Beomeosa Temple, located on the eastern foot of Geumjeongsan Mountain in Busan, was founded in 678 by Great Monk Uisang as one of the ten Hwaeom temples. Around 835, when the invasion of Japanese pirates intensified, it was moved to its current location and rebuilt as Bibo Temple. It is currently the headquarters of the 14th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.
It has historically produced many great monks and great virtuous people, including Great Monk Uisang, Great Monk Wonhyo, Great Monk Pyohun, Great Monk Nangbaek, Great Monk Myeonghak, Great Monk Gyeongheo, Great Monk Yongseong, Great Monk Seongwol, Great Monk Manhae Han Yongun, and Great Monk Dongsan, and has a long tradition as a training temple, and possesses many national heritages.
It was completely burned down during the Imjin War in the 25th year of King Seonjo’s reign (1592), but after that, numerous reconstructions and rebuilds, including the reconstruction by Great Monk Myojeon in 1613, have been repeated, and the layout of the temple, which is considered the predecessor of the Tongbulgyo temples in the late Joseon Dynasty, has been completed. In the late 19th century, O Seong-wol, along with Monk Gyeong-heo, opened Seon centers in Geumgangam, Anyangam, Gyemyeongam, Naewonam, and Wonhyoam to promote Seon culture, and established Gangwon to foster talent.
In 1906, Myeongjeong School (the predecessor of Cheongryong Elementary School and Geumjeong Middle School) was opened in the grounds of Beomeosa Temple, and it served as a center for the promotion of Buddhism and the fostering of talent. Numerous independence activists and local community figures were produced in Myeongjeong School, local academies, and Gangwon. And on March 7, 1919, the first March 1st Independence Movement in Busan originated from Beomeosa Temple and Myeongjeong School.
Beomeosa Temple, which was recognized as a Seon temple of Korean Buddhism by reviving a fading tradition at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, became the center of modern Korean Buddhism in the 1950s when Monk Dongsan led the Buddhist purification movement. Entering the 2000s, the practice space was continuously expanded in accordance with the will of the Venerable Josa, and in 2012, it was designated as a general forest. In 2023, the entire Beomeosa Temple was designated as a national protection cemetery by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.