Mountain-spirit Shrines and Icons found on
the South Coast of South Jeolla Province, November 2002
This (final) Page: the Yeosu Peninsula
The incredible Hyang-il-am [Rising-Sun Hermitage] is one of Korea's three special temples for worshipping Gwanseum-bosal [Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion].
Founded by Korea's unique religious-genius "Great Master Wonhyo" in 644 AD, it's now part of the Dado-hae Coastal National Park.  It perches within a jumble of gigantic broken boulders piled 200 meters (600 feet) high on the southern tip of Dolsan Island, off the southern tip of Yeosu.  It's certainly the most famous place of the Yeosu region, and also sees quite a lot of worship of the Yong-wang [Dragon-King of the Waters, a figure closely associated with Gwanseum-bosal in both Buddhism and folk-tales].
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The long and thin Yeosu Peninsula is the extreme southwest point of South Jeolla Province; a very long drive to get down there, but well-worth it.  At Dalma-sa [Bodhidharma Temple, named after the founder of Seon or Zen Buddhism], the new San-shin painting (left) has a very rich background!   Yeong-chui-san Heung-guk-sa [Safety-of-the-Nation Temple] was founded in 1195 by the great master Chineul Bojo-guksa, making it the second most important temple in the Yeosu area.  It enshrines no San-shin at all, nor any other folk-deities (a case of Buddhist opposition to them -- see page 184 in my book).  However, in Heung-guk-sa's "Spirit Assembly" altar-painting (right), San-shin is quite prominent at the center.
<--San-shin
Above: the rather ordinary modern painting of the Spirit of Geum-o-san, host-mountain of Hyang-il-am, is in the Sam-seong-gak [Three Sages Shrine] -- its signboard was done with golden paint.  Below: on the railings ouside of that shrine are a collection of 33 identical crude stone turtles, and the Yong-wang sits on his undersea throne attended by his daughters while Gwanseum-bosal rides in on a Blue Dragon and white cloud, with another dragon above him -- all continuing the main religious themes of this holy place. 
(these seven pages contain the Mountain-spirit shots we collected at the 34 temples we visited on this 6-day driving-trip.  The best "tourist" photos we took on it, if you're interested, can be seen here).