Sunday, September 18, 2011

TPM - short notice


   I'm gathering material for new post with Official Administrations and such stuff that appear on TPM along with few words on the famous "six martyred ministers". So far, while looking for more info on buddhist temples I found this:
Beopjusa Temple (the pic above):

Two kilometers before the entrance to the temple is a tree many might miss.
It is a 600 year-old pine tree near the road. Legend tells that it bowed its branches in front of King Sejo as story of guilt. King Sejo was the second son of King Sejong; he succeeded the throne by murdering his nephew.
In old age he suffered from a severe skin ailment and tried to find solace from his ailment as well as his bad conscience in the forests of Sogni-san Mountain. One day he met a young woman whose two boys called him grandfather. The woman was Princess Uisook, Sejo's daughter, who had to flee her father because she had pleaded for the life of the murdered nephew. At this meeting the king begged for forgiveness and invited these members of his family back to the palace. The princess refused saying that she preferred her simple life and she later fled further south.   

And just to add about the actual temple layout, Horyuji looks awfully similar, ne? No wonder. U mad, Japan?

One more historical fact...



A hidden dedicatory inscription found within National Treasure No. 221 provides an important historical background of the treasure and of the practices of the royalty. From the document we know that the image was commissioned by the second daughter of King Sejo (r. 1455 to 1468), Princess Uisuk, and her husband in 1466 as an offering to pray for the birth of a son. This is also the reason why Manjusri was depicted as a young boy by the artist who made the image.

Today, the statue is held by the Sangwon Temple (Korean: Sangwonsa) in Pyeongchang County, Gangwon Province, South Korea. 

source 


Princess Uisook - Seseon (이세선 의숙공주, 1442-1477)
Princess Seryeong was born in 1440, according to some sources.
Looks like the writers combined few persons into one. The same goes with Kim Seung-yu. I will elaborate more soon.