Located northwest of Daeungjeon Hall in Tongdosa Temple, Yangsan, Daegwangmyeongjeon Hall of Tongdosa Temple is the central building of the temple’s Jungnojeon Area. According to a historical record on the temple, the hall was renovated in 1725 (1st year of the reign of King Yeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty) by a Buddhist monk named Chukhwan, although a name plaque made for the hall in 1759 and currently stored in the Tongdosa Museum reveals that the current building was completed in 1758, two years after the destruction by fire of the earlier one.
The building features a five-kan* by three-kan structure installed with multiple clusters of decorative brackets supporting a hip-and-gable roof. It is generally regarded as a fine example of Korean Buddhist architecture of the mid-eighteenth century, particularly for the outstanding techniques used in the preparation of the timber and timber frames for decorative brackets and doors (which are also windows) as well as the roof structure. The building is also regarded as a fine resource for the study of the colorful dancheong artwork used to decorate temple altars during late Joseon.
(*kan: a unit of measurement referring to the distance between two columns)