Korea

Korea. The history of Buddhism in Korea can conveniently be divided into six periods.

The Three Kingdoms Period (c.1–668)

Buddhism was introduced into the Korean peninsula at a time when the local tribes were first consolidating into three large kingdoms (Koguryŏ, Paekche, and Silla), and when Chinese religion, writing, calendrics, and so forth were making inroads into Korean culture. Official histories give the date of Buddhism's introduction as 372 ce, when a Chinese monk arrived in Koguryŏ as an emissary of the Chinese court bringing scriptures and images. Buddhism reached Silla by the 5th century ce, but the fact that the local élites already knew something of its teachings leads scholars to believe that it had already penetrated the peninsula through more informal channels prior to its official reception.

The Unified Silla Period (668–918)

Silla, originally the smallest and most isolated of the three kingdoms, came to prominence in the 6th century. During this time, Buddhism became the official religion of the court under King Pŏphung (r. 514–39), who used it as part of an ideological campaign to justify the newly established institution of kingship. This factor, plus the absorption of the more fully sinicized populations of Paekche and Koguryŏ, led to increased ties with China, and delegations of young men went there to study Buddhism. The Unified Silla period also marked one of the high points of Korean Buddhist art. The early part of this period, extending to the year 780, was marked by a peace and stability that enabled intellectuals to travel, practise, and explore Buddhist doctrines. During this time, scholar-monks such as Wŏnhyo (617–86), Ŭisang (625–702), and Wŏnch'uk (631–96) travelled to China and worked with eminent masters and translators, returning to Korea to share their accomplishments and learning. Through their efforts, Korean Buddhism absorbed scholastic forms of Buddhist thought such as Hua-yen (Kor., Hwaŏm), consciousness-only (Skt., vijñapti-mātra; Chin., Wei-shih; Kor., Yusik), and tathāgata-garbha thought, and also took in more popular forms, most notably Pure Land (Kor., Chŏngt'o). Wŏnhyo in particular contributed to the systematization of scholastic Buddhism into an overarching structure called ‘t'ong pulgyo’ or ‘unified Buddhism’, and disseminated Pure Land practice widely among the commoners after his return to lay life. During this period in China, the Ch'an, or meditation, school began its ascent to prominence, and its methods and teachings began filtering into Korea during the 7th century. However, it was during the period of instability and upheaval at the end of the Silla period beginning about 780 that the Ch'an school, known in Korea as Sŏn, came into its own. During this period many students of Hwaŏm and other intellectual schools began travelling to China to study Sŏn meditation, and they established the so-called ‘nine mountains’ (Kor., kusan), or nine prominent monastic centres of Sŏn recognized by the government. These institutions, along with the five officially sanctioned schools of doctrinal study, gave Korean Buddhism its designation as the ‘five schools and nine mountains’ (ojong kusan), or ‘five doctrinal and two meditation schools’ (ogyo yangjong).

The Koryŏ Period (918–1392)

Buddhism continued to dominate national religious life during the early Koryŏ period. T'aejo, the dynasty's founder, even left instructions to his heirs stating that the success of the nation depended upon the vitality of Buddhism. With government backing, the monasteries acquired extensive tracts of agricultural land, engaged in banking, and even retained private militias to protect their interests. Such extensive material resources allowed the publication of the entire known Buddhist canon between 1210 and 1231. When the woodblocks from this first printing were destroyed by Mongol invasions in 1232, a new set of blocks was ordered, which were completed between 1236 and 1251. Some 81,000 of these blocks remain stored at the Haein-sa on Mt. Kaya in southern Korea, and represent a cultural and religious legacy unique in the world. Buddhism's political and economic power led many people into the ranks of the clergy for very worldly reasons, leading to increasing corruption. In addition, the schools of doctrinal study and meditation had difficulty defining their unity, and often quarrelled loudly and publicly. This situation called forth efforts at reform and definition, led in the early Koryŏ by Ŭich'ŏn (1055–1101) and later by Chinul (1158–1210). The former, a prince of the royal court, remained too hostile to Sŏn to have much success, but the latter, through both scholarship and meditative attainment, did bring some degree of unity to the scene. He drew upon the Chinese master Tsung-mi's (780–841) pioneering work to effect his synthesis, and promulgated the latter's formula ‘sudden enlightenment followed by gradual practice’ as the norm. He also spread the method of kōan practice among Sŏn adherents. Later figures such as T'aego Pou (1301–82) built upon Chinul's work and, after travelling in China, brought the Lin-chi school of Ch'an (Kor., Imje) into Korea. However, despite the efforts of these figures, Buddhism in the latter part of the Koryŏ went into a decline as corruption and decadence worsened, and these prepared the scene for Buddhism's formal suppression under the Yi dynasty.

The Ch'osŏn Period (1392–1910)

The fall of Koryŏ in 1392 and its replacement by the heavily pro-Confucian Yi dynasty spelt the end of Korean Buddhism's golden age and the beginning of a period of persecution and declining influence that lasted 518 years. As each ruler ascended the throne, stronger and stronger anti-Buddhist measures went into effect. These included a halt to new temple construction; restrictions on ordinations; the actual closing of monasteries in urban areas and their gradual restriction to isolated mountain sites; and a proscription on travel by monks and nuns, which eventuated in their being forbidden from entering cities altogether. On the intellectual and institutional front, the panoply of doctrinal and meditative schools in existence at the end of the Koryŏ was reduced to only two: doctrine and Sŏn. By the end of the period, only the latter remained.

The Japanese Annexation (1910–45)

In August 1910, the Japanese government officially annexed Korea and made it part of a wider sphere of colonial influence outside of the constitutional protections it offered its own citizens. Ironically perhaps, this development helped bring to an end Buddhism's long exile from the mainstream of Korean life. Since the Japanese saw Buddhism as a point of contact with Korean culture, they demanded, and received, the lifting of many of the restrictions imposed on the clergy during the long Ch'osŏn period. Monks and nuns could freely travel and enter cities once again, and new temples could be constructed closer to population centres. At the same time, however, the Japanese exerted pressure on Korean monks and nuns to abandon their distinct ways of life and practice in order to adopt Japanese Buddhist practices, and to give up their institutional independence in order to submit themselves to Japanese Buddhist schools and lineages. The most contentious issues concerned clerical marriage and the addition of wine and meat to the diet, trends that had marked Japanese Buddhist life for some time. Some monks (though no nuns) adopted the new style, while others resisted, thus setting the stage for the conflicts that ensued when the Japanese withdrew in 1945.

1945–Present

In 1945 the country was divided in two at the 38th parallel and in 1948 the communist Democratic People's Republic of North Korea was declared in the north and the pro-USA Republic of Korea was founded in the south. Since that time Buddhism has been completely suppressed in the north. In the south, with the restoration of native rule in 1945, an intense conflict broke out between monks who had taken wives and abandoned many of the normal monastic precepts, and those who had not. These latter insisted upon the full restoration of celibacy and the strict enforcement of traditional Korean rules, and they further insisted that the former group be ejected from monastic properties, which would then be turned over to their control. The latter group, consolidated under the now-dominant Chogye Order, eventually won out after several court battles, legislative victories, and open hostilities. Thus, after a painful transition period, married monks left the monasteries, and monastic life returned to pre-Japanese practices. Since then, the Chogye Order has overseen the revival and revitalization of Korean Buddhism. Some bitterness broke out in the late 1980s and early 1990s between Buddhists and Christians (the latter group having grown dramatically over the last century), leading to the burning of some Buddhist temples, but overall, Buddhism has once again taken its place as an integral part of Korean society.