King Mu founded Mireuksa and Jeseoksa in order to strengthen his royal authority. The two temples had three things in common. Firstly, both of them were constructed in Iksan. Secondly, Mireuksa was founded in 639 when Jeseoksa was destroyed. Finally, they were the biggest temples, i.e. ‘grand temples,’ in Baekje Dynasty.
The engraved writing of a sarira casket in Mireuksa suggests that in 639, royal authority decreased while the authority of Sataek increased. There is high probability that Jeseoksa was destroyed by groups such as Sataek who tried to check royal authority and were expelled to Wa after King Euija came to the throne.
Although King Mu constructed a kingdom and a ‘grand temple’ in Iksan, the new capital, not in Buyeo, in order to establish a new royal authority-centered ruling system, his royal authority weakened in the process, and he came to lose hegemony to construct Mireuksa. However, he restored his royal authority by reconstructing Jeseoksa.
In 639, the Emperor of Wa founded a temple for the first time, and named it Kudara no odera. The temple was built on the riverside of Kudaragawa, not in Asuka which was the political center, because of the hostility against Soganouji. It was the biggest temple of the age, bigger than Asukadera, and its wooden pagoda was unprecedently composed of nine stories.
Having learned that Soganouji enlarged its power by using the differentiation strategy of accepting Baekje buddhism and founding Asukadera, the emperor named the temple Baekje, emphasizing that he was pro-Baekje.
That is, Emperor Jomei founded the grand temple for the same reason that King Mu strengthened his power by constructing a grand temple, which can be understood as the result of trade between Wa and Baekje.