Overview
Samcheonsa was founded in 661 by Master Wonhyo, and according to the 『Sinjeung Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam』 and 『Bukhanji』, its scale was so large that it prospered to the point that over 3,000 monks came to the temple. Although the temple's name is believed to have originated from this number, recent archaeological research has revealed tiles inscribed with '三川' (三川) instead of '三千', indicating that Samcheonsa was used with two meanings. During the Imjin War, it is said to have been used as a gathering place for monk soldiers, and although it could not escape the disasters of war, it was later restored by the monk Jinyeong Daesang at the site of the rock-carved Buddha Gilsang site, where the temple's hermitage once stood. In the 1970s, when Venerable Seongun presided over the designation of the thousand-year-old rock-carved standing Buddha (Treasure No. 657) within the temple grounds, buildings such as the Daeungbojeon, Sanryeonggak Pavilion, Cheontaegak, Training Center, and monks' quarters, as well as the Sezonjin True Relic Stupa, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva standing statue, Jonghyeong relic stupas, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva statues, five-story stone pagoda, and steles with double slabs, were successively constructed, forming the current form. From 1999 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2007, surface surveys and excavations were conducted on the original temple sites, uncovering many previously unknown facts.
