About the largest wooden structure in Seoul during the early Joseon Dynasty,

 Joseon, which advocated Confucianism as a political ideology, suppressed Buddhism politically after its founding. Taejo, who was faithful enough to inherit the throne and practice Buddhist prayer, did not take an active policy despite the demands of the Yushin to break down the temple and slaughter monks. However, things changed when King Taejong ascended the throne. King Taejong was considered to have laid the foundation for the country by reorganizing the cultural system and strengthening the royal authority, but on the other hand, he was also a monarch who thoroughly suppressed Buddhism. It was already predicted that King Taejong, who established an academy to cultivate Confucian scholars and interact with the new aristocrats, implemented a policy of suppressing Buddhism following the words of the Yushin who insisted that he would perform after ascension. King Taejong's policy of abolishing Taejong and Wangsa Temple and confiscating temple land was to weaken Buddhism by limiting the human and material foundation. In the 6th year of the throne (1406), the scope of the number of temples, land, and slaves to be left across the country was determined, and the rest of the temples' land and slaves were attributed to the state. At this time, there were only 242 temples left. King Taejong reduced the number of sects from 11 to 7 until then, and abolished the royal and national history systems. In addition, the government strengthened the Dochupje, which recognizes the status of the country, making it difficult to get married, and mobilized monks in various fields. Sejong and King Taejong's consolidated and abolished policy as missionary yangjong is further strengthened by Sejong. Sejong merged the sects, which had been reduced to seven, back to Zen and liberal arts, and significantly reduced the number of temples nationwide to 36. Buddhism's existence has also been jeopardized by this policy of billion dollars. King Sejong returned to the Hobul monarch in his later years and temporarily implemented the Sungbul policy during the reign of King Sejo and King Myeongjong, but the policy stance of Sungyu Eokbul continued throughout the Joseon Dynasty. Founded for Queen Sindeok...Heungcheonsa Temple, the headquarters of King Seonjong, was a temple that watched the policy of billion dollars in the early Joseon Dynasty. When Queen Sindeok Kang passed away, Taejo designated the tomb area of the monument in Bukwon, Hwanghwabang (currently Jeongdong-gu), and built Heungcheonsa Temple with 170 kans on the east side to make it a Wondang. Taejo made this temple the headquarters of the Jogye Order and showed special interest in offering Uranbunjae and Cheondohoe to pray for the repose of the queen. Heungcheonsa Temple became King Seonjong's provincial office when King Sejong merged the religious body into Zen and liberal arts, and maintained its shooting despite the anti-buddhism policy. Sejong especially spared no support for this temple, such as legalizing it to be repaired and repaired regularly like a government building while rebuilding the Sarirajeon Hall in the 19th year of his throne (1437). However, Heungcheonsa Temple, which maintained its shooting with the support of the royal family despite its policy of suppressing Buddhism, began to decline after King Seongjong, and was ruined by fire in the 10th year of King Yeonsan's reign (1504) and the 5th year of King Jungjong (1510), respectively. Heungcheonsa Temple was later reconstructed at the old site of Hamchwijeong near Jeongneung under the royal order of King Seonjo, and was moved to its current location by two monks Seongmin and Gyeongshin (1794) in the 19th year of King Jeongjo (1794). Heungcheonsa Temple remained in its original place until it was burned down by fire even after the tomb was moved by King Taejong. The place where Heungcheonsa Temple was located is behind Deoksugung Palace, where Gyeonggi Girls' High School was located. The seat of Gyeonggi Girls' High School is still empty, but not anyone can enter. This is because it became a land owned by the United States in 1984 under an agreement between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the United States to exchange the site of the American Cultural Center for Gyeonggi Girls' High School and Euljiro. The United States plans to build a new embassy building here with