Ryangchon Temple, Historical Relic

The Ryangchon Temple, located in Kowon County of South Hamgyong Province, is a long historical and cultural relic built in ７５３.

It belongs to the period further prior to the one of the Songbul Temple in Mt Jongbang and the Woljong Temple in Mt Kuwol, which are said to have a longer history than other temples in our country. It is also large in scale.

At present there are the Taeung Hall, the Manse Pavilion and others in the temple.

The Taeung Hall is a gabled house with three folding doors on the front and three on the side. Its columns are steel ones.

There remains vivid art heritages at the Taeung Hall painted in golden red and blue.

In particular, the antique-looking drawing on the angled ceiling depicting ２０-odd figures playing musical instruments and cheerfully dancing around two women with peach trays on their hands is of national value which vividly shows the excellent artistic talent and skill of our ancestors.

The Manse Pavilion standing on the slope is the largest among temple pavilions in our country.

Chairman Kim Jong Il, who visited the temple in June ２００２, said that the temple is of national value as valuable historical heritages including precious drawings were preserved there in their original state. He stressed the need to show them to many people and give wide publicity to them in the form of an album.

The Ryangchon Temple, one of the typical national architectural heritages of our country, is well preserved as a national treasure.

Rodong Sinmun