would protect the country against invasion. The original set of printing
blocks, carved in the 11th century, were burnt by the Mongols and, in the
13th century, a new set was undertaken at the orders of King Kojong. These
were transported from Kanghwado Island on the heads of nuns to Haeinsa
for safekeeping.
To prepare the white birch woodblocks, they were submerged in seawater
for three years, boiled in seawater for three years and then dried in the
shade for three years. It took about 16 years to carve the 81,258 blocks.
The style and uniformity of the carving makes it appear that it was carved
by one person, although it was the work of many. When printed, there are
about 6,791 volumes. In 1995, the Haeinsa Temple Changgyong P'ango, the
Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks were named to World Heritage
List.
At present, an average 220 monks and novices live within the temple
compound. Around Haeinsa there are 15 hermitages where about 200 women
live. There are also a few men's hermitages. The temple is the largest
in Korea in terms of residents and has the largest monks' university.
Haeinsa Temple TEL : (0599)31-1001~2
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