one basement level and 15 ground levels. - Heungcheonsa Temple - ♣ Location: Heungcheonsa Temple, also known as Sinheungsa Temple in 595 Donam-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, is a temple dedicated to Jeongneung Royal Tomb and Queen Sindeok Kang's repose. Heungcheonsa Temple was the main temple of the Jogye Order, a 170-year-old temple founded in Jeong-dong, Jung-gu, as a Neungchimsa Temple of Queen Sindeok in the 6th year of King Taejo (1397). Taejo Lee Seong-gye built Heungcheonsa Temple in 1396 to pray for Queen Sindeok's repose after contrasting Jeongneung Royal Tomb. Thus, from the following year, January, the temple site was built on the east side of Jeongneung Royal Tomb, and Kim Sa-haeng took charge of the construction and completed 170 days of Daegaram in August of that year. Taejo paid attention to the construction site several times during the construction of Heungcheonsa Temple, encouraging workers, and providing wealth and food. Subsequently, in the 7th year of King Taejo's reign, King Taejo began to build a five-story Sarijeon Hall on the north side of the temple, which was said to be the largest and most colorful wooden building in Hanyang at that time, exceeding the size of Geunjeongjeon Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace. In the 9th year of King Taejong's reign (1409), Jeongneung Royal Tomb was moved to the foot of Bukhansan Mountain, where it is now, but Heungcheonsa Temple continued to enjoy its status as a major temple. King Taejong implemented a policy to suppress Buddhism, restricting the land and slaves of temples, leaving only 242 temples nationwide, and confiscating temple property. However, following Taejo's will to protect Heungcheonsa Temple well, Heungcheonsa Temple revealed the law as it was. After that, Sejong also made the temple's sarira temple reconstructed and regularly repaired like a government building. In the 31st year of King Sejong (1449), when the drought continued, the temple held a rain ritual, and a few days later, when it rained, King Sejong awarded 140 monks, making it possible to guess how large the temple was. However, Heungcheonsa Temple began to decline as royal support decreased due to the encouragement of the Joseon Dynasty to study abroad. In the 10th year of Yeonsan-gun (1504), the hall was almost burned down in a fire, and only Sarijeon Hall avoided the fire, but it was not restored. Heungcheonsa Temple, which was neglected as a ruins, was completely ruined in March (1510) in the 5th year of King Jungjong's reign, when Confucian scholars of Junghak used the night to burn down the heresy and set fire to Korea's only Sakyamuni Buddha enshrined in Buddhist scriptures and Tongdosa Temple was burned down. Heungcheonsa Temple reappeared in history when Jeongneung Royal Tombs were restored in the 9th year of King Seonjo (1576). When Jeongneung Royal Tomb was moved down Bukhansan Mountain in the 9th year of King Taejong's reign, there was a small hermitage called Sinheungam near the tomb. However, Sinheungam Hermitage was said to be too close to Jeongneung Royal Tomb, so it was relocated to the site of Hapchwijeong Pavilion outside the Seokmun Gate in the 10th year of King Hyeonjong's reign (1669) and renamed Sinheungsa Temple. After that, in the 18th year of King Jeongjo (1794), it was located in its current position according to the will of monks Seongmin and Gyeongsin, and in the 2nd year of King Gojong (1865), the temple was reconstructed with the support of Heungseon Daewongun. At this time, Heungseon Daewongun was restored under the name Heungcheonsa Temple, and the signboard is still hung on Mansenu Pavilion. It can be seen that this temple was closely related to the royal family. King Yeongchin, the last prince of the Korean Empire, wrote this temple when he was five years old, and Yunbi, the last queen of the Joseon Dynasty, returned from evacuation during the Korean War and lived here with great difficulty. I only ate two meals a day with one hop of Western food, but I saved a handful of each day from that hop, bought incense and candles, and went up to Heungcheonsa Temple. In Heungcheonsa Temple, Geungnakbojeon Hall, which enshrines Amitabha Buddha, the central building of this temple, is designated as Seoul Tangible Cultural Property No. 66, and Myeongbujeon Hall, which enshrines the Bodhisattva Jijang, is designated as Seoul Tangible Cultural Property No. 67.