| Hwanghae Province Haeju City Sumi-san Gwangjo-saji 須彌山門 廣照寺 수미산문 광조사 Ruined site of one of the "Nine Mountain Zen-Gates": "Marchmount Meru Extensive Reflection" Seon Monastery |
Korean Master Yi-eom Jincheol Daesa 利嚴 眞澈 大師 (869-936), was certified enlightened in the
Caodong 曹洞 Seon [Chan, Zen] Lineage while studying in Tang China. He then returned to Korea in
910 and founded the Sumi-san School of Seon. He eventually established Sumi-san-mun Gwangjo-sa
須彌山門 廣照寺 수미산문 광조사 Temple in what is now Geumsan-myeon District of Haeju City in
Hwanghae Province of North Korea. Of that name, "Sumi-san" means mythical Mt. Meru (largest and
central mountain of the world in Hinduism & Buddhism, physically identified with Mt. Kailash in Tibet); the -mun is "Gate",
meaning the entrance-gates of the mountain-monasteries that Seon adepts can pass-into, not coming
out again until they are enlightened; and "Gwang Jo" means extensive/universal illumination/reflection
(as in a mirror, a reference to the classic Seon story of 6th Patriarch Huineng's enlightenment).
That was the last sect of the great Gusan-Seonmun 구산선문 "Nine Mountains Meditational Gates"
monasteries to be established, and it did not flourish well due to the civil-wars chaos that ended the
Unified Shilla Dynasty. That temple was finally fully founded by Taejo Wang Geon in 932, just only 4
years before Master Yi-eom died. It was honored in early Goryeo, as the lineage continued, but all
the differing lineages ended with Bojo Jinul Guksa's "Jogye" unification in 1200. This temple was lost
in the mid-Joseon era -- the last record of it operating seems to be 1418. Only two stone pagodas (a
3-story Shilla-type and a 5-story early-Goryeo-type) and a biseok [stele monument] for Yi-eom (erected in 937,
inscription by Choi Eun-wi, nephew of Great Sage "Go-un" Choi Chi-won) exist on the site now. The biseok is
named the Jincheol Daesa-bi 眞澈大師碑 진철대사비 or True-Limpid Great-Master Stele, referring to
Yi-eom's postumous title. Because it's in a remote part of North Korea with little tourism, we don't
know much more than that.
Caodong 曹洞 Seon [Chan, Zen] Lineage while studying in Tang China. He then returned to Korea in
910 and founded the Sumi-san School of Seon. He eventually established Sumi-san-mun Gwangjo-sa
須彌山門 廣照寺 수미산문 광조사 Temple in what is now Geumsan-myeon District of Haeju City in
Hwanghae Province of North Korea. Of that name, "Sumi-san" means mythical Mt. Meru (largest and
central mountain of the world in Hinduism & Buddhism, physically identified with Mt. Kailash in Tibet); the -mun is "Gate",
meaning the entrance-gates of the mountain-monasteries that Seon adepts can pass-into, not coming
out again until they are enlightened; and "Gwang Jo" means extensive/universal illumination/reflection
(as in a mirror, a reference to the classic Seon story of 6th Patriarch Huineng's enlightenment).
That was the last sect of the great Gusan-Seonmun 구산선문 "Nine Mountains Meditational Gates"
monasteries to be established, and it did not flourish well due to the civil-wars chaos that ended the
Unified Shilla Dynasty. That temple was finally fully founded by Taejo Wang Geon in 932, just only 4
years before Master Yi-eom died. It was honored in early Goryeo, as the lineage continued, but all
the differing lineages ended with Bojo Jinul Guksa's "Jogye" unification in 1200. This temple was lost
in the mid-Joseon era -- the last record of it operating seems to be 1418. Only two stone pagodas (a
3-story Shilla-type and a 5-story early-Goryeo-type) and a biseok [stele monument] for Yi-eom (erected in 937,
inscription by Choi Eun-wi, nephew of Great Sage "Go-un" Choi Chi-won) exist on the site now. The biseok is
named the Jincheol Daesa-bi 眞澈大師碑 진철대사비 or True-Limpid Great-Master Stele, referring to
Yi-eom's postumous title. Because it's in a remote part of North Korea with little tourism, we don't
know much more than that.
| The biseok stele recording the biography of Seon Master Yi-eom Jincheol Daesa 利嚴 眞澈 大師 and a rubbing of its inscription written by Choi Eun-wi, kept in the National Museum of (South) Korea |