Yongjusa temple in Hwaseong. [Hwaseong City]
Yongjusa temple in Hwaseong. [Hwaseong City]

Yongjusa temple is drawing fresh attention ahead of the 2026 Jeongjo Hyo Culture Festival and King Jeongjo Royal Procession, set for Saturday. The temple was a key stop on King Jeongjo's royal processions to Hyeollyungwon, where he would take meals and offer Buddhist prayers. The procession also features in the Netflix series "Scandal."

Yongjusa sits on flat terrain at the foot of Hwasan, a 108-meter peak, and stands as one of Hwaseong's most prized cultural landmarks. As the head temple of the second district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and the guardian temple of the nearby tomb of Crown Prince Sado — known as Yunneung — Yongjusa holds a historical and cultural significance that sets it apart from ordinary temples.

A temple dedicated to watching over the tomb of Crown Prince Sado

Yongjusa traces its origins to a temple founded in the Hwasan area during the reign of King Munseong of the Silla dynasty. The temple flourished through the Goryeo period before being destroyed by fire during the Manchu invasion of 1636. After years of neglect, King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of the Joseon dynasty, extensively rebuilt it, marking a new chapter in its history.

In 1789, the 13th year of his reign, King Jeongjo moved the tomb of his father, Crown Prince Sado — also known as Jangjo — from Baebongsan in Yangju to the auspicious site of Hwasan, establishing what is now known as Yunneung, or Hyeollyungwon. He then rebuilt the royal temple Yongjusa on the former site of Galyangsa to comfort his father's spirit and protect the tomb.

It was highly unusual for a Joseon king to personally lead the founding of a Buddhist temple in an era when Confucianism served as the state ideology. King Jeongjo was deeply moved after hearing the monk Bogyeong deliver a sermon on the "Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents," and resolved to establish Yongjusa as a temple of filial piety.

This singular history gives Yongjusa architectural features rarely seen at other temples. The most striking is the "hongsalmun," a red-pillared gate traditionally erected at sacred royal sites such as palaces and royal tombs. Its presence within a temple compound is exceptionally rare.

King Jeongjo also used Yongjusa as a key base during his royal processions, stopping there before and after visiting Hyeollyungwon to take meals and offer prayers. According to the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and the Ilseongnok, King Jeongjo visited Yongjusa 13 times during his reign, a testament to his deep filial devotion.

Hwaseong Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun said Yongjusa is "a precious cultural heritage and a source of pride for Hwaseong Special City," adding that he would work with the city's 1.08 million residents to raise awareness of the temple's value.


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