Temple story · Traditional attribution
The Golden Fish from Heaven
The naming tradition of Beomeosa and Geumjeongsan
Sinjeung Dongguk yeoji seungnam, Dongnae county (as quoted in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, 'Beomeosa on Geumjeongsan'); Korea Heritage Service: 'Geumsaem of Geumjeongsan'
It is said that a single golden fish came down from the sky on five-colored clouds and played in it; and so the mountain was named, and a temple was built and called Beomeosa.
Old Korean geographies record that on a tall rock near the top of Geumjeongsan there was a well whose water never dried up, even in drought, and shone the color of gold. A single golden fish, it is said, came down on five-colored clouds and played in it. So, the story goes, the mountain was named Geumjeong, 'Golden Well,' and the temple built below it Beomeosa, a name that contains the character for fish (魚). Depending on the record and its translation, the fish came down from the sky or from Beomcheon, the Brahma Heaven. Geumsaem, said to be this well, lies not in the temple but atop a rock a short detour off the trail near Godangsaem spring, on the climb from the north gate of Geumjeongsanseong Fortress toward Godangbong Peak, so seeing it takes a separate hike.