Temple story · Traditional attribution
Wonhyo Fails to Recognize Gwaneum
Iryeon, Samguk yusa
Samguk yusa, fascicle 3, 'Pagodas and Images': 'The Two Great Holy Ones of Naksan, Gwaneum and Jeongchwi, and Josin'
The master wished to enter the holy cave and behold her true form once more, but wind and waves rose high, and he went away without entering.
After Uisang founded Naksansa, it is said, Wonhyo followed in his footsteps, hoping to pay homage to Gwaneum, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. In a rice paddy to the south he jokingly asked a woman in white who was cutting rice for some of her crop and got the joking reply that the harvest had failed; under a bridge he asked a woman washing cloth for water, and when she offered him the dirty water, he poured it out, drew fresh water and drank it. Just then a blue bird in a pine in the field called out to him and vanished, and under that pine, the story goes, lay a single cast-off shoe. Only when he reached the temple and saw a shoe like it beneath the seat of the Gwaneum image did Wonhyo realize that he had met Gwaneum herself on the way. He wished to enter the seaside cave where Gwaneum is said to dwell and see her true form again, but wind and waves rose high, and he left without entering. Stop at Hongnyeonam, built atop a seaside rock cave north of Uisangdae, where the hall was made so that you can see the sea surging beneath its floor.