| Kings of both Dragons and Mountains on Geoje-do Island |
| Page Two -- South-Central Area |
At Yong-ju-sa, also on Buk-byeong-san, the main San-shin seems to be winking, perhaps at the
same unseen-to-the-left girl the tiger is roaring at, perhaps from jealousy... I have never seen
this before, in all my years taking these photos! The artist had a weird sense of humor...
Meanwhile, in the Shin-jung painting, a (unusual) black-haired San-shin holds bullocho sprigs.
same unseen-to-the-left girl the tiger is roaring at, perhaps from jealousy... I have never seen
this before, in all my years taking these photos! The artist had a weird sense of humor...
Meanwhile, in the Shin-jung painting, a (unusual) black-haired San-shin holds bullocho sprigs.
At Buk-byeong-san Shin-won-sa
[Spirit-Garden Temple] in the south part of
Geoje's central region, San-shin and
Yong-wang are explicitly matched-pair
partners, making yin-yang twins of the
powers of Mountains and Waters. A fancy
San-shin statue is centered before the
paintings, though.
[Spirit-Garden Temple] in the south part of
Geoje's central region, San-shin and
Yong-wang are explicitly matched-pair
partners, making yin-yang twins of the
powers of Mountains and Waters. A fancy
San-shin statue is centered before the
paintings, though.
There is no San-shin at all at
Nam-myeon Jang-su-am Hermitage,
but this fine Yong-wang icon (with
donor-name rotating tower in front)
is found to the left of the Chil-seong
[7 Stars] painting, in which a
doubled-head North-Star figure can
be seen.
Nam-myeon Jang-su-am Hermitage,
but this fine Yong-wang icon (with
donor-name rotating tower in front)
is found to the left of the Chil-seong
[7 Stars] painting, in which a
doubled-head North-Star figure can
be seen.
In the center of Geoje Island, just ouside the main town, I found another truly
unique shrine. Kuk-sa-bong [National-Teacher Peak] Chil-bo-jeong-sa [Seven
Treasures (of Buddhism) Temple includes a Mountain-Spirit Hall with 20 small
generic statues of San-shin surrounding a larger statue of a San-shin-dosa
(see pages 28-29 & 142 of my book) -- making 21 in all, 3 x 7 (the two most sacred numbers
in Korea's folk-religion). They are all fronted by ceramic oil-lamps and little stone
copies of the famous Seokkur-am Buddha-statue (4 each, i cannot guess why) in
Gyeongju. The North-Star Spirit, god of longevity, at left is seen in the
Chil-seong painting on a side-wall -- with the usual elongated head, but
strange 'crater' on top, like at Korea's sacred volcanos...
unique shrine. Kuk-sa-bong [National-Teacher Peak] Chil-bo-jeong-sa [Seven
Treasures (of Buddhism) Temple includes a Mountain-Spirit Hall with 20 small
generic statues of San-shin surrounding a larger statue of a San-shin-dosa
(see pages 28-29 & 142 of my book) -- making 21 in all, 3 x 7 (the two most sacred numbers
in Korea's folk-religion). They are all fronted by ceramic oil-lamps and little stone
copies of the famous Seokkur-am Buddha-statue (4 each, i cannot guess why) in
Gyeongju. The North-Star Spirit, god of longevity, at left is seen in the
Chil-seong painting on a side-wall -- with the usual elongated head, but
strange 'crater' on top, like at Korea's sacred volcanos...