I was a bit skeptical for this site before I visited since I already have been to Haeinsa and Bulguksa temples, so I was curious on the outstanding universal value on “Sansa”, which derived from Chinese word “Shan-si” or the mountain temple. From all inscribed components, I only visited two temples, Beopjusa and Seonamsa. These two temples were located in protected forests, the pathways from car parking areas were scenic with beautiful steams, light forests, pavilions, very nice surrounding but these kind of environment and setting are similar to Haeinsa, so while I was really enjoyed, I could not find uniqueness of the mountain temples that similar to many mountain or forest Buddhist temples in other part of Asia or other religious monasteries around the world.

One thing that I noted from Haeinsa was that apart from the famous wooden blocks’ storages, the rest of building complex of Haeinsa was nothing special, most were newly rebuilt, so I never gave credit to Haeinsa for its temple but only for the storages. My idea on authenticity of Bulguksa was even negative since all the temple structure, except the two stone pagodas, were built on archaeologists’ imagination. However, when I saw Beopjusa and Seonamsa, the aged wooden structures in the complex were so stunning, especially the pagoda of Beopjusa, something made you immediately impressed for its old age which really contrast to other many temples in South Korea. I walked around the complex tried to understand the concept of “Madang” or open courtyard. The Madang really made these two temples to be different from Bulguksa and Haeinsa which were constructed with clear layout of closure courtyard that surrounded by buildings and corridors. The complex was full with free standing buildings without any corridor or wall, but I did not think it was a unique thing, this kind of style could be found in many temples that was poorer without support from royalty or noble family or located in the geographical limited area that could not built the courtyard.

There was no question of the craftmanship and beauty of Beopjusa and Seonamsa, these two temples were really good and probably better in terms of Korean Buddhist arts than Haeinsa. The authenticity of the temples was impressive, it was very hard to find great old wooden buildings in Korea where many wars happened. The survival of these temples are already miracles by themselves. In my opinion this addition by Korea is worthwhile inclusion to the UNESCO list